rhythm and boozePassionate About Proper Pubs - Issue 17 - January/February 2013

The festivities are over for

another year, the decorations

are back in the loft and the

shops already have their

Valentine’s and Easter wares

on display. Actually, you have

to admire them for that, for as

the economic recession shows

no signs of abating, you have

to be the ‘early bird’ to stand

any chance of prosperity. So

what now for our pubs and

brewing industry?

Many of you will have

rediscovered the warm

friendliness of a back street

local during the festive

period, or partied ‘til the wee

hours at one of the larger

venues, perhaps while

enjoying some excellent live

music from one of the city’s

many talented bands.

Remember just how much

nicer that pint of cask ale

tasted; instead of a cold can of

fizzy pop you bought from a

supermarket. Remember how

much fun you had chatting

with friends old & new

instead of watching

EastEnders. Remember how

much better the live band you

saw sounded, compared to the

dross offered up on X Factor.

But will you remember to

continue supporting your

local pub, or do you just

presume it will still be there

next December?

According to CAMRA, pubs

are now closing at the rate

of 16 per week, with rural

outlets and small community

pubs the worst hit. As our

blinkered politicians continue

to hit the industry hard with

punitive taxes in their war

against binge drinking, the

innocent drinkers are the ones

being punished, and so it is

easy to understand why the

majority of people choose to

drink at home these days. And

therein lies the problem – far

too much drinking in an

unregulated environment,

when even minors of 13 and

14 have easy access to Mum

& Dad’s drinks cabinet.

There are now more

breweries operating in this

country (over 1,000) than at

any time since before the war,

all competing to supply our

ever dwindling pub market,

yet the big players in the

game – the global giants like

Carlsberg, Heineken, InBev

and Coors – continue to

supply the supermarkets with

canned beer at about a quarter

of the cost they charge their

own pubs.

Let’s look at the worst side

of things. Amid a Siberian

Winter and with rapidly rising

energy prices; an increase in

beer prices (due to the poor

malt and hop harvest last

year), another budget in

March (most probably another

duty increase), then even by

charging well over £3 a pint,

the landlord of your local will

still struggle to make a decent

wage, and that’s why so many

pubs go to the wall.

So fresh thinking is what we

need, and perhaps a lower rate

of VAT for the on trade would

help for starters. A rate set at

just 5% would allow beer

prices to drop by around 50p

a pint, and allow landlords

to compete with supermarkets

for once. They still couldn’t

match them for price, but if

you remember just how much

fun you had at the pub; the

excellent value meal you ate,

the friends you chatted with,

old Fred who played you at

dominos while sat by a

roaring fire. For many people

who live on their own, the

pub provides them with the

friendly community centre

they need. And just where are

we going to find the next Phil

Taylor or Ronnie O’Sullivan?

If you consider the whole

package a visit to the pub

can entail, then perhaps, just

perhaps, a few more of you

might make that effort to visit

your friendly local more

often. Then, there might just

be a few pubs left in which to

celebrate again next year.Bram is the landlord of

the Hand & Heart, the only

surviving pub in Millfield.

Happy New Year?

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The Surrealist Sportsman’s ClubIn this issue, David ‘Dai’Roll turns his attention to Pool and Billiards.Locally, the most famous

billiards player would have

been Mary Queen of Scots,

who after her execution (in

February 1587) was wrapped

in the cloth from her table

and so deserves to be the first

person to be inducted into the

Surrealist Sports’ Club Hall

of Fame.

English billiards, which

started around 1800, is played

on a snooker-sized table with

three snooker-sized balls – a

white, a white with a spot and

a red – and so the game can

be found in snooker halls.

Many purpose-built Burton’s

shops had a snooker hall

above them (as a way of

attracting customers to the

menswear stores, I suppose)

as can be seen in

Peterborough above what

is now Linens Direct on

Bridge Street.

Eight-ball pool, the form

most commonly played in

pubs, was developed around

1900 and is played with seven

coloured balls (numbered 1

to 7), seven striped balls

(numbered 9 to 15), the black

8 ball and a white cue ball.

The table is smaller than

snooker, making the game

popular in bars where the

larger table would take up too

much room. The balls are

racked in a triangle before the

break occurs.

There are several different

versions of the rules,

depending on which playing

association might be

followed, along with ad-hoc

rules found at the individual

venues. A major impetus for

the game in Britain was

Paul Newman’s 1961 film

The Hustler.

While researching this

article I discovered that there

is a version of billiards known

as Artistic Billiards that is

based around a series of trick

shots (and features in the

background of a painting by

Paul Gauguin). Being a

Surrealist I started to wonder

what artistic styles could be

played as billiards? Cubism

with blocks replacing the

balls? Dada with found items

of rubbish glued to the table?

