A dying breed of pub ...

22 July

Yesterday was a good for both of us. We went off to mid-Wales for the day ending up in Aberystwyth in the rain. I didn’t get too many photos from the day but het ho, we still had a great day all round. After a short walk round we went for a drink and then we found a Smudges Place cos we needed a new GB road map. While we were in there I found a Stephen King book I haven’t read; IT, was on sale for £10, seems a bit steep for a paperback, so I checked the page count; 1,375! No wonder it’s up for a tenner. I put it back on the shelf though, simply because trying to read that one while lying in bed would be really hard for me.

As we left there, up one road map but minus one paperback, we saw one of the largest stationary/craft shops we’ve ever seen. So we went in there too. Most writers can’t resist a new stationer, and I’m one of them. Half hour later we left there with me having bought three new notebooks, one of which I began using more or less straight away. And guess what; right opposite there was an old fashioned sweet shop, you know the sort I’m sure, with large jars of sweeties on shelves all around the place. Jan was in her element in there. Mind you, I quite enjoyed it too. We ended up spending £11 in there, including two packs of Victory Vs, which I haven’t seen for years.

By then we were getting close to the time limit on our parking so we made our slow way back to the car. We decided that we would go home a different way and headed off down the coast road, eventually joining up with the A40, which lead us back inland (and all the way into London if had wanted). We decided that we wanted another drink, but do you think we could find a pub with parking; no way! We must have driven another twenty miles before we came to one.

The pub is called The New Inn, and what a nice little pub it is too. As well as the bar it also takes in backpackers and provides food from 6pm, even if the menu is out of our price range. As it was we were not looking to eat anyway, but we do like to look at the menu anyway. There were a few folk in there and all of them were friendly and spoke to us at one point or a another. They also had four real ale clips that I hadn’t seen before and added those to the collection.

Taking photos of the real ale clips caused a few friendly comments. There was very rotund man there who seemed to be going through his pints every ten minutes said, ‘So you take pictures of the clips but don’t sample them then?’ So I explained that fifteen months ago I stopped drinking booze and since then I have lost at least three stone; at which point he mumbled something about him needing to do the same, but then drained his glass and ordered another one.

That pub is one of dying breed of pubs. It’s what we call, ‘a real pub’. There was no TV in there, no one-armed bandits and no blaring music, just nice friendly atmosphere and nice comfortable seating. There was one small downside though, in the shape of a white scotty dog. Oh it was a nice little dog but it was sexist! Yes, it was a sexist dog, simple cos although it was happy for me fuss her (her name was Rosy, BTW), she didn’t really come to life until Jan approached her. See, a sexist dog!

There is a major parking issue outside our block of flats here, most because the home owners opposite seem to enjoy parking in our bays. There’s not enough of them anyway just for us flat residents, let alone that lot! So imagine our surprise when we arrived back here at around 9.45pm and found a space right outside home. Jan got in there very quickly. Anyway …

Enough of yesterday; today’s photo …

Elderly flowers, which make a very acceptable wine too.

Today’s funny …

What do you call an overweight ghost that haunts an opera house?
The fat-tum of the opera.