MAKE MINE A PINT!

With drinking and smoking laws as they stand, the Real English pub has, like most other traditionally English establishments had to move with the times.. No brownie points come to me for such observations! Since I was never a smoker, not even an ocassional, recreational, just pretend to be one..and have never lived outside the confines of the M25 bearing in mind it was built up around me at some stage of my youth, then my own forrays and dependence on pub life has been relatively uncommon, and not particularly worth mentioning. There would be no landladies/lords wondering why I hadn't shown my face for a few weeks or months...no favourite corners or preferences for draught or bottle...no, i simply didn't really get into pub life. Then again apart from frequently noticing that the outside of some public houses have been tarted up, bedecked with filled baskets of self watering (how else do they do it) hanging pots, that exteriors have been redesigned so that our smoker fraternities can pollute the air, enjoy the sunshine or even sit beneath anything but green outdoor heaters...do I sound bitter? I mean to!! Where was I? The nineties plan was to give pubs the new look and for many of the larger chains, plasma screens offering all day sport and quiz nights or happy hours kept some punters finding a good reason to keep going in but since I've never found either of those even mildly entertaining, i've stayed out...until now...My eyes have been opened, more my ears...live music...not everywhere but in some of the finer outposts, scattered from village to town, from south and no doubt north of Watford too, pubs with character, with new menus offering local produce or at the very least a range of dishes, less curry, more bream and along with the trad. log fires, there are now quite a lot of live music venues...From jazz, blues, soul n rock...open mic eves, acoustic and even some standards thrown in for good measure... I'm not talking Kareoke!....please.... not kareoke....but real musos who over decades have mastered their crafts and passionately play for pauperish payments if any in order to do what they do from the heart and to fuel us, the soda and lime punters (with an occassional real ale thrown in for good measure) back to the hearth of English Pub life. At last I'm ready to go out and explore, to enjoy some REAL entertainment and some REAL Ale....about time too!