Hamish Champ: Three cheers for chucking mobile phones out of pubs

Proof, if any were needed, that I am a Boring Old Fart arrived last week in the form of my raising a glass in the direction of one Harry Walker, landlord of the Court Inn, a pub located in Durham.

Harry, saint that he is, has taken it upon himself to bar the use of mobile phones on his premises. His pub even displays signs that features a phone with a red line through it, like the 'no smoking' signs with which we're all hugely familiar.

Makes eminent sense to me, this. Many's the time I've been in a pub with a group of chums, one of our party happily waxing lyrical on the merits of this or that, only for another of our crowd to go frantically fumbling about their person as the new Sony Ericsson Me109 in their lives either merrily rings itself to death or buzzes and vibrates like something you'd be more likely find in an emporium run by Ann Summers. Spoils the moment, it does.

Now this form of conversation interruptus​ will be all-too familiar to those who smoke or have smoking friends, and yes, I know it's the choice of the licensee rather than a government edict, but look, I'm not​ going there, right, so don't even think​ about calling me rude names again.

OK, so sometimes being contacted in the pub can be useful, in emergencies like, but then that's why you have the option to have your phone ring different-sounding rings for different people in your address book; eg, you can ignore the ones you'd rather not talk to.

Not that the Court Inn is the first hostelry to ask its customers to be mindful of the social mores upon which the Great British Pub is based.

The famous French House in London's Soho has had a ban on customers using mobile phones on the premises pretty much since the technology ceased to be the preserve of the mega-rich, a time when such devices were the size of a small car.

The atmosphere in the pub, cracking anyway due to its tiny front of bar area and heaving crowds at all times, is only enhanced by the banning of such technologies. If you ask me.

In previous missives I've noted the phenomenon that sees a growing number of pubs encouraging people - especially younger types - to settle down in front of their Wi-Fi enabled laptop while having a pint.

There's nothing wrong with this I suppose. Pubs need all the 'draw' they can muster, after all.

But it does rather detract from what I see as the point of a boozer, namely being a place where one can find respite from the modern world and socialise face to face, rather than offering punters the chance to do so via a website network dedicated to socialising.

However, since I'm 49 years old and by rights officially out of touch with the yoof of today I am confident my views will count for naught. Still, worth a punt…