First pint aged 15 in the Jolly Colliers top of Woodway Lane. Still served you in there if you had school uniform on. It was a pint of mild. By the time I reached 18 when you were old enough to drink,I'd been boozing for 3 years !Those were the days when you could get absolutely smashed outta your head for a quid! My kids won't believe me when I tell them I bought my first pint for 10½p! That was in the Summerland Tavern down the Butts.
:emoji_laughing:
Love this thread
My parents were in the pub trade in Coventry for almost 20 years
They ran the Hope and anchor, the climax and The admiral codrington
Bless them they worked really hard
My dad was a very old school pub gaffer
The sold the cod in 1994 but I had some great memories
They used to only have a Wednesday night off but when I got to roughly 17 my dad used to take me on a little pub crawl from the cod to the stag into the Smithfield up to Cassidys then to the town wall or the town crier
He knew lot of the gaffers in and around Coventry and there was a certain cameraderie from most of them
My dad is a gentleman and I never heard him say a wrong word about any of them but to this day he can't say a nice word about Ken Brown
A few of my relatives have had pubs and clubs too my brother ran the 3 horse shoes on the stoney Stanton road 91/92ish, other brother has ran numerous pubs and clubs including the coronation club in keresly
Auntie and uncle ran the zodiac and generations when it opened ( cracking club)
Another auntie and uncle ran the peacock late 70s early 80s
I much prefer being the other side of the bar
10p a pint, absolutely smashed off a pound! How much was a woo woo?
I think pubs have to be more than a pub now don't they? Food / Sports / Upmarket Bars etc.
I wonder why, because alcohol drunk per person has hardly changed in my lifetime: http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/fs4-consumption-1 NEW web extended.pdf
Any publicans got any ideas?
And olives on the continent. B-)I used to wonder why pubs would have free bowls of peanuts, crisps etc on the bar. It wasn't until I did an extensive Inn-keeping course at Henley College that I found out it's because they make you thirsty! Stands to reason really! A few pence-worth of "freebies" on the bar against a couple of quid on a pint or two!
At one time a pub or working men's club was the only place a member of the public could drink, and then only between certain hours. Nowadays almost everywhere has a licence to sell alcohol so no need to visit a pub or working men's club any more. The abolition of opening hours and smoking in public had a devastating effect as well. Most of the 'pubs' left now are licensed restaurants in all but name.I wonder why, because alcohol drunk per person has hardly changed in my lifetime: http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/fs4-consumption-1 NEW web extended.pdf
Any publicans got any ideas?
I think a big part of it is that supermarkets don't have to pay duty, or some such tax, on booze so they are able to sell significantly cheaper than pubs.
At one time a pub or working men's club was the only place a member of the public could drink, and then only between certain hours. Nowadays almost everywhere has a licence to sell alcohol so no need to visit a pub or working men's club any more. The abolition of opening hours and smoking in public had a devastating effect as well. Most of the 'pubs' left now are licensed restaurants in all but name.
This isn't the first time there's been a cull of pubs in Coventry. In the early years of the twentieth century before the first world war there was a recession which put almost half of all the pubs in Coventry out of business. There was another cull during the great depression in the 1930s.
Mate of mine used to be the DJ in the Radford for many years, back in the 70's
Every time I hear about workers going on strike I think about negotiating the handshake before the biscuits ran outAnyone who played Theme Park in the 90s is wise to the thirst trick. Double the amount of salt on the chips, soft drink sales skyrocket! You then had to hire cleaners for all the sick, so it was a real balancing act
To early for me that but know lots before my time who used to go in
Sunday mornings in the Canley cub or Standard /Triumph club as the footyclub moved, then my mate driving his Miafiori Van den Valk style round the Cobbles by the Cathedral before battering the door at the Old Stag (6-55pm), followed by the Smithfield, Tally Ho and Jag in that order usually.Remember Sundays before all day drinking ? Pubs would only open for a couple of hours in the afternoon,then again at seven o'clock till half ten last orders. You'd order a couple of pints and drink them before you got told to leave at eleven o'clock. You always seemed to be in a rush !
Sunday mornings in the Canley cub or Standard /Triumph club as the footyclub moved, then my mate driving his Miafiori Van den Valk style round the Cobbles by the Cathedral before battering the door at the Old Stag (6-55pm), followed by the Smithfield, Tally Ho and Jag in that order usually.
Is that The Phoenix on Fletchamstead Highway or the Phoenix, formally the Colin Campbell?I used to work in the Phoenix for a while (any photos HH?). In fact, looking back, I pretty much lived in there for a few years. In those days the buggers would be hammering the door ten minutes before opening time and ordering three pints right before closing. Ten minutes to drink up, ten minutes to hand back your glasses as I recall.
I always liked the Irish approach to opening hours - "Ah, we're not open yet, but why not come in and have a pint while you wait."
You would've been bounced out of the pub Nick! There wasn't any of those "girly" drinks back then! Certainly not in the 70's! :joyful:Imagine asking for one of these in the 80's.
I just did a quick tour of a few places on Google Earth. Jeez! What happened to the Hope & Anchor?Madness how many have vanished!
I just did a quick tour of a few places on Google Earth. Jeez! What happened to the Hope & Anchor?
First pint aged 15 in the Jolly Colliers top of Woodway Lane. Still served you in there if you had school uniform on. It was a pint of mild. By the time I reached 18 when you were old enough to drink,I'd been boozing for 3 years !
Tell you what, when I've got grandkids they're going to hear the tale of the time Grandpa won the £15 jackpot on Sir Win-A-Lot in the Walsgrave and repeated it twice when he should have been in college.
Ahhh! The "Bolshie" or the Barras House Hotel as some called it!I used to like the Bolshie up at the top of Barras Common on a Sunday. We'd stroll up as my friend's old man would be in there, play the bandits for a bit, then the Old Red Horse or Barras Club for a bit of pool and then home. It was only after they'd knocked it down that I found out it wasn't actually called the Bolshie.
Is that The Phoenix on Fletchamstead Highway or the Phoenix, formally the Colin Campbell?
No pics of when it was the Phoenix (or even New Phoenix). The only pic I have is as it is now - the Wing Wah Restaurant. :emoji_frowning2:The New Phoenix on the A45 mate - run by Roy and Joy at time, a nicer couple you couldn't find.
Forgave me all of the times I couldn't get the till to square and bought me the odd pint too. Loved the place.
I must have walked right past the sign so many times and never registered what its real name is!
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