An afternoon in the bookie’s shop

William Hill, Kingston-upon-Thames (photograph: Google Maps)

Outside in Castle Street, in this busy shopping district in south-west London, two taxi drivers are having a heated argument. Things are quieter behind the glass frontage of number 3. In fact, no-one is saying anything, apart from the detached voice solemnly intoning the results of the 1.15 from Walthamstow.

The rest of the people in the shop are silently contemplating just how much they’ve contributed…