I wheeled my little Mercedes-Benz Kompressor into the gravelled area in front of the solid metal gate, supported by high brick walls on either side, just off a leafy lane in the Surrey stockbroker belt. The video camera surveyed the vehicle and a metal voice message machine intoned its impersonal: "Dominie House, state your name and business." "Member 69," I replied, still ridiculously proud of the number I had been given...