ALL racecourses need a crowd to create atmosphere, and the lack of paying customers will be especially noticeable during the good weather in the summer months. One upcoming meeting that really appreciates a crowd is Bellewstown. Hopefully the day is not too far away when they will throng the hill of Crockafotha again.

At least racing goes ahead and in anticipation of the action, both flat and National Hunt, I turned to the excellent volume published in 2013 called Almost 300 years of racing at Bellewstown. Written and compiled by John Kirwan, who was born and reared on the fringes of the racecourse, and Fiona Ahern of the Bellewstown Heritage Group, it contains a treasure chest of facts and stories.