Inside the betting shop…1977
Prefer an afternoon down the bookies “then” as opposed to “now”. Well watch this first.
I do like this video…
Now I’m not as old as some, but even for me there are scenes here which take me back to simpler, and probably for many, better, times.
Hours spent in the bookies. Studying the form on The Sporting Life pages stuck to the wall, listening to race commentaries… in the thick bluey grey haze of cigarette smoke.
We were a healthy bunch back then!!
This short film was taken in Ireland, but in truth the themes, the characters and the feel of the place were the same across the whole of the UK at the time.
It’s maybe 5 and a half minutes long… what’s that? A 2m6f handicap chase. And is a great stroll down memory lane.
Enjoy…
From the ever-hopeful punters, to the chinless-wonder spouting age old theories about “why we bet”, it makes for great viewing.
Not quite the experience we would enjoy, dare I say it, were we to venture back into the bookies today – for those of us that do. But a nice reminder of how it was back in the day.
Better or worse? You let me know if you’re still a betting shop regular – matthew@matthewwalton.co.uk.
OPINION: Clearly there are lots of things about betting shops of yesteryear that are well past their sell-by date – and who would enjoy going back to those days? That said, the bland, faceless and characterless shops of today are arguably just as uninviting for the punter. Progress? I’m not sure sure. But besides being keyboard warriors, and placing all our bets online, never going to the bookies or the racecourse… the whole experience of betting is without doubt much improved by a degree of social interration.
