28 THE ENGLISH TURF 



the chief occupation of the place for more than two hundred 

 years, and to racing it owes its prosperity — almost its very 

 existence. The town of Newmarket, which is built in a dip of 

 the land, is practically a single street of about a mile in length, 

 with various back settlements, some of them dilapidated 

 and disreputable enough in appearance, behind this street, 

 and clusters of villa residences and training stables dotted 

 about the outskirts. It is situated, partly in Cambridgeshire 

 and partly in Suffolk, on the high road from London to 

 Norwich, and is sixty miles, exactly, from the Metropolis, 

 and something less than forty miles from the capital of 

 Norfolk. Seeing that it is placed in a low-lying country, 

 and is quite close to the fens, it has a somewhat lofty 

 altitude, and out on the heath there is nearly always a 

 breeze. The air is exceedingly bracing, and a perfect tonic 

 to those in need of a change. A visitor to Newmarket must 

 be prepared to pay extra prices for accommodation in the 

 race weeks, and at all times the place is a dear one to 

 live in, though the actual marketing is cheap enough. 

 Naturally there is a good demand for houses, as many of 

 the members of the Jockey Club, and a fair proportion of 

 the "big" owners of racehorses, maintain an establishment 

 at headquarters all the year round. This alone causes house- 

 rent to be very high, and I have known of a villa and 

 stabling changing hands at ;^i 5,000, which would have 

 been dear at less than a fourth the price elsewhere, and 

 not worth more than ;^5,ooo on the banks of the Thames. 

 Another common plan is to rent furnished houses by the 

 year, or for an individual meeting, and in this case also 

 rents are very high, as much as ;i^ioo being frequently 

 demanded for an ordinary house of twelve or fourteen rooms 

 during a race week. 



With regard to lodgings it is much the same ; from 

 twelve to fourteen guineas a week for a sitting-room, bed- 

 room, and dressing-room being generally asked for the 

 best, while three guineas per room per week is a favourite 

 charge for what we may call the second best. There are 

 cheaper rooms of the cottage order, but they offer very 

 uncomfortable accommodation, though they too bring in 



