Closure marked end of the line for racing in Kent as horses swapped for houses

Racecourse closures can be curiously personal events, unpicking yet another strand of memory or individual history.

When a course we have never visited dies a death in some far flung part of the country there is a shrug of resignation and a "these things happen" reaction.

But Folkestone's demise in 2012 struck a chord as it was the first racecourse I visited aged six in 1962. A small piece of a racing past consigned to nothingness.