Is there any finer place than a pub? Not just for drinking, or reading or soaking up the atmosphere by a process of contemplative osmosis : but for writing. So here's the plan. Take a pub, take a pint, take a set of 4" x 4" Post-It notes, and take a pen. And see what emerges. I am not sure where this is going - I only invented the game a couple of hours ago. This time the words are vaguely about the pub, next time they may be about ... well who knows!. The notes were as written in the Black Bull in Brighouse whilst supping a pint of Tetleys' bitter. In case you have trouble following my writing, I have added a transcription. Cheers.
"Town pub dating from a time when a town needed a pub for commercial travelers to stay, Oddfellows to meet, and smart young men about town to greet a lass and buy her an anticipatory port and lemon. Dates from a time when pubs were not measured in square-footish parcels. It is ample, like the legions of ample Aldermen it will have been home-from-home to. Ample like a town beadle : proud, embellished, showy, large than the life of this small Yorkshire town. Now it struggles with its Sky TV that will never quite fill its terraces, its lunchtime carvery which will never quite tempt the foodies, its stainless steel electric larger pumps which will never, ever, win the beer-heads. Poor, poor Brighouse : its Corporation was lost years ago, its newspaper is a sad shadow of its former self. Somebody please protect its Black Bull."
Aaahhh yes.. to go back into yesterday's pubs and allowing them to be an experience in themselves!
ReplyDeleteAnthony Hopkins starred in "Remains of the Day"... I loved the pub scenes. Back in 2007 I had the previlage of going to Kent with Willow's WT. There, we went to a local pub and had ale and shepherd's pie... transporting us back in time.. I loved it!... thanks for your posts on pubs... they are extremely delightful!
:)The Bach
I love doing my marking in pubs. There's something about the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteFran : I remember doing my homework in the pub at one time. I have a feeling that me and a mate were still wearing school uniform : people seemed to care less about such things in those days.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Alan. I don't get to quite so many pubs these days but, I'll try to remember a post-it note when I next go for a pint.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I used to conduct annual appraisals in a pub, just off campus. It was an altogether more civilised venue for reviewing, assessing and developing staff profiles.
Martin : Make your way to a pub with your Post-It note and pen one of those magnificent poems of yours.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea except that I don't like any of the pubs around our area. I have fantastic memories of UK pubs when I was living and working in London on my OE.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the pubs in my neck of the woods, North Hants/West Berks border, have closed down over the past few years. It's a real shame. A few of those still open serve decent ale as opposed to lager. Had a lovely pint of Timothy Taylor's on Friday, but alas no post-it note.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see a place slowly fade away. There have been a lot of Brighouses in the US, places that faded away to ghost towns or were swallowed up into larger suburbs. And it sounds like The Black Bull need to go back to oak and old-fashioned taps; at least here in the States the old-style pubs seem to be the "in" thing.
ReplyDeleteAlan, so true about the uniforms. I, too, sometimes visited a pub (The Wheatsheaf, Louth) with my friends, all of us dressed in uniform. Our school was just down the road. No one seemed to bat an eyelid at us those days ... early 70's. Thanks for bringing back a lovely old, forgotten memory. Wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is that your handwriting looks just like mine! How about that! :)
ReplyDeleteYou made a start by going in for a drink there, instead of taking a few bottles home. It seems each pub that is going to survive is going to need something outstanding about it. Good beer might be a start!
ReplyDelete30 seconds away from the Black Bull is the splendid Old Ship Inn on Bethel St. Lots of diffeerent beers and interesting characters. Try going there next time.
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