The Oaktree Arena was a

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

racing track located near Highbridge,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is in length, with banking around the edge for spectators and is built alongside the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

. There is also a restaurant used for weddings and events. It is also used for property auctions, car boot sales, a golf driving range and a boxing gym.

History

The

track, which was constructed in 1999 by Australian speedway rider Glyn Taylor, opened for speedway in time for the

Somerset Rebels The Somerset Rebels were a British motorcycle speedway, speedway team based in Highbridge, Somerset, Highbridge, Somerset. Founded in 2000, the club competed in the British SGB Championship until 2019. Their home track was located at the Oak Tr ...

team to race in the Conference League. The Somerset Rebels team were founded by promoter Andy Hewlett and entered the 2000 Speedway Conference League. Hewlett had been searching for a venue in Somerset to host speedway for some time, when he was offered the site by a local farmer who had hosted banger meetings (cars) there a couple of times. Prior to the 2009 speedway season, the Somerset rebels team was purchased by Bill Hancock the owner, of the Oaktree Arena. In 2021, following difficulties caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the venue was closed by the owners, the Hancock family.

References

External links

Oak Tree Arena official website
{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct speedway venues in England Sports venues in Somerset Sports venues completed in 2000 2000 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Sedgemoor