I went to Woolwich tech in 89-91 as an apprentice fitter and turner. There was a pub right next door that we went into every lunchtime for a mixed grill and 3/4 pints. Then went back into college and operated lathes and milling machines with little experience or knowledge. Amazingly no one ever got hurt.
Same in Royal Arsenal West. We had the social club in the Arsenal or the pub opposite the gates (Walmer/Dover castle) If you were good retards,behaved all week and not left the workshop looking like WW3 the instructor would shout out 'Beer O'clock'around 12:00. Be back 2:00. Half an hours clearup then it was POETS day (Piss Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday). Rome wasn't built in a day ...
I was with BR from the mid 80s.On the platform at Plumstead and a few pints in the Lord Derby or the Rose & Crown,or the eight pubs on the high street for the Friday pub crawl always back to work, some times with the Gaffer if he could join us! As a Drivers mate and a young Driver beer at work was an every day occurrence.It was not unusual for the punters on certain lines to buy you a pint before the off on certain lines.It was clobbered in the very early 90s after they opened the grade and the standard of blokes dropped, a few mishaps crept in with and without drink and testing was introduced and that was that!
It's a bit different though if you're responsible for others safety - wasn't the driver at Hither Green plastered? Sorry, not trying to be all Judge Mental, just don't think I would have done it as a train driver like I used to as a pen pusher
The difference was we would have a pint here and there,that was the norm.Never saw anyone actually working what I would classify as pissed. Now a whiff of beer and you are sacked. I reckon this attitude has a lot to do with binge drinking in all walks of life,get a day off and its how much you can fit in your face!
I also imagine it's a lot to do with technology and the pace of life. In those days, there was likely a lot more downtime, or wait time, contingent on workflows. You got a letter off in the morning, you hardly expected a response 1 minute later. Or you're producing something and have to wait for new materials etc. These days, I'm sure we'd all agree that we have to get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time because of how quickly we can communicate across the city, the country and the world. Mind you, now with mobiles, perhaps it can all be done from the pub and we can reinstate these fine cultural traditions!
In Perth........10 years ago the Pubs were packed most lunchtimes, but especially Fridays. The Pub was the place to go to compare Contract Rates or Salaries, and gossip about what jobs were coming up, which Companies were looking for workers etc. Then zero tolerance came in, driven mostly by Mining Companies. There is obviosuly zero tolerance at Mine Sites (at some Sites you have to take a breathalyser every morning at the Gate). Mining Companies decided to bring zero tolerance rules down to the City - not every Company has the rule, but the majority do. If you do decide to have a beer at lunchtime and get caught out, either because you have been seen or you smell of alcohol, it's instant dismissal. On Fridays the Pubs still get quite a few people in them, but they won't go back to work, having made up the hours earlier in the week.
I started this thread because I found Farage's comments interesting and this is one of the most massive social changes which has occurred during my nearly 30 years at work. In terms of a politician's image,most prominent male politicians on all sides of the political divide in the 80's and 90's would not have minded being photographed with a pint and it would have enhanced the 'man of the people' image.Now I suspect with the exception of Nige it could be seen as the kiss of death.Although I do not like him politically I grudgingly admire this aspect of his demeanour.
One thing that does irk me are people who claim that this never really happened as I said in my first contribution I couldn't physically do it now and still function in the afternoon.Yes I am a lot older but I recall some of my drinking buddies were of a similar age or even older than I am now,maybe @LoOkOut is right and the pace of Communications has contributed and @Curb it in identifying the American influence.
Is the change a good thing? I suspect passengers of the 36 Bus would not have been pleased to know that their Driver had sunk three or four pints in the Fellowship before driving ,but I personally do long for the long boozy afternoons that I once had and feel for non safety critical staff then maybe it has gone too far.
I too went down the Pub (underage) whilst at school and our teachers were actually in the adjacent Bar.On one occasion they even gave us a lift back to ensure we were not late.Now they would be sacked for such behaviour.
Most workplaces now do not approve of it and I suspect that it is another reason that Pubs are now closing through lack of trade.
One other part of the decline of lunchtime drinking culture has surely been more general influences such as the fitnesscraze from the late 80s, and rise of general health consciousness since then and then alternatives like the return of coffee shops. Wine bars, cocktail bars and recreational use of street drugs have also grown in popularity and have probably caused fissure in the pubs traditional clientele since the 80s. Pubs have become increasingly uncool for some working people; 'bars', drugs, shots, all the rage, and i increasingly hear the term 'old mans pub' when talking about decent pubs with decent people in them.
I too went down the Pub (underage) whilst at school and our teachers were actually in the adjacent Bar.On one occasion they even gave us a lift back to ensure we were not late.Now they would be sacked for such behaviour.
At the boarding school I went to, a bar was actually set up on site with special dispensation to serve 17-year olds - the aim being to keep us from under-age drinking in the local pubs. But the bar lacked any atmosphere, so we all carried on drinking illegally in the pubs anyway.
