WALTHAMSTOW Stadium stands, at the moment, in silence.

Long since carried away by the wind are the cries of thousands of punters cheering on the stadium's last race in 2008, and yet to come is the cacophony of builders tearing down much of the site to make way for a housing development set to replace it, unless campaigners manage to persuade the government to intervene.

Now, however, the 78-year-old historic structure in Chingford Road, Walthamstow, stands empty and waiting for what comes next.

But as campaigners, animal rights groups and developers all argue over the site in Chingford Road, Walthamstow, what cannot be disputed is the stadium's important place in Waltham Forest's history.

Opened in 1933 by businessman William Chandler, the art deco-designed stadium immediately began attracting thousands of spectators to watch around 70 races a week, and pulled in millions of visitors a year in its heyday, when its iconic neon lights made it known as the 'Las Vegas at the end of the Victoria line'.

From its opening night celebrities came to the Stow, when famous aviator Amy Johnson attended the opening ceremony, helping to dispel the myth that greyhound racing was a 'working class' past time, and it has since been visited by Lana Turner and Brad Pitt, while local boy David Beckham worked there in his teens as a glass collector.

Just a year after opening, the ground began to feature motorbike 'speedway' and stock car racing, and the Chandler family even helped set up the 'Walthamstow Wolves' team.

Regular races continued right up until 1968 after a hiatus during the Second World War, but they were no match for the lure of dogs and gambling, which ensured thousands of attendees until the stadium's closure in 2008 due to the growth in the number of betting shops.

Photographer Katherine Green, who went to Rush Croft Sports College in Rushcroft Road, next to the stadium, remembers going to school against the backdrop of the stadium.

"It was a massive part of my childhood and a fantastic place," she said. "There's nothing like it now, people came from all over London to enjoy themselves. I think the borough's lost part of its identity if this goes."

Walthamstow Historical Society member Rosemary Waxman added: "It's a massive part of our history. I'm very sad to see it likely to go.It was a brilliant entertainment venue but it seems to be consigned to our past now, not our future."

Once the scene for Winston Churchill's final speech in the 1945 election campaign he went on to lose, all the eloquent arguments campaigners are making to save the Stow could, in retrospect, sound more like eulogies.

But the sheer fact people are still fighting for the stadium's future shows the passion and love this landmark has inspired in the people of Waltham Forest.