Week thirty-eight

It was almost 20 years ago when my friends and I fell in love with East 17.  Yep, it was 1992 when we would hang from the gym bars at school singing " Deep" and "House of Love" at the top of our voices, whilst thinking about how cool Tony Mortimer was.  Oh dear.

Nevertheless, we loved them and they were known not only for making some great pop songs, but also for putting Walthamstow and greyhound racing on the map for us young'uns.  The video for "House of Love" was filmed outside Walthamstow greyhound track and so I've pretty much wanted to go to the dogs ever since moving down to London.

Unfortunately its taken me so long to get round to visiting East 17's spiritual home that it is no longer possible since the track closed down in 2008.  There were once 33 greyhound tracks in London and now there are only 3 left, only 1 of which; Wimbledon is in zones 1-3.  But thanks to a work night out I got to go to the dogs for the very first time this weekend and it was brilliant.

Why did I leave it so long? It is one of the most hilarious and fun nights out you could have and if you're a flukey buggar like me you could leave with a wad of cash in your pocket.

A load of us from work went down on Friday night and rocked up and alongside the portly men, cheap gold jewellery and hairspray and made our way inside.  We had tables reserved in the Grandstand restaurant upstairs so that we could enjoy the racing while dining on a delectable 3-course meal. The menu is pure 80's chic: breaded mushrooms, prawn cocktail, steak and ale pie, apple crumble and custard.  Its class and so bad its good - I savoured every mouthful.  Waitresses grab the dishes from trays on a rack from an open kitchen that took me right back to my school lunch days.

Not only did we have the joys of school dinners with beer and wine served to us, we also had an at table betting service meaning there was really no need to move from our cosy spots in the corner.  However, it is worth having a walk around just to see the craziness of it all.  I've never seen such ordered bedlam - there are rows upon rows of booths stacked up on tiered levels so everyone has a great view of the track.  

Each section has a dedicated bookie who comes round to take your bets and even to bring you your winnings - of which I had many.  Somehow my plan of picking the animal with the name I like best seems to always work.  Greyhounds have the most brilliant and ridiculous names.  My first win was with a dog called Skywalker Shearer - as a Geordie, how could I have bet on any other dog?  Generally I just bet on one dog to win but a couple of times I did a trio reverse which means you pick 3 dogs and if they all come in, any order of first, second and third you win.  I won one of these and won £71 from a £2 bet.   I also won with Roo Come On and Hawk-Eyed Lady taking my winnings up to about £100, which when you're placing £2 bets isn't half bad.  When I won on the trio I obviously made a bit of a scene, insanely jumping up and down with joy..... .our bookie Cara didn't bat an eyelid and just carried on in the most apathetic of ways, but I loved her.

What is so great is that even if you win nothing its not like you're spending shed loads of cash, especially when you're betting such small amounts.  Its a night out and for £30 you get dinner with a great view of the races, your first drink, the table service, a race program and your first bet.  Its a total bargain and one of the most fun nights out you'll have in London.  I highly recommend it just for the people watching and laughing at the drunk girls slumped in the corner.  You can get all the details here.

For week thirty-nine I'll be doing something a little more sedate and going for a guided walk through Greenwich, an area of London I have yet to visit.

See me in the corner gloating?