Art Ravensdale was born on January 5th, 1911 in Bolton, a town in Greater Manchester in England. At some point, Art made his way to Cobourg, attending the Cobourg Collegiate Institute (CCI), where he was an academic and athletic standout. His name appeared regularly in results from track meets at CCI and other schools. The Ravensdale Trophy was created in his honour and was presented to the top all-round male athlete each year until 1960. In 1929 Art won the 120-yard hurdles at the Canadian Championships in Banff. He won again in 1930 in Toronto, 1931 in Winnipeg, 1932 in Hamilton, 1933 in Fort William and 1934 in Montreal.
Art's career was almost tragically derailed when he broke his hip while playing rugby at CCI, but with a combination of determination and hard work, he recovered completely. In 1930, in addition to winning the Provincial and Dominion Interscholastic Championships Art competed for Team Canada at the British Empire Games, held in Hamilton. Art graduated CCI in 1929 and took up studies at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Representing Marquette, he ran the 120-yard low hurdles in 13.2 seconds, giving him a share of the World Record. The Milwaukee Journal stated “Ravensdale, a hurdler… set municipal records that will probably stand for years.” He also set a new Canadian record at the Dominion Championships, beating the previous record by 4/10’s of a second in the 120-yard low hurdles.
In 1932, Art took home first place at the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials in the 100-meter hurdles and with that, he went on to represent Canada at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics later that year. In 1934, Art once again represented Canada at the British Empire Games in London, finishing fourth in the 120-yard hurdles. One year later, Art retired after being recognized as the Canadian Hurdling Champion for seven consecutive years (1928 to 1934) and returned to where it all began, CCI, where he coached the next generation of track and field youngsters. Years later, Art received a very special honour from the Town of Cobourg, when Ravensdale Road was named after him.
The Cobourg Galloping Ghosts are the most famous team in Cobourg sports history. Managed by Fred Dufton, the Ghosts won eight Ontario championships, five after World War II. They were Canadian Dominion champions in 1946, 1948 and 1950. They were the first team in Canada to wear aluminum cleats and the second to wear white uniforms.
