50 Days To Go

Yes, it’s 50 days until what for me is the most exciting and necessary development in the life of a pub. July 1^st 2007. The Smoking Ban. I am a fervent non-smoker but do see that for some it’s an addiction they just cannot kick. And a pub is a public place, so why can’t they smoke in public? But pubs are too enclosed and the smoke just gets in the way of my enjoyment of the pub, and it’s most important product: BEER. I love beer and enjoy its aroma and taste and don’t appreciate smoke spoiling my enjoyment. I walk out of pubs stinking of smoke and my clothes smell disgusting also. I have friends and family who smoke, and for the most part they are considerate, but not everybody is.

However I don’t want this blog just to a rant about smoking. I want it to be an appreciation of beer and the pub. For pubs are, in my opinion, the best places to enjoy beer. I go to a number of CAMRA festivals, and they are good. However I think they are too clinical and lack the atmosphere of a good pub. The pub is a quintessentially British thing and their like are not seen anywhere else. I’ve drank in bars in USA, Canada, Belgium, France, Netherlands and elsewhere but none of these countries has what I would describe as a pub in the British mould.

I will describe in this blog my drinking and pub experiences, as I intend to do a lot more of my drinking in pubs after 1^st July. Between now and July I will report on the preparations for the ban, and recount any anecdotes I come across both before and after the event, as well as describe my drinking and pub experiences in the build up. As the blog progresses I hope to not even consider mentioning the dreaded “S” word.