The RISE, FALL AND RISE OF HORSE RACING IN CHELMSFORD

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the highlight of the social calendar in many Essex towns and villages was the local horse race meeting. Of these Chelmsford Races, held on Galleywood Common, were by far the most successful. They were so popular that in 1770s the local gentry raised money for a permanent grandstand on the common where they could watch safely isolated from the lower classes. As well as the races the wealthy also enjoyed balls, dinners and concerts organised in the town to coincide with them.
The races had something for everyone. Those too poor to attend the glittering social occasions could enjoy a wonderful day out on the common with the racecourse crammed with fairground attractions as well as many beer tents.
The nature of racing changed towards the end of the eighteenth century as it became more professional and better organized. Despite this, Chelmsford’s popularity waned and around 1880 the course was converted to steeplechasing. There was a brief resurgence after the First World War but it didn’t last and racing at Galleywood ended in 1935. But that wasn’t then end of the story and today the cheers of punters still ring out across the Essex countryside – this time at the new Chelmsford City Racecourse at Great Leighs.

Author Biography

David Dunford attended the University of Essex, graduating with a degree in Government. He joined Essex County Newspapers in Colchester as a reporter and later became an assistant editor. He later moved to the BBC in London where he wrote and edited news bulletins for all BBC Radio outlets. He later became Editor of the BBC General News Service, responsible for providing news and current affairs for stations around the country. In 2003 he was Editor of all BBC local radio and regional television coverage of the second Gulf War.
After taking early retirement he became a visiting lecturer in radio journalism at the University of the Arts in London.
In 2014 he returned to Essex University to study for an MA in History which he was awarded with distinction. In addition to this book, he has also written ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West -The First Reality Show in Essex’, about the visit of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show to several Essex towns in the early 1900s, as well as numerous newspaper and magazine articles.