Saturday 21 July 2007

Recommended Pub

The Happy Scots Bar, Blackpool.

No, I haven't been there, but I see that the landlord, Hamish Howitt, is facing a £17,500 fine for allowing his customers to smoke. As a strong opponent of the ridiculous ban - if a landlord chooses to allow people to smoke on his property, whose concern is that but his own? - I applaud his stance, and would suggest that anyone in the Blackpool area joins him in sticking two fingers up at the interfering nanny statists, by drinking a pint or two in his pub.

By contrast:

Not a recommended pub:

The Prince of Wales in Earl's Court. Light up in there, and a screaming harridan swiftly descends upon you, as Mr Smith, Paul Weston, and myself discovered to our cost recently.

4 comments:

bernard said...

Tell us more.
Were you screamed at because you actually smoked?; mentioned the word itself?; looked like you might smoke?; or just vaguely smelled of smoke?

Mind you, women are used pretty extensively these days as 'soft enforcers'.
It's a cowardly ploy.

Fulham Reactionary said...

No, there was an incident of actual lighting up. And, to be fair, it would have been her getting the £2,500 fine if some officious person had reported it.

But her reaction was completely OTT - a simple "can you not do that?" would probably have sufficed, rather than shrieking at us like a banshee.

Anonymous said...

There was smoke, fire, screaming, terrible wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then Fulham Reactionary finished telling us about his school days and Paul Weston lit up, at which point an odious neo-nazi tried to snatch the cigarette from his hand, and took all valuables left on the table outside for dumping.

It's possible she was still sore at being rejected from the Eastenders audition for being 'too commmon, too apparently thick, the audience would never go for it'.

In fairness, I've heard many good reports of banshees behaving perfectly well at the sight of a furtive cigarette.

bernard said...

All great stuff!

You are lucky it was'nt a 'Whirling Dervish', they usually finish by evacuating the contents of their stomach on by-standers.
Lucky escape, I'd say.