M was watching horse racing when I arrived for our weekly social visit. Our conversation started with that and meandered through snakes - I’d seen an adder on Brighton racecourse, Bodmin Moor where M had seen one as a child, back to gambling and sport. I mentioned Charlie Gardiner, an Edwardian professional marathon runner (pictured winning a race finishing at White City in 1909) who lived locally and made his money through the gambling of others. M grinned when I mentioned his name as she was a friend of Charlie when she first moved to Lewisham and saw a lot of him and his family. I wonder where the conversation will take us next week?