Pub Bitch: Who ate all the pies?
Let's get banned
News of the government's crackdown on "irresponsible" promotions appears yet to have hit the south coast. A group known as LGF promotions has attracted the ire of the authorities in Southampton, after boasting that it was looking to run the city's "messiest" student event. One Inspector Bates (no sniggering at the back) has also noted the name of the company could be the clue for its naughty activities. LGF stands for "Let's Get F*cked". "The name is unfortunate," Insp Bates told the Southern Daily Echo. "It gives the impression that people will just be going out to get wasted and not just having fun. Some people think that they are both the same thing, but they are not." The event was due to take place on Monday but has now reportedly been cancelled. If it had gone ahead, we're sure the usual army of Daily Mail photographers would have been there to capture the night in all its glory…
Wining and mining
We're all for having new experiences here at The Publican and admire people who push the boundaries, but one offer left us scratching our heads last week. The invitation, as part of the Keswick Mountain Festival, was to have dinner… in a mine. Yes, a mine.
In what is described as a black tie dinner with a "radical difference", you get to stuff your face in the Lake District's 900-year-old Honister slate mine. Tempted? Mmm, thought not. But if you are, tickets for this "dinner-of-a-lifetime" event are a snip at a mere £125 a pop. At that price, the only tip we'd be giving is: "Mind your head on the way out…"
Who ate all the pies?
World Cup fever continues to build in the pub trade. And the clever marketing folks at pie company Pieminister have kicked off their campaign with the launch of the Fabio pie. Said pie, we are informed, contains "the best of British beef" and a "good portion of Italian sausage" and will wholesale at £2.35. Not only that, there's the Rooney roll, made with "prime cuts" of outdoor-reared British pork and chilli. Let's just hope the Fabio pie image is not an open goal for tabloid sub-editors if England get stuffed in South Africa…
On the campaign crawl
Another type of fever, this time of the election variety. Pipe-smoking, beer-drinking right-winger Nigel Farage clearly thinks pubs are a great place to go hunting for votes. A Channel Four report revealed the MEP-baiting former UKIP leader was planning to spend a day visiting every pub in the Buckingham constituency he is fighting House of Commons speaker John Bercow for.
Farage was almost caught out after reporter Cathy Newman asked whether he'd be having a pint in each one. However, with a smile, he reassured viewers it would be only be halves he'd be drinking. I guess he was worried about ending up spouting nonsense. On second thoughts Nigel, you might as well sup away…
Caption competition
Flipping through the Bitch family photo album, I came across this snap of Uncle Fido enjoying a pint of Pedigree in the Red Lion in Colwyn, Clwyd. It seems like an image crying out for some words of explanation, but given that smart-alec picture captions aren't really our forté here at the Bitch, we wondered if any of our readers could oblige... The winning caption will be published on this 'ere page. Email your suggestions to pubbitch@thepublican.com
Send your stories and pictures about people in pubs to pubbitch@thepublican.com
