Gerard McCarten concludes his memories of cycling in West Cumbria with a look at grass track racing.
The first Cleator Moor Continental Road Cycle Race, in 1970, was the catalyst for the Moresby Parks Road Race to be instigated and that event was followed shortly afterwards by the reintroduction of grass track racing on the sports field at Wath Brow.
The result was a full weekend of cycle sport for riders from the length and breadth of Britain to enjoy.
The cycle grass track racing was also a great spectacle for the gathered sporting fans with the riders contesting wheel to wheel finishes at high speed due to the downhill finish of the Cleator Moor track.
In researching track racing at Cleator Moor it was surprising to learn that it was first held on June 15 and June 16 1882 at the 15th Cleator Moor Annual Sports meeting.
It seems likely that in the modern era of Cleator Moor Sports the first event in 1945, after the Second World War, was considered a new beginning, hence in 1970 they celebrated their 25th anniversary.
An interesting family connection with Cleator Moor Sports came about for my own sporting McCarten family of Seaton with the eldest brother, Ralph winning the 100 yards and 220 yards in the space of two minutes.
Then 30 years later, I was the youngest of the four brothers, when I won the 1980 British Cycling Lakeland Division grass track championship at Cleator Moor which still provides some great memories.
