Ken Hailes Bookmakers

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The place where Albert Swift meets his maker. This is a difficult location to place and I only was able to work this out by being given the tip off of looking in the reflection of the windows of the bookmakers. The location is Argyle Street, a five-minute walk from Ellison Street.

Ken Hailes bookmakers is now long gone, replaced by what I believe was a council administration building. As of 2016, that building was being demolished – not sure what for or why – but it certainly brings to an end any form of recognition of the area. The building over the road (which is what you can see in the reflection) is still standing, but I’m unsure of its usage.

A very interesting piece of trivia was emailed to me by John Hawkins, who points out:

When entering the betting shop the newspapers are on the wall and show Alexander Park and Wincanton race cards but the dates cannot be made out. Alexander Park’s final ever meeting took place on Tuesday 8 September 1970. This is the first clue.

After stabbing Albert Swift, Carter re-enters from the rear and there is a blind man placing a bet on Lucky Leap. In the background the “blower” is describing a race. It goes along the line of “passing the stands, a circuit to go, it’s Vulferrans by 6 lengths from Black Rod….”.

Wincanton & Alexander Park meetings took place on the 8 September 1970.

The commentary race was the 4:45 at Wincanton on Tuesday 8/9/1970 (won by Black Rod the 5/4 fav, Vulferrans last of 4).This is identified by looking at the racecards for the 8/9/70 and the results published on the 9/9/70 using British Newspaper Archive.

Lucky Leap was a runner in the 2:55 at Alexander Park, so it had already run by the time the commentary race was on the blower. Obviously just a scene they needed for authenticity.