You'll Come Back and You'll Look Around You....

Last week, we turned and walked down this street, and it was so familiar, and almost unchanged in 29 nine years since we left. 

Somewhere Else and Monty's Were the competition.  Across the road, and favouring the old time drinks and Juke box with live bands squashed in a corner on a Friday night, and a licenced house -  

We were privately owned, no ties to any brewery, no juke box - but non-stop video music.  Occasional live music, typically courtesy of some of the members of the  Royal Marines Band.   We sang behind the bar, danced, juggled the glasses, and handed out cakes willynilly for birthdays. 

We weren't popular with other bar owners - not these ones though - All the staff drank in these two pubs between shifts (and during). 

when we opened this house, there were two of us to undertake the running.  the other one got fired on the opening evening... her transgressions too shocking to detail here.     No one replaced her, for 6 months, and I was left here, to run this place on my own at the tender age of ....(I can't tell you that, or you'll work out my real age).

It was outside this bar, shortly after I had been assaulted in front of most of the staff, and several guests, that the owner of a bar down the road, (neither of these ones), told me  that I had "made the worst mistake of my little short fenian life". 

Later that night I was called back in to the town centre by the police who reported a disturbance in the pub - and made me enter the pub- walk the length of the bar (80ft), in the dark and walk downstairs to the cellar to put on the lights before they would follow me in. 

A keyholding member of staff had let himself and all his mates, and anyone who was standing in the street back into the pub after I locked up, and had merrily drunk straight from the taps.  Wiped chips all over the mirrors, broken glasses, and smashed mirrors. 

I took my car, drove to his house, where he and the staff were still partying with our booze - took the keys off him and fired him. 

He came back and threatened me too. 

And the one who I fired for selling drugs in the toilet - he threatened me too. 

And the one I fired for being an alcoholic and spending all his morning shifts being alcoholic sick in the toilets.  He came back and threatened me too. 

It was two years before I was able to drive back across the bridge and even drive through here. 

I was pleased that now, we were able to have a lovely visit past the place, with the minimum of undertoad, and stroll round the park, free from the intimidation and fear of the past.