This viewpoint examines the history of one of London’s best known sporting venues during the Second World War through eye-witness accounts.

New Cross Stadium hosted speedway and greyhound racing and stood at the heart of sporting life south of the Thames for many years.

The Ring was one of the hubs of working-class sporting life in London, encapsulating the allegiances and rivalries of sport in the capital.

St Paul’s was the heart of early London. It was the burial place of King Ethelred (‘the ill-advised’) and also of unfortunate Archbishop Ælfheah whose body was stolen from its tomb by King Cnut The graveyard was once home to the London runestone, a rare monument to a member of London’s Viking elite.