Abstract Impressionism with

the necessary route of the ball

following a line on a Jackson

Pollack painting?

Our best wishes go to Scott

Anderson of the Crown in

Great Casterton (and who

plays for the Whittle Way

Muppets of Stanground) who

will be playing in the

England team at the Under-21

European Championships in

Blackpool in February. If you

know of any pub forthcoming

pub tournaments, get in touch

by dropping an email to

simonstabler@aol.com

nMobile disco forparties, weddings etc

nExperienced, reliable DJ with an extensive

selection of musicand lights

nReasonable rates

nCall David on07946 817123

www.ministryofbrown.co.uk

Pub ScrawlThe fabulous Sophie Snell is

the storyteller at this year’s Whittlesea Straw Bear

Festival. She will be at the

Queen’s Street Methodist/

United Reform church on

Saturday 12 January between

12.30pm and 3.15pm. I’ve

seen her before and am

looking forward to seeing

her again.

If you’ve never been to the

Straw Bear Festival it is a bit

like a cross between a

maypole dance and The

Wicker Man. There are lots

of Morris dancing (and other

styles of folk dance),

musicians randomly cropping

up in pubs, lots of drinking

(pubs probably take more than

on New Year’s Eve) plus the

storytelling and poetry. You’ll

find Poets United performing

at Whittlesey Library between

12.30 and 1.30pm, and then

3.30 to 4.30pm.

On Saturday 9 February

children’s author Claire

O’Brien will be talking about

her book Cordelia Codd: Not

Just the Blues and about her

life as a writer. Claire will

be at Bretton Library (10.30-

11.30am), Orton Library (12-

1pm) and the Central Library

(2-3pm). Suitable for ages 8-

12, tickets are £1 each.

John Clare Cottage in

Helpston will be hosting

another of its author talks on

Wednesday 20 February with

Suzi Hamilton. Her book

Notice Me! is a memoir of her

childhood in the care of the

Barnardo’s organisation.

Tickets are £6 and include

a glass of wine and light

refreshments. The talk starts

at 7pm, contact Clare Cottage

on (01733) 253330 to reserve

your ticket.

The leading independent

publisher with an

international reputation for

high quality, Sawtry-based

Dedalus Books has released

its third book relating to

alcohol. The Dedalus Book of

Vodka by Geoffrey Elborn

looks at the history of the

spirit from the Middle Ages to

the present day and follows on

from the publisher’s books on

Absinth and on Gin. All

should be able to be ordered

through bookshops.

Over in Oundle, things are

changing for the Literary

Festival. While the KidLit

stream will remain a week of

packed events in March,

they’re going to be spreading

the adult events throughout

the year. We’ll try to keep you

up to date with who is doing

what, when and where, but for

full details go to the website

at www.oundlelitfest.org.uk

The 25th King’s Lynn

Fiction Festival will be held

over the weekend of 8-10

March. With guest speakers

including Robert Edric

(Devil’s Beat), Rachel Hore

(A Gathering Storm) and Liz

Jensen (The Uninvited),

further information can be

found at lynnlitfests.com

Cardinal Cox is Poet-in-

Residence of St John the

Baptist church. In 2012 he

appeared on Radio

Cambridgeshire a handful

of times and was a finalist

at the Peterborough Poet

Laureate 2012 competition.

The Cardinal’s Calendar

9 January/13 February – Pint of Poetry, Dash of Drama If you

want to read, it is best to get there about 8pm as it can get quite busy,

and the entertainment starts around 8.30pm.

5 March – Poets United meet at the PCVS building on Lincoln

Road (opposite Geneva Bar) For full details ring Viv on 01733

340560.

30 January/27 February – Stamford’s Pint of Poetry takes place

from 8pm at the cellar bar at the Arts Centre on St Mary’s Street.

Storyteller Sophie Snell will

be appearing at this year’s

Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival.

The price of tickets aside, the

thing that really rankles with

me about rail travel is the lack

of decent facilities at many of

our railway stations. Until

very recently, London King’s

Cross was one such place;

with few seats, let alone the

chance of finding a good pint.

With the opening of its

Western Concourse last

March, the station now has a

decent quality pub in the

shape of The Parcel Yard on

the first floor. Built, as the

name suggests, in the station’s

former sorting office, this

Fuller’s pub is a world away

from the now-closed Duke of

York on platform 8.