One other part of the decline of lunchtime drinking culture has surely been more general influences such as the fitnesscraze from the late 80s, and rise of general health consciousness since then and then alternatives like the return of coffee shops. Wine bars, cocktail bars and recreational use of street drugs have also grown in popularity and have probably caused fissure in the pubs traditional clientele since the 80s. Pubs have become increasingly uncool for some working people; 'bars', drugs, shots, all the rage, and i increasingly hear the term 'old mans pub' when talking about decent pubs with decent people in them.
Agree with this also, I now visit the Gym more often than the pub.
I used to joke that I had two hobbies in life,one that I needed to psych myself up for but the next day I felt the benefits of (the Gym) the other (the Pub) I never needed to think about going to but the next day I would feel terrible.
Although not a fan of the chain myself but Weatherspoons seem to have cornered what remains of the pub market in that they probably are an 'old man's pub' during the day but are often transformed in the evening.
Have noticed people buying cans from the shop and standing outside the Oak to drink them. Things have changed . St Paul's Cray hasn't got a pub! St Mary Cray village once had 11. Amazing really.
Have noticed people buying cans from the shop and standing outside the Oak to drink them. Things have changed . St Paul's Cray hasn't got a pub! St Mary Cray village once had 11. Amazing really.
When I started working in the city 20 years ago I was taken under the wing of an absolute piss head. We used to spend many a lunchtime in the London General before it was pulled down. Then we moved onto the Fleetwood and then the Flying Horse which was a 20 second walk from our entrance for a liquid lunch and spent plenty of evenings in there too. Nowadays drinking at lunchtime is limited to a friday and maybe we might have a couple after work. I think part of the reason lunchtime drinking has dried up at our office is because people seen drinking now are more likely to be for the chop if and when there are job cuts. People are doing that little bit more with the increased volume of work or learning to do other things that is a result of other people losing their jobs. Yes they were great days when you could get away with a 2 or 3 hour lunch but the drinking culture is more of an after work thing now and even then not staying out late on school nights. I look back and think how did I get away with drinking for 3 hours and going back to work! If I did that now I would be signed off work and booked into rehab.
@1StevieG The London and General has been pulled down?! I'm sorry to hear that - it was a favorite for a few of the more senior people in my office when I worked in the City 30 years ago. I preferred pubs with better ale, such as the Fleetwood - ah, happy memories. All the local landlords used to end up in the Fleetwood later at night because it was the only pub that didn't close at about 9:30, after the post-work rush,
Reminds me of the days when I was a lad! yup had a few pints every lunchtime while watching the 'exotic' ladies dance!! Get you in the mood for an afternoons work!
Working at sea makes it hard to have a pint a lunchtime, but i think it depends on job if its acceptable to have pint a lunch time. A couple beers never hurt no one.
when i first started work in the early eighties we lived down the pub. Anyone's birthday would end in min 3 hour lunch time session. One lunch, I was handcuffed to a cubicle in the ladies loo. They let me go an hour later but then handcuffed me to a girl i fancied. We had to stagger back to the office cuffed together. Now I order sparkling water. Think the old days were better.
In the 80s worked with a very senior banker who would arrive for work at 7 am work till 1 then drag me and others down the pub all afternoon. All his clients new not to contact him after 1.
On a Friday it was 11 am, come on boy the suns over the yardarm, was the call a few drinks from his cabinet before we hit the pub or restaurant.
I stuck it for about 4 years until I got promoted thanks to him, probably would have killed me if it had gone on much longer!
Comments
Rome wasn't built in a day ...
Though I'm going to a wedding !
One thing that does irk me are people who claim that this never really happened as I said in my first contribution I couldn't physically do it now and still function in the afternoon.Yes I am a lot older but I recall some of my drinking buddies were of a similar age or even older than I am now,maybe @LoOkOut is right and the pace of Communications has contributed and @Curb it in identifying the American influence.
Is the change a good thing? I suspect passengers of the 36 Bus would not have been pleased to know that their Driver had sunk three or four pints in the Fellowship before driving ,but I personally do long for the long boozy afternoons that I once had and feel for non safety critical staff then maybe it has gone too far.
I too went down the Pub (underage) whilst at school and our teachers were actually in the adjacent Bar.On one occasion they even gave us a lift back to ensure we were not late.Now they would be sacked for such behaviour.
Most workplaces now do not approve of it and I suspect that it is another reason that Pubs are now closing through lack of trade.
I never could drink much but certainly less able now and do hate to see pubs in decline. For Waterloo pubs past and present this blog is pretty interesting- http://holdinganapple.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/waterloo-pub-crawl/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/nick-clegg-and-vince-cable-went-to-the-pub-and-it-was-a-bit
On a Friday it was 11 am, come on boy the suns over the yardarm, was the call a few drinks from his cabinet before we hit the pub or restaurant.
I stuck it for about 4 years until I got promoted thanks to him, probably would have killed me if it had gone on much longer!
South Wales brew, wasn't it?