Doncaster: Racecourse Town with a Railway Soul
Doncaster has been a racing town since 1600, but the St Leger — run annually at the Town Moor racecourse since 1776 — is what defines the relationship. The oldest of the five English Classics, the St Leger turns Doncaster into the centre of the flat racing world for a week each September. The racecourse sits centrally, and on race days the town fills with a cross-section of society that runs from tweed-wearing owners to stag parties in fancy dress.
Railways are the other thread. The Great Northern Railway established its locomotive works at Doncaster in 1853, and for over a century the Plant Works (as it was known locally) built some of the most famous locomotives in British railway history, including the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard — the world speed record holder for steam at 126 mph, set in 1938. The works closed in stages through the late twentieth century, and the site has been partially redeveloped.
The wider metropolitan borough takes in Thorne, Mexborough, Conisbrough (with its remarkable Norman castle keep), Askern, and the former pit villages of the South Yorkshire coalfield. Lakeside, a retail and leisure development on the Doncaster waterfront, has given the town a new focal point alongside the traditional market in the town centre. Robin Hood Airport, rebranded from RAF Finningley, operated from 2005 until Peel Group's closure decision took effect in 2022. The borough population is around 310,000.
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Doncaster has been a racing town since 1600, but the St Leger — run annually at the Town Moor racecourse since 1776 — is what defines the relationship. The oldest of the five English Classics, the St Leger turns Doncaster into the centre of the flat racing world for a week each September. The racecourse sits centrally, and on race days the town fills with a cross-section of society that runs from tweed-wearing owners to stag parties in fancy dress.
Railways are the other thread. The Great Northern Railway established its locomotive works at Doncaster in 1853, and for over a century the Plant Works (as it was known locally) built some of the most famous locomotives in British railway history, including the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard — the world speed record holder for steam at 126 mph, set in 1938. The works closed in stages through the late twentieth century, and the site has been partially redeveloped.
The wider metropolitan borough takes in Thorne, Mexborough, Conisbrough (with its remarkable Norman castle keep), Askern, and the former pit villages of the South Yorkshire coalfield. Lakeside, a retail and leisure development on the Doncaster waterfront, has given the town a new focal point alongside the traditional market in the town centre. Robin Hood Airport, rebranded from RAF Finningley, operated from 2005 until Peel Group's closure decision took effect in 2022. The borough population is around 310,000.
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