Smoking ban
I arranged to meet a mate down The Carp on Friday night. I got the train home (bike still ill) and arrived at Camberley station at 7:15pm. I entered the pub at about 7:21pm. I would have been earlier, but some Scottish girl was struggling with a suitcase at the station so I helped her with that. I think I scared her (note to self, must shave), but she was grateful enough and even instructed me to have a nice weekend. Bless.
Anyway, back to the point. The Carp has a good atmos, especially on a Friday night. It has a strange mixture of cliental; the regulars who have a 100% record of attendance, youths that play pool, video games and darts round the back, and people that only ever go on a Friday, like Phil the Vicar and the girl with the Flash Gordon T-Shirt. They have a jukebox which only ever seems to get used on a Friday night. There's no point ever sticking your quid in either as the queue is that long Gordon would have to change it from 24 to 36 hour licensing before your track comes on. All in all, a Friday night is a rocking night in The Carp and arriving at 7:21pm would mean standing room only, probably in a corner away from the action. I walked through the doors and was greeted by a large, mostly empty space. One of the regulars, Moose, was sitting near the door on his own, there were a scattering of unknowns, and a very bored looking barmaid reading some 10p magazine with a soap star on the front. When my mate arrived, the numbers had swelled by about 3, and it stayed that way until closing time.
On Saturday I went there again. The England v West Indies third One Day International on so thought there would be a decent crowd in. Uh uh. There was one table with maybe 5 regulars, and that was it. About half an hour into the session, the landlord and his wife appeared with a couple of bottles of wine and said 'you ready then?' to a couple of the regulars and they all headed off to a BBQ. At one point in the afternoon, and I swear this is true, the total population comprised of me, my mate, and 2 barmaids.
Now I am all for having smoke free pubs and clubs, but if this is an indication as to what it is going to happen, then I fear for the future of places like The Carp. I was in there for a total of 6 1/2 hours this weekend and if I said that I saw 15 other people (including staff and management) I would not be lying.
Anyway, back to the point. The Carp has a good atmos, especially on a Friday night. It has a strange mixture of cliental; the regulars who have a 100% record of attendance, youths that play pool, video games and darts round the back, and people that only ever go on a Friday, like Phil the Vicar and the girl with the Flash Gordon T-Shirt. They have a jukebox which only ever seems to get used on a Friday night. There's no point ever sticking your quid in either as the queue is that long Gordon would have to change it from 24 to 36 hour licensing before your track comes on. All in all, a Friday night is a rocking night in The Carp and arriving at 7:21pm would mean standing room only, probably in a corner away from the action. I walked through the doors and was greeted by a large, mostly empty space. One of the regulars, Moose, was sitting near the door on his own, there were a scattering of unknowns, and a very bored looking barmaid reading some 10p magazine with a soap star on the front. When my mate arrived, the numbers had swelled by about 3, and it stayed that way until closing time.
On Saturday I went there again. The England v West Indies third One Day International on so thought there would be a decent crowd in. Uh uh. There was one table with maybe 5 regulars, and that was it. About half an hour into the session, the landlord and his wife appeared with a couple of bottles of wine and said 'you ready then?' to a couple of the regulars and they all headed off to a BBQ. At one point in the afternoon, and I swear this is true, the total population comprised of me, my mate, and 2 barmaids.
Now I am all for having smoke free pubs and clubs, but if this is an indication as to what it is going to happen, then I fear for the future of places like The Carp. I was in there for a total of 6 1/2 hours this weekend and if I said that I saw 15 other people (including staff and management) I would not be lying.
posted by SkyBlueSnowy @ 12:22 pm
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