Me and my camera in my home town, my capital city, my london…
This magnificent sign no longer exists. Neither does the stadium that housed it. They sold it to property developers (what a shocker!) and now there is just a big empty space where this neon wonder once was. My family were from around Walthamstow and when I was younger we used to go visit and I would get very excited at the prospect of seeing the sign. There was a story that my Grandfather won an insane amount of money on the dogs in the ’30s and promptly put it all back on within a matter of weeks. If he hadn’t our family probably would have been stupidly rich. Dem’s the breaks.
When I grew up I would go there to gamble in a vain attempt to replicate the first half of his experience but when you’re laying down £1 bets its a little tricky to accumulate any life-changing wealth. And yet, at whatever the bet, winning was always a beautiful thing. I would scream the terraces down as my £1 dog crossed the finish line and would joyfully bounce up to the cashier’s to collect my 73p win. London itself is all the poorer for the loss of both the stadium and the sign…gambling online in your dressing gown just ain’t got the same glamour somehow…