Instead of vinegary beer, it

offers an extensive range of

the brewer’s ales including

Chiswick Bitter, which at

£3.55 a pint is respectable for

both a railway station and

‘that’ London. Split into

several rooms with windows

overlooking the suburban and

main line platforms, the pub’s

menu of gastro-type dishes,

makes it perfect for people

looking for fine dining as

much as it does those killing

time before their train.Hatfield…

Until recently, the only thing

that the front of Hatfield

(Hertfordshire) station offered

real ale fans, travelling on the

East Coast Main Line, was a

fast bus link to St Albans. But

the former Hatfield Arms

(once described as looking

‘like something the cat

brought up’), on the opposite

side of the Great North Road,

has been refurbished and

renamed The Great Northern.

Not only will you find plenty

of photographs relating to

Taking The Lo

the former railway company

and its locomotives, there’s a

menu offering traditional pub

grub and hand pumps serving

several Greene King ales

along with Sharp’s Doom Bar.…and the north

Although Wakefield, West

Yorkshire is known for its

‘Westgate Run’, where

revellers attempt to visit as

many of the chain pubs along

Westgate, the city has plenty

of good quality ale houses.

One of these is Henry

Boon’s, which can be found

just past the viaduct to the

right of the entrance into

Wakefield Westgate station.

Not only does it sell

reasonably priced pub grub,

it’s fantastic ale selection is

bolstered somewhat by being

the brewery tap for H.B.

Clark, which is at the rear of

the pub.

Further north is York,

another major station which

until recently was notorious

for having a poor pub on

site. Although Coopers is

still there, it’s been usurped

following the opening of The

York Tap on platform 3.

Like its sister pubs at

Euston and Sheffield stations,

The York Tap makes use of

classic railway architecture, in

this case the former North

Eastern Railway tea rooms,

which until recently was home

to the York Model Railway.

Fully restored to its former

glory, it serves 32 draft beers,

ciders and ales, not forgetting

a selection of unusually filled

pork pies.

n Do you know of a good pub close to a railway station?

If so, drop us an email at

simonstabler@aol.com

ong Way Home

Clockwise from left: Henry Boon’s (and H.B. Clark’s brewery) in

Wakefield, West Yorkshire; The Parcel Yard at London King’s Cross;

the interior of The York Tap, which has seen the Great Eastern

Railway’s former tearooms restored to their full glory, and The Great

Northern, Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

N O F O O L SN O F O O L S

H O R D E S . . . .H O R D E S . . . .««« just «««

The last Sunday in October,

at the Bushfield Leisure

Centre in Orton Golday,

saw several actors from

the fondly remembered TV

comedy Only Fools and

Horses gather to meet their

fans. I’ve been to a few of

these TV-themed conventions

in the past and wondered how

this might compare.

In a side room photos could

be taken with look-alikes of

Del and Uncle Albert in a

recreation of the Peckham

flat (though there was a

punter who looked just as

much like Sir David Jason as

the official look-alike). There

was a third person there in a

camouflage jacket, but as his

similarity to Rodney was only

slight he wasn’t advertised as

a look-alike. This room also

housed a yellow Reliant

Robin (suitably painted) and

trailer that can be hired for

funerals from the firm Only

Fools and Hearses.

The main room had several

stalls selling all sorts of

memorabilia including

board games, mugs, t-shirts,

dressing gowns (in the style

of Del’s sheepskin coat),

bottles of Peckham Spring

Water and even inflatable

dolls in the joke style of one

particular episode. This room

also had an exhibition of

props includes a number of

coats that had been worn in

the show.

The main thing in the room

though was the very long

queue to get autographs from

the actors (who this year

included Paul Barber, also

from the movie The Long

Good Friday). The standard

admission price of £5 entitled

you to two free autographs

from each actor, which is

actually a very good bargain.

Obviously they’d be selling

photos of themselves, but you

could buy a calendar from one

of the stalls and get them to

sign that. However, at one

point I did overhear two

people saying that this year’s

convention was better than

last as they’d only had to

queue three and a half hours

for their autographs. To one

side of the queue there was a

largish video screen showing

episodes, presumably to

amuse the crowd while they

waited, and between episodes

an organiser would stand up

to sell off a limited number of

mugs, CDs or other items.

Now I might have liked a

chance to see episodes of

some of the foreign re-makes

(I believe the series has been

re-made in both Holland and

Portugal) to compare. Or

even, if they could get hold

of it (though that is unlikely),

the American pilot with

Christopher Lloyd in the Del

Boy role. Perhaps they did,

but not when I was there.

Also, from other TV events,

I like it when an actor gives

a short talk about their career

and an impromptu rendition

of the theme on the spoons

(or some such). This though

would have been impossible

here as that would have

delayed the autograph hungry

crowd even more.

