Going up Camborne Hill coming down.....

This weekend was the first opportunity to sample a few local bars, in a smoke free environment, now that the smoking restrictions have come into force. nSo what changed?

Well, clearly my hair and clothes did not smell of old ashtrays when I awoke the following morning which was a bonus, but on the night, the one main difference was that 'Holty Corner' was not filled with chippies, labourers, brickies and sparks, as is usually the case on a Friday. They were still frequenting the pub, but were all sitting out in the beer garden. That at least meant people could get to the bar a bit more easily, but it also begs the question what are they going to do in November and December when the weather changes and its pouring with rain and blowing a gale.......er, hang on, its doing that now....well you know where I am coming from.

I do recall though that the last Labour manifesto when it was published indicted that bars and restaurants would be made smoke free if they served food, but that other areas would remain available to the Snoutcasts. Even thought this pledge has not been delivered, it got me thinking about the potential for the return to segregated bars.

There were certain benefits to drinking when a pub had two, three or four bars. There was the Lounge bar, or Parlour, for the gentlemen with their lady friends, the Snug for people who were trying to be discrete, the Tap Room which derived its name from the process of tapping the barrels, and serving the beer gravity fed, with no gas. It was a joy at The County Arms, a Youngs pub in Wandsworth, a stones throw from the prison, which is the last pub in which I regularly drank it served that way.



Some alternative thinkers consider the Tap Room was the area used for domino's, getting its name from the tap,tap which signalled that a player could not lay a domino in the current configuration of tiles. I am not sure about that though.

Then finally there was the Public bar for the hardened drinkers, men only and as thick with smoke as a white mans fire. These areas would surely have been dedicated to the aforementioned Snoutcasts if today's regulations had been thought through a bit more carefully.

I am not a fan of smoking, but to lose the characters who partake, will be another step down the road to oblivion for the traditional British boozer.