Once upon a time, (the 1960’s actually), there were five Brummie lads who liked beer and music. Sitting in the pub drinking their local ‘Brew X11′ for the “Men of the Midlands”, they decided to form a band.
One of them had heard that the Birmingham brewery Mitchells and Butlers were looking for a band to play at their trade fairs. So they decided to call themselves the M & B Band and tried to get sponsored by the brewery.
Last night I was at St Mary’s church in Warwick for a performance of Handel’s Messiah. I have seen this performed once before, but had forgotten how long and boring it is!
The only bit’s I liked were “Are we like Sheep?” and “The Hallelujah Chorus” – but that was over an hour away. 
I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and my girlfriend was having the same problem, so in the interval we ‘did a runner’.
Once a week I go cycling in the countryside with a friend. We cycle about 30 miles and visit 2 or 3 pubs. It’s my favourite day of the week. 
Recently I visited the Friendly Inn, Frankton, Warwickshire, and noticed a plaque on the wall defining the rules of cricket. It was so good, I copied it down for this post.
If you’ve every been slightly confused by the rules of cricket, here they are in simple form:
You have 2 sides out in the field, one in and one out.
Unfortunately if you like alcohol, hangovers are part of the deal. I prefer drinking real ale, especially ’session’ beers with an alcoholic strength of around 3.7%. These beers are weak enough to avoid bad hangovers, (unless you consume vast quantities of course)!
Recently my brother arranged a ‘Risk and Rioja’ night at his house; Playing the Waddington’s board game Risk, while drinking Spanish red wine. We had a few pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord bitter first which was really lovely, then we hit the red wine.
I live in Leamington Spa in the Midlands. However I have relatives in Newcastle Upon Tyne who regard me as a ‘posh southern jessie’.
There is a social and cultural divide in the United Kingdom due to London being the centre of political and economic power. The gap has widened even with ‘New Labour’ in government.
I have just cycled from Leamington Spa to Swanage on the south coast, and the cultural divide was very noticeable in the beer!
Interpol have issued an international alert warning all clubbers, party-goers and unsuspecting pub regulars to be on their guard and stay cautious when offered a drink by any woman. A new date rape drug on the market called ‘beer’ is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and have sex with them.
My first love – ah, I remember it as if it was yesterday. 1971, I was 17 years old and still learning the ways of the world. I marched into the Warwick Hotel and asked for a pint of Double Diamond. The TV adverts assured me that “it works wonders” and If I drank enough of them I would end up with a girl on each arm. What 17 year old could resist that?
Even an economic recession has some good points – real ale at only 99 pence per pint for example. We have Wetherspoons to thank for this excellent bargain – long may they prosper. As a marketing strategy it certainly works, judging by the long queue at the bar lining up for Green King IPA. The only way to beat this price would be to brew your own real ale.
