I think I can count the free drinks I have had in pubs in Blighty over 30 years of unequivocal and sustained boozing on the fingers of one hand. Just for example, in the second and third years of my period of academic excellence at the City of Leicester Polytechnic I managed to divide my student grant between William Hill and the Huntsman, possibly the least attractive pub in Western Europe. It is almost certainly now a pole dancing joint called Sexx!! with a lot of bedraggled plastic banners hanging outside offering a full Sunday roast for £2.99. I used to drink pints of M&B mild like it was going out of fashion (which it did, shortly afterwards). The poisoned, spavined dwarf who ran the place never once said "this one's on me, Christmas an' all that". The place pictured above is the Cavallino Bianco, the Little White Horse, a local bar. In one memorable evening, with the sainted Doctor Munro, we managed to drink €50 of gin and tonic between us. The problem was that the owner, Enrico, matched us round for round with a free one. And as a G&T (Italian-style, ginned up to the brim) cost €1.50, you can imagine the mayhem. I found the Doctor the next morning upside down in a holly bush. The Little White Horse closed about a year ago and is still up for sale.
9 comments:
Ooh, even more of a lad. Just to think, whilst you were necking it in Leicester I was dutifully sitting by my fire in leafy Warwickshire reading Thackeray to the children, looking up every now and then to dear Katie who was either darning my socks or making us all another mug of Bournvita.
Was that not also your streaking period Ron? First in Leicester according to this dog eared copy of a 1977 Leicester Mercury....
That's your future settled then Ron - buy the bar and we can all come and visit, sort of degenerate, reject, halfwit, community. Land rover explorers can call in on their way South, photographers can stay a while, I might even drive the Stanley Steamer over the Alps for a free beer .........
I quite like that idea Diplo. If I could trust myself behind a bar, I might think about giving it a go.
So that's ruled that one out then.
Where would Spike Milligan or (god bless him ) Peter Sellers have got to with that attitude - you must think longer term, some of the greatest reject communities around the world where started by colapsed artists, pissed poets, ugly hippies and even drunk publicans - but where would we be without them ? How can you be so selfish ?
I think you should all club together and buy it. Mind you, you'd end up supplying your own booze, having drunk the meagre profits from your opening night hooley.
Yes indeed Ron, early 70's was your streaking period along with, Big Steve and the Prof. What a combo, Ron?
Peter, what happened to the idyl you have described? Was it the beard?
Ain't y'sick of Christmas? with inlaws clogging the place up and spouting their naive and hidious 'right on' views. In the name of God, go.
testing,testing. if this comes up as macgregor(which is spelt incorrectly)i'll swing for this computer.
I;m back!!!
Oh Cindy I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you. And equally glad you've lost the MacGregor tag, which somehow makes me think of rabbits in blue jackets being chased by murderous gardeners with garden rakes.
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