I hope the convention re-

turns to Peterborough in the

future (perhaps alternating

with events in the north so

that fans there get a chance to

attend) and will look out for

information on the Fan Club’s

website at www.ofah.net.T.V. Jones

Hand & Heart12 Highbury Street. Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

A traditional back-street pub withup to six real ales at any time

nReal open coal fire in the bar

nTraditional pub games

nTraditional cider and perry available

nCAMRA Cambridgeshire Pub of the Year 2010

nCAMRA Gold Award Winner 2010

nLocAle Accredited

nListed in the CAMRA 2012 Good Beer Guide

nCheck our Facebook page ‘Friends of the Hand & Heart’for updates on beer festivals and live music

Attending the convention were Ben Smith (Damien), Paul Barber (Denzil), John Challis (Boycie), Denis

Lill (Alan Parry), Steven Woodcock (Jevon), Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra) and Sue Holderness (Marlene).

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LISTINGSBlue Bell Inn

Welland Road, Dogsthorpe

Peterborough PE1 3SA

01733 554890

January

04 - Unity Reggae Vibes

12 - Porky Pig

19 - Zeb Rootz

26 - The Mistreated

The Cherry Tree

9 Oundle Road, Woodston

Peterborough PE2 9PB

01733 564531

January

25 - Maxwell Hammer &

Smith

26 - Zeb Rootz

February

02 - Frankly My Dear

09 - Nightshade

15 - Let There B/DC

22 - Spare Parts

Cock Inn, 1305 Lincoln

Road, Werrington

Peterborough

PE4 6LW

01733 322006

January

05 - Frankly My Dear

12 - Retrolux

18 - The Mistreated

26 - The Limit

February

02 - Let There B/DC

The Hand & Heart

12 Highbury Street

Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

January

03 - Open Mic Night

12 - Shane ‘Elvis’ Poole

& guests

17 - Captain Backwash &

The Barley Boy Rafter

Raisers

February

07 - Open Mic Night

14 - Eric & his Organ

21 - Captain Backwash &

The Barley Boy Rafter

Raisers

The Ostrich Inn, 17 North

Street, Peterborough

PE1 2RA

01733 746370

January

04 - Glass Heart

05 - Little Dave Band

11 - The Wash

12 - The 707

18 - Faster Muttley

19 - Wild Honey

25 - Rufus

26 - Miscellaneous

February

01 - Frankly My Dear

02 - Grumpy Old Men

08 - Beats Working

09 - Solitaire & The Gypsy

Messiahs

15 - Retrolux

16 - The Influence

22 - The Mistreated

23 - Vintage Stuff

Traditional Irish Music every

Sunday (4-7pm)

Don’t Forget:

Local CAMRA members

can now receive £20 of

discounts throughout the

year on presentation of their

membership cards.

The Prince of Wales

Feathers, 38 Peterborough

Road, Castor, Peterborough

PE5 7AL

01733 380222

January

12 - Karaoke

February

23 - The Mistreated

The Woolpack, 29 North

Street, Stanground,

Peterborough PE2 8HR

01733 753544

January

13 - Jeff the Chef (4pm)

All listings given in good

faith, Rhythm & Booze cannot

be held responsible for any

discrepancy.

Rhythm & Booze, Issue 17 - Jan/Feb 2013. All written material, unless otherwise stated, © Simon Stabler

ATTENTION PUBS AND PROMOTERS. All events are listed freeof charge, to ensure inclusion in the March/April issue, please emailsimonstabler@aol.com before 7 February 2013.

The Palmerston Arms82 Oundle Road, Peterborough

PE2 9PA Tel: 01733 565865

Burns’ Week Beer Festival(21st-27th January)

Celebrate the Bard’s birthdaywith ales from Scottish brewers

and whiskys selected by theScotch Malt Whisky Society.

Burns’ Night (25th

January) will bemarked in a traditional manner.

Lazy SundaysEnjoy Peterborough’s finest acoustic

acts, every Sunday from 3pm.

For more live music and events,please see our Facebook page

O p e n i n g T i m e s : Monday - Thursday 15.00 - 23.00

Friday and Saturday 12.00 - 00.00 Sunday 12.00 - 23.30

The WoolpackNorth Street, Stanground,

Peterborough PE2 8JF (01733) 753544

Stanground's Best Kept Secret- A 15 minute walk from the centre of town

Live Music with Jeff the Chef- Sunday 13th January (4pm)

n Open all day, every day

n Up to four real ales available

n Food served Tuesday to Sunday lunchtimesand Monday to Saturday evenings

n Quiz on Sunday evenings with cash prizes

Have a drink on us...Get a free glass of wine each when orderingtwo or moreselected mainmeals in January.