Hastings - where betting shops are plentiful and punting is a pleasure

It is Wednesday afternoon in Hastings and the Sussex seaside town, like the rest of the world, has woken up to news of Donald J Trump’s triumph in the US presidential election.

Life goes on, though - the Donald hasn’t got his tiny hands on the nuclear codes just yet - so I’m in the Ladbrokes shop on Queens Road, assessing the runners and riders for the next virtual race at Hurdlewood Valley.

Given the history of Hastings, one jockey’s name leaps off the screen: Randy Bowman. Go back far enough - to the 11th century, say - and most of the town’s inhabitants will find a randy bowman lurking among the upper branches of their family tree.