Memories of old bookmaking firms

Bowman's bought by 365 I think

Couldnt be? they went under in 1996

**mcdonalds

A R Dennis

Windsors, taken over by William Hill.

was**mcdonalds all over , as i remember one in muswell hill as a kid?

mc lauchlans postal accounts in ythe early 60 s

West Drayton For some reason the Post used to put their prices in the tables for the 3rd round of the FA Cup and at no other time

Turner Kendrick, Coventry



Ted Currigan (B'ham ltd)



Cutler & Prescott ( Jonny of boxing fame)

* Johnny

burns

A P Stallion , Danny Mac, T Brindles, Foreman Bros ,

http://www.bowmans.com/en/

city tote

got ya Ted

panglima 18 Feb 20:25
A R Dennis

Its down to you tony that they had to sell out to badblokes ;)

Playboy, i used to work at their head office in Poland Street, and then managed a few shops.

The staff do's at the Playboy club were great

PTS

(Josie)Jennings,North West Area

My dad used to bet by post to a Scottish Firm. Macfarlens.They validated the bet by the GPO time stamp.

Arthur Prince (bought by Korals)

Rubicon Racing (bought by T0te)

Arthur Young (also bought by Korals)

Coombes was a baker .

Sovereign
Luv Bet

tried to get into early pricing before the massive Betfair influence on first shows and both got filled in

LES ROBERTS,CARLISLES,DEMMYS

HALFPENNYS

Sid Ki KI , I Morris...

terry downes

Needwood
Joyce
Akins

all swallowed by Koral btwn 2003 & 2005

Sun Bookmakers also went bust owing lots

Sherman's (Cardiff), taken over by Billys

It's a long time ago since I was an office junior at their Womanby Street head office . . . . . .

ted ball.....

chummy gaventa

john banks

michael taborski

Arthur Stanley

Aspinalls

Denver Racing...some fantastic value there!

Regvarney; Guntrips had a shop up at Brockley, by the Jack, last time I was up there.

H & K Commisions was a good East End firm that I worked for. Nice people; sold out to Corals in two lumps.

Powers had a few shops in North London, used to lay a bet and were sharp.

Victoria Sporting and Manny Bernstien. Manny used to make a mint out of novelty postal football bets from Scandanavia. Ahead of his time!

salsabil5 18 Feb 21:09
panglima 18 Feb 20:25
A R Dennis
Its down to you tony that they had to sell out to badblokes

Never liked 'em myself but they had a lot shops. Used to make their managers work a 5 1/2 day week and gave 'em a weekly win bonus. Always getting knocked back or restricted on even small bets.

Demmys in the North West. Sold out to Stanleys, who then sold out to Billy H's i think.

Gus Demmy & his brother Arthur who was a top bloke. Steward at Lancs CCC.

Aintree racing. Another Noth West firm who let you take best prices on accas from different bookmakers. Amazing offer.

You're right about Demmy's Graham, they were absolutely top drawer people.

ted rodgers -birmingham had a shop in the bullring happy days

Surrey Racing.

Was just going to say Surrey racing, had my first online bet with them , would not pay me out until i proved my identity , so i put all the winnings on a very short Fav in Ireland, for the inconvenience, eventually got paid, never used them again.

Ar Dennis were okay. Walked into the Newbury Park shop and said to the then manageress, 'Jan, do you want to win Betting Shop Manager of the Year?' she said 'yeah, okay'. a few months later, job done. Dinner with Brough Scott and got a weekend away which I didnt take. She got promotion, loads of money and a cruise.

Great days but the best was Kaluki Racing in Ilford. If anybody on here knows the,, get CR to phone me, he isnt answering his mobile. Thanks

I remember the AR Dennis in Newbury Park, DML. My grandfather used to live round the corner so I popped in there loads. Mainly used to bet in the H1lls opposite the Odeon by Gants Hill station though. Spent far too much of my schooldays in there.

Incredibly, there also used to be a V1ctor C handler shop on the other side of Gants Hill roundabout by the NatWest before he got rid of the shops. Popped in there a bit too.

I went to school in Newbury park for a while(Gearies) in the early to mid 70s and used that Hills as well, the Pub was called the Valentine and that Odeon used to show the big fights from the states late at night.

I used to work for Mecca in the eighties. They took over Biily Hills but kept the name because it was thought to be better known.**McDonalds surrounded Crouch End, Horney and Muswell Hill and AR Dennis was round there too. Bought by Laddies about twenty years ago.

Are Bloxhams still about??/

My first ever account was with Guntrips, I deposited £100 as a 16 year old.

Needless to say it didn't last long

Yes. There is one I used to use in Preston Road Wembley. It is bigger than i remember so they may have bought out the shop next door

I managed preston road in 83, they took over the florists in 88 and widened it then

I was working as a Saturday boy in All Seasons greengrocers in 83. You may have taken my illegal bets.

Love your name by the way. Best miler I saw

Mabel and Peter were my cashiers at the time!!, we had these Perspex folders for the newspapers to sit in and the decor was terrible
Used to take fortunes in there though, twas a 700 slip shop on a thursday and friday and around 1200 on sat.

It was a bit grim. Loved the noise though. Used to slip in at lunchtime and do a 10p e/w yankee.

I was at Ascot and Goodwood when he won the Qe11 and Sussex respectively, rated Timeforms highest of the year ahead of Nashwan and Old Vic

One of my biggest gambling regrets was not lumping on against Warning. Bottled it. Was going to put on a hundred (two thirds of a weeks wages). Stiil it was great to watch

I'm sure Warning won at Goodwood one year, I backed Sheikh Hamdans against it in the Sussex Stakes circa 88? I think it was Waajib

I remember the All seasons though, did they have a deli in there or am i mixing it up with another place?/
I think the Pub , The Preston, put in a mini bowling alley as well!!

Pothunters : a Tote commission firm in Berkshire run by Tony Fairbairn who used to do the tips with Terry Wogan on his radio show.

They would deduct a couple % off tax, and bonus points in vouchers based on turnover, paid enough for a holiday for 2 in Mauritius

Didn't have a deli then. Might have now. My sisters still live nearby and say the same guys own it. They were only in their thirties then

He did win it in 88 Blackburn, and went off fav in 89 after Zilzal sweated up and misbehaved himself before the start, causing him to drift from 7/4 to 11/4

Zilzal and Warning and Polish Precedent. Shame about the Breeders Cup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds6J6oPJ6YU&feature=related

Jack Tully in Bristol.
And when Martin Pipe's Dad sold his betting shops he just kept one in Taunton.

I remember more about the 80s flat racing than I do last season, most worrying

Aah the long term memory is often better than the shorter term. i could probably name every horse that was placed in the Derby from 1970 to 1988 but struggle to find my glasses!!!

Exactly, Reference Point from Most Welcome and Belotto 1987, dont know what was second last year.

Fame and Glory