Still proud to be part of the racing rabble despite what the outsiders think of us

I would love to be strolling the few hundred yards to my local race meeting in Streatham this Easter weekend but unfortunately I'm 145 years too late. The Metropolitan Suburban Racecourses Act of 1878 has put paid to that season opener in south London and the only evidence that racing ever took place are the ramps from the platforms at the local railway station at Norbury which allowed racehorses to disembark without having to negotiate a couple of flights of stairs.

On a busy day in parliament on December 6, 1878 the act, which insisted on a licence for all meetings within 12 miles of Charing Cross in order to curb rowdyism, appropriately followed the earlier reading of a bill "to facilitate the control and cure of Habitual Drunkards" and, less relevantly, a bill which rendered lawful marriage with a deceased wife's sister.

Streatham races stood no chance of receiving a licence as it was notorious for attracting the rough and ready "mixed with a number of sly and shifty characters who lived by their wits, earned their living by various doubtful and dubious means and preferred to settle differences with fellow racegoers and bookmakers by fist and broken bottle", according to local historian John Brown.