A few days ago, me
and the missus decided to pop out for lunch to a pub we rarely visit, and, as
luck would have it, they'd had a beer festival for the (somewhat wet) Jubilee
weekend, and found themselves with an amount of unsold real ale. As soon as I
saw the handwritten sign that there were a number of beers available at £1.50 a
pint, I realised I'd landed on my feet! These days, I don't drink much alcohol because
it's calorific and I don't want to put weight on, but beer for less than the
Diet Coke I'd normally have had, was irresistible.
I'm guessing that
the last time it cost £1.50 a pint would have been in the early 90s, quite
possibly at the Queen's Golden Jubilee? Anyway, they had about 15 different
beers available, and I chose one I wasn't familiar with, which was excellent. I
stuck to half pints so that I could try another (pint limited by the missus!,
Sensibly, I concede!). I followed the first beer with Adnams Ghost Ship, and if
that first beer was excellent, the Ghost Ship was even better! It was a
pleasant beer and had a strong undertone flavour like a bouquet of summer
flowers. Had I been allowed to, I think I could have easily sozzled myself on
Ghost Ship that afternoon, and will look for it again in the future.
Pubs are part of the
character of Britain, and are very unique within Europe. It saddens me to see
that so many have closed, and continue to do so. Times change, and nearly half
a century ago when I left school, pubs were everywhere, and "everybody"
used them socially, meeting up after work or at weekends. It wasn't so much the
drinking, we weren't all drunks, and (although beer was relatively cheap –
possibly more than a gallon for a Pound?) getting plastered wasn't really on
the agenda. People liked to talk, with friends, with strangers, often telling
jokes, sometimes arguing over politics (or one of the other "best
avoided" subjects).
Life was simpler,
television had few channels, and no means of recording it to watch later. Pubs
used to open at six o'clock in the evening, and close at 10 PM (which became 11
PM during the summer) each with 10 min drinking up time, and that usually
strictly enforced. There were one or two pubs whose clocks never seem to work
properly, and if you really needed a drink (or thought you did!) After hours,
there were, as I say, one or two pubs that might run on a little bit. Such pubs
were rare, and in those days the local police kept a presence, which made
drinking after hours a risky business.
These days, almost
all pubs sell food, most rely on restaurant trade for a large part of their
income. Beer is generally an accompaniment rather than the reason for being
there, many men take their wives out for a meal, and get a beer as a bonus, (perhaps
a little bit for old time's ’ sake?), After all, beer drinking is a rather "male"
pastime, in my opinion, with the ladies tending towards Lager (itself a beer,
but not “knife and fork” like a good
Bitter), or am I being unfair?
Whenever I visit a
pub where a group of people have gathered to chat and or simply to enjoy a
drink, I find it a warming experience, because to me, however much I enjoy a
meal with the missus (and I definitely do!), to see a pub being used
traditionally, is to my mind, a good thing.
Okay, we can all go
online and express ourselves whilst listening to others views, but do we, and
is it as rewarding? One of the things that kept a sense of proportion
throughout society, was the physical interaction that you had with others.
Nowadays, with mobile phones and the Internet we have greater interaction
possibilities with the whole world, but are we gaining what we should or could,
from it?
Makes you think
doesn't it?
Thanks for reading,
Dan
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