Whitstable part 5

As we entered the Bingo Hall we spotted Mr Bown imediately. Tall and tanned, smiling broadly to reveal even white teeth, he welcomed us warmly. "AHH I think I do remember you" he remarked to my companion. He proved to be an extremely amiable host, providing us with cups of hot tea and offering us complementary scampi and chips for our lunch. The hall was already beginning to fill with players (women mostly) sitting singly or in small groups. They were warming up by playing some sort of national game piped into the hall through loud speakers. Not wanting to disturb them, I think, Mr Bown quietly ushered us to a corner of the hall to discuss the filming. He gave us some background about the club which, he explained, like many of the smaller clubs had suffered from the introduction of the smoking ban and online gambling. He seemed sad, mainly for his clientele, who he said would miss the social aspect of bingo if it were to fail and close. I suspected that he was thinking back to more glorious days and thought them passed. We discussed further some of the technical aspects of the filming and my vague intentions. He seemed satisfied that all was well and said we could begin in a few minutes.



-- posted abroad