abandoned stadium
does anyone know where the abandonded greyhound track featured in the film,is? or was?
The next train's gone.
The Staines Greyhound Stadium was in Wraysbury Road, beside the Staines roundabout in Twickenham. It no longer exists - paved over years ago. The new DVD of Seance has an audio commentary by Bryan Forbes and his wife Nanette Newman, which sheds a lot of light on the production of the film. Forbes is one of the most underrated British filmmakers and made some of the best British films of the Sixties; he had a great visual sense, was a fine writer and always got interesting and powerful performances from the actors.
Glad to see your a fan of John Boorman's, Point Blank, Phil. Amazing film. Lee Marvin is also great in The Emperor of the North Pole, which was recently released on DVD in the USA (region 1, NTSC). Well worth picking up if you have a multi-region DVD player.
"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people." - Arthur Schopenhauer
Thank you for the information,it is much appreciated!,I've long been a stadium fan & find abandoned examples very atmospheric,[airfields also].Thanks again!
The next train's gone.
No problem, Phil; glad to be of help to someone with great taste in British Cinema!
"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people." - Arthur Schopenhauer
That stadium's location has been puzzling me since I first saw this great film.
Thanks for the information.
What a relief.As a fan of speedway racing I've always wondered where that stadium was and have just looked up 'Seance' on the internet specifically to find out the location.Thank you!
shareI remember as a boy passing what looked like an abandoned stadium on the Staines by pass and often wondered what it was - of course last time I went past there a couple of years ago there was no trace. Interesting to find that I didn't imagine it. I have no recollection of the stadium in the film - I will have to watch again.
shareYesterday (14/Nov/2007) on Film 4 we watched 'Seance on a Wet Afternoon'. Not seen it for a while. Still worth watching. I commented to my wife that the stadium looked like an abandoned greyhound track and wondered where it could have been. No problem in these digital times - logged onto IMDB, entered title in search window, and there was my answer. IMDB contributors solve the puzzle yet again!
shareI would like to add my belated thanks to Gordon M for solving the 'mystery of the aabandoned stadium' which has puzzled me (and, apparently, others) for well over 40 years.
(Until now, the only clue I had was seeing a No. 65 bus in a scene near the school
from which the child was abducted, suggesting that the stadium was somewhere to the west of London.)
I don't suppose anybody out there can tell me when Staines Stadium held its final greyhound race meeting?
One of the pleasures of watching old movies like this (as I am at the moment) is seeing such stalwarts as Mark Eden before, as Alan Bradley, he tried to cheat Rita Fairclough out of all her money and then fell under a Blackpool tram, and, even rarer, seeing Gerald Sim NOT playing a vicar!
P.S. For the joker (below) who suggests that the derelict stadium could be Wimbledon, I would like to point out that Wimbledon is one of only two greyhound stadia (the other being Walthamstow) still operating in London, nearly 44 years after 'Seance on a Wet Afternoon' was released!
I was also interested in this stadium, Richard Attenbrough gets to it's remains by turning off the B376 (note the road sign), just west of what is now the M25 junction 13, but in 1964 was the Staines by-pass, the A30.
The greyhound stadium was also used for stock car racing, check out the link and search for Staines:
http://www.petermarsh.freeuk.com/stockcar/misc.html
Also this:
http://www.petermarsh.freeuk.com/stockcar/staines.html
There is also this informative link to British Pathe, the film clip doesn't seem to work:
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=47494
in the scene where you see the b376, he turns in to residential street, is it still there?
share