Pumpkin Publog

Heh heh whilst the majority of publoggers are away

Heh heh whilst the majority of publoggers are away I SHALL TURN THIS PLACE INTO A HELLISH MIASMA OF GOTHS! Bwahahahaha! Welcome, children of the night!

So, a pub in Camden then, the Oxford Arms. We found this after a gruelling return to London and trawl of the Mornington Crescent –> Camden Town charity shops. I’d seen this pub on previous trips to Camden, but tended to shun it. Evidence for doing this: it is on Camden High Street. The clientele of Camden. The potential of pub being FILLED with the clientele of Camden. (Or The Clientele, YIPES). From the outside it looks rather shabby. But this time, seeing as we’d just made it back safely from Oxford, we considered the pubs name to be an omen. And ventured in. They fleeced us THROUGH THE NOSE for two pints of coke, then we sat down. The ladies toilets were very small, and not in that good nick.

So, a regular Camden pub, you reckon.

But no! The pub wasn’t over full, and soon we moved to a seat by the window. There were plenty of seats and tables surrounding the windows, which were high up enough so as to block out the horror of the goths outside but still allowed plenty of light. The tables were unadorned wood and they had plenty of decent bitters on tap. Also CIDER on tap that wasn’t Strongbow! K-blimey, the clear and present danger of cider and black! Yet the pubs clientele seemed relatively normal. This may be due to the time of day (about 5-6pm) but yet the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. We CRAVED IT FOR OUR LOCAL. It was the type of place I would actually feel comfortable turning up by myself, reading the paper, or perhaps a BOOK, and then leaving. They also do a pub quiz which is free to enter and has CASH PRIZES! I should imagine by quiz time the place is more packed, but you pays your price as the evening goes on. Recommended for an afternoon/early evening drink very highly if you find yourself in Camdens environs and need an escape from the horrors.

Sarah in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

Absolutely right.

Absolutely right. If you want to stand up, stand up. If you want to sit down (or if you have to sit down, like Emma), then sit down. If there’s nowhere to sit but you feel you must get a seat, then go somewhere else. If you think all the pubs are going to be full (i.e. it’s 6pm on a Friday) and you’re not going to get a table, then either

> get over it and stand up; or
> DON’T GO TO THE PUB!

There – I hope that’s sorted out now.

John in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

It’s all very well for you sturdy robust gentlemen.

It’s all very well for you sturdy robust gentlemen. You don’t have to contend with the paraphernalia of being a woman which makes sitting down an ESSENTIAL PART of enjoying the pub experience. For starters, I am often to be found wearing high heels and standing still in them for any length of time (i.e. more than 1 minute) is not much fun. Plus there’s the whole handbag / coat thing – if I’m standing up where am I going to put my coat? On the floor? Fine for you chaps with your ’15.99 dark grey Uniqlo fleeces but what about us ladies with our more delicate garments? And no table / chair = nowhere to put my handbag adding a huge amount of extra strain to the whole drink holding / cigarette obtaining & lighting procedure. NOT TO MENTION the fact that wherever you stand in a pub you are going to be in someone’s way, meaning interrupted conversations, drink spillage and a number of other Pub Traumas.

I suggest Publoggers show a bit more consideration towards the lazier sex and focus on pubs where you can get a seat.

Emma in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

Stand, sit, stand

Stand, sit, stand I agree with Tom but I feel I should highlight the risks associated with beer-arm fatigue, as these are often underestimated. The particular danger arises when you are stuck without anywhere safe to put your pint. This often leads to attempts to secure your pint somewhere unsafe (top of jukebox, thin window ledge etc). Disaster awaits.

The other option of just hanging onto your drink all night is possibly worse, as it always results in fast drinking. Chat, sip, chat, sip, sip, chat, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip… next pint! If you’ve got no table or bar space, it is not possible to count how many you’ve had by looking at your empties.

A huge faux pas is to stand next to someone else’s table, then rest your pint in their space. Grrr! If this happens to you when you’re sat down, you are well within your rights to knock their pint “accidently” off the table. Or at least say to the glass-collecting staff ; “no, this drink doesn’t belong to anyone, go ahead and take it away”.

John in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

Is there a third way

Is there a third way - on the sitting standing conundrum? I’ve always considered the bar stool to be a decent compromise. Its high enough to converse with standing punters whilst combining the comfort of being seated. Nevertheless there is probably some truth in what Tom says – and certainly when I go drinking with my Dad I never sit down. There is the suggestion of the ability to leave the company of a dull associate – but there is more tradition to it than that. We have our set space at the bar, we lean at the bar – and to be fair the only place I like to stand up in a pub is at the bar. This is where some of our latter problems with the Blue Posts, Rupert Street come in. Which also used to be generous with the high bar stool

Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

Is standing in pubs underrated?

Is standing in pubs underrated? Well, not underrated precisely but is it not quite the evil it is made out to be? Yes one goes to the pub to relax after a hard day/week at work/arsing about online, and relaxation is best attempted with one’s bum comfortably on a seat. But let us face the realities of the modern world – gone are the days when pubgoers, or certainly the pubgoers we all associate with, retired to the pub after a day’s backbreaking labour in field or forge. Not to put too fine a point on it, we already spend all day sitting on our arses: standing should from an energy-level point of view not be much of a hardship.

Also a standing group has greater mobility and flexibility, especially in conversational terms. This becomes especially key when a pubgoing group is made up of both regular drinking comrades and newer arrivals whose conversational skills may be – to put it crudely – lacking. Escape is much easier in a standing situation. The greatest disadvantage of standing is beer-arm fatigue and the consequent rapid drinking, and for this reason it is surely still preferable to sit. But standing in pubs, even for quite a long time, is no barrier to an enjoyable evening.

Tom in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

A quick point of order re- this whole etiquette thing.

A quick point of order re- this whole etiquette thing. Pete – a man so rude as to not remember a young lady’s name (it was Nicky) – did not in fact offer the bar stools to us laydeez but sat down with great speed and smugness. Tut tut.

Emma in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

I thoroughly disagree with John’s dislike of the pub table grab

I thoroughly disagree with John’s dislike of the pub table grab. Improving ones situation in life is something which we should always strive for. We go to a pub because we like its ambience, because we like the beer, because we like the pub. The fact that I cannot get a table now does not mean I will always be denied. I take great pleasure in going from standing to sitting, and will always do so given half the chance. People know if their time is up, part of the joy of the regular pubgoer is knowing how to intimidate table hoggers into relinquishing their pint glasses and going on their way. Far worse is going into a pub, grabbing an empty table and then sitting around nervously trying to decide who is going to go to the bar. The way to enter a pub is straight to the bar, drinks then look around for furnishing. So the scenario John describes (go in, look around and then decide whether to stay or not) should never happen.

Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

Further to Pete’s LJR story

Further to Pete’s LJR story below, I think he made an initial error. The Pub Table Grab is a manoeuvre that should never be attempted. I can’t think of anything which makes me feel less comfortable in a pub than looking around hawkishly for a better place to sit or stand. Ooh, are they moving? Look, they’ve only got a sip left in their beer! Quick, quick… God, even thinking about it puts me on edge.

If you are in a pub and there’s nowhere to sit down, either resign yourself to standing up or go somewhere else. It’s that simple.

John in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments

And the last time I was in a Mr Q’s pub

And the last time I was in a Mr Q’s pub, a dog had been sick on the carpet. Difficult to say if this is representative of the chain.

Pete Baran in Pumpkin Publog • No Comments