Beer is the third most popular drink in the world, fact; closely following in the shadows of water and tea. Like the warm refreshment, there are many different types, brews and flavours, but the best thing about beer is that it amounts to a total of 43 calories. Now that is one good reason to quaff a pint at the end of a working day.
Some of you may remember that it used to be the done thing to do such a thing during a lunchtime, and many a fine person would head to the pub for a liquid lunch, broadening the mind with a crossword or two and chatting away to business proprietors forming bonds and exchanging pleasantries. In those days, which is not all that long ago, business thrived and networking was key; it was spontaneous and bustling, pubs were the place to go if you needed something, like legal advice or someone to fix your watch. At the centre of it all a landlord and lady who oversaw the whole event for two hours at a lunchtime before the pub shut for the afternoon until the work day was over. Therefore, the pub and the workplace combined for the aid of the community; and there a conversation could be found between a solicitor and a car mechanic over the state of politics today. Those days perhaps have gone.
It is not seen as the done thing now, for having a pint at lunch would be deemed to be a sackable offence in most offices, breaking down this link and the relationships which formed; and how the community has suffered and how communication has broken down. Perhaps this is in part because pubs are open all day, whereas you had to get back to work from 2.30 onwards.
Computers and tablets have not single-handedly stifled our communication skills, it is our own namby-pamby-can’t-do-anything-fun way of life which is breaking the country.
The pub culture and working culture no longer fall hand in hand, they have been separated. That skillful negotiation standing at the bar, a practice which has been going on for centuries, has been removed and replaced with...nothing.
So I say...
Bring back the beer. In an effort to appeal to a wider audience, craft ales have strung up all over the place. Here, in Maidstone, once the home of the mighty Fremlins which was the arch-rival to the monolithic Shepherd Neame, a small brewer has risen from the underground and can be found at a number of pubs dotted through the Mid-Kent countryside. The name is Goachers, and it is a fine IPA. The most popular of which is the light ale with the original recipe being for the dark ale. Both are of equally high quality.
A good ale is all well and, erm, good, but you need the ambience to match. Pubs are important places; you need to the little dark corners as much as the wide welcoming bars. You need the intimate booths as well as the large tables. You cannot get the same level of atmosphere in a so-called ‘gastro-pub’, or in those refashioned pubs which have now become a sort of restaurant; you cannot get this in a carvery either. You need a pub; a decent proper pub that is now not only home to men, but to all - workers. Men and women, old and young, intelligent and average, rich or poor - people who can come together with little judgement and an open mind.
To me, pubs are not a place for getting hammered, although it has happened on occasion; they are place for opening conversations and discovering new ways of looking at the world.
A pub I frequented on many a lunch was The Rose & Crown in Tunbridge Wells, which used to be the go-to place for the crew of The Assembly Hall Theatre in the early 1990's. It offered wonderful pub food, a warm ambience and very fine beer. I led me to meet some beautiful characters from all walks of life.
There are not many places like this left. Now that little pub on the corner of Grosvenor Road and Rock Villa Road remains, and with it some wonderful memories; I hope that it still offers the same atmosphere and my mind is open to returning, albeit with a hint of melancholy.
Beer can save lives. It is not just about good beer, but about a decent place to drink it. Go forth my friends and raise a glass!
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