POTTERS BAR

and the rain started. I found myself walking in the dark,
in the rain, not knowing on what side of the road I was
walking on. Then suddenly, out of the black night, a lorry
would come roaring towards me. I would have to jump out
of the way, all too often landing in a muddy ditch. That
was the most frightening experience of my life! Finally,
I landed up outside The Devonshire Arms which was not
yet open. Irene took me in and arranged for me to have
a shower. Then, with my wet and dirty clothes taken from
me, I sat in the lounge of the pub, in a borrowed dressing
gown, eating a lovely meal as the locals began to arrive.
They were quite surprised, to say the least. Arrangements
were made for Mavis to come from Clayton and collect
me and bring clean clothes. Not the usual request a wife
gets when her husband asks her to meet him at the pub!
There was a sad postscript to those happy visits to The
Devonshire Arms. My wife and I were in Hartington several
years after Irene left. The new landlord was someone from
Newcastle. When I was raising money for the NSPCC in
North Staffordshire, he offered his premises for one of our
quiz nights but said he would charge me for the ‘privilege’
of using his place. I declined his offer. And now here he
was, taking over from the lovely Irene. We went in and
bought our drinks. We were in a filthy and dirty pub, the
very opposite of what it had been when Irene reigned
here. We took our drinks into the pub garden and found it
as bad as the interior. The landlord had several dogs and
they were allowed to deposit their mess wherever they
found themselves to be when nature called. And no one
ever cleaned any of it up. I tried my beer, took a few sips
and no more. It was bad. It was undrinkable. I told the
landlord what I thought of his beer and his pub and we
left, never to return.
I have met and worked with many, many CAMRA members
since I first joined in 1974. I have found some – too many
– who could not hold their drink yet still drank too much.
I have found some to be boorish and boring. But most
– nearly all – I have found to be pleasant, decent, good
human beings. But the nicest CAMRA member of them
all is a young man (well, young to me! He is 12 years
younger than myself and technically now a fellow Senior
Citizen) who I have had the pleasure to know since 1969.
He was also a civil servant and we both worked in a large
office, where the usual ‘office gossip’ was rife. But in
all the 25 years we worked at that office, I never heard
anyone speak of him with anything but warm, friendly
feelings. And it he was the same in CAMRA.
He appreciated good real ale and, like most CAMRA
members, over the years he put away a good few pints.
Yet he never, ever drank more than he could hold. And
when I began the Leek CAB pub quiz, he offered his
services as a driver. For three years he drove me all over
the Moorlands. And he proved to be as popular in every
pub we visited as he was at work. People would ask me
the name of ‘that nice young man’ everywhere we went.
On one particular quiz night, we arrived at a pub in
Longford to find a surly landlord who did not want us
there, although a group of his regulars had entered a
team and were waiting for us, as were the other team,
along with some quiz supporters who followed us to every
match. We always had a tape round and when it was time,
the landlord told us he had no facility for playing tapes
(although ‘his’ team told us otherwise). But my friend
came to the rescue once again. And we all trooped out to
the car park, where both teams stood around as the tape
was played in his car.
On one quiz night we took a guest with us, a young man
not used to going out at night for a drink. On returning to
North Staffordshire, we dropped him off at home and the
young man stuck his head through the window and said
– in a voice showing the beneficial effect of real ale “that
was the BEST night I have ever had”. And that had been
due, as much as anything, to my friend and fellow CAMRA
member being such a pleasant human being – and the
best possible advertisement for CAMRA.
For all that you have done over all those years, thank you
Malcolm Sproston.
JSB
Many thanks to Chesterfield & Sheffield CAMRA
branches for supplying the photos (via WhatPub)
AUTUMN 2016 POTTERS BAR 21