The Salutation in Dartford town centre. We were 15. Had two pints and my mate ended up outside puking. Bull and Vic in Dartford town centre was always good for under age drinking, and was run by the most miserable old git you could imagine, called Les. As someone has commented above, now a scummy disco. Drank in the Coach and Horses in Dartford town centre from about 16 to 26. Great great times. Then became a night club for teenagers and they bought the adjacent travel agents and knocked in to one. We visited for old times sake when we were in our 30s and looked a little out of place... Its now Dartford Sports Bar, and took my son there to watch Darts in the play off final a couple of months ago. Will definitely go back.
Ah , The Salutation , my 1st pub , along with the Masons Arms, The Plough and Bull & Vic....never dared venture into the Coach at the time.
The Salutation in Dartford town centre. We were 15. Had two pints and my mate ended up outside puking. Bull and Vic in Dartford town centre was always good for under age drinking, and was run by the most miserable old git you could imagine, called Les. As someone has commented above, now a scummy disco. Drank in the Coach and Horses in Dartford town centre from about 16 to 26. Great great times. Then became a night club for teenagers and they bought the adjacent travel agents and knocked in to one. We visited for old times sake when we were in our 30s and looked a little out of place... Its now Dartford Sports Bar, and took my son there to watch Darts in the play off final a couple of months ago. Will definitely go back.
Was it the Coach and Horses that had Hurlimans on draught or the Royal Oak up the road ?
Wasn't the Coach. I used to drink Breaker myself. Didn't go in the Oak much so it may well have been there
Hooligans was definitely on tap somewhere........can't recall where though.
So being of Irish origin, kids were always allowed in pubs. Think I was bought a glass of the black stuff by another new relative I had never met at 13. He thought it would make me sick. Just got off the bus & gone straight in the Cusack Stand, Bailieboro . Took It gladly, drank it happily 🤣
Mum always let me have a Babysham (I hated it then & still do) from the age of about 15 in the Duke of Wellington (Corner Pin) Crayford whenever they dragged me in there with them.
Unbeknownst to them, we were already drinking in pubs in Dartford, Erith & Bexleyheath.
The one & only time I was refused a beer was the day after my 18th. I was as rough as hell after celebrating in Flicks (used to get free tickets for your 18th back then) & then carried on at a mates house. Friends dragged me into the Albert in Bexleyheath. Never went in it normally as it was the ‘old bill pub’ (the irony). I clearly didn’t look my best as the landlord took one look & said there was no way I was 18 😳 One & only time anyone had ever said that to me. I’d been conning landlords for years 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@paulbaconsarnie@Acab My mum’s cousin ran the Greenwich Borough bar for a while. Would have been late 80s. She also, with her husband, ran the Dover Castle on Deptford Broadway in the late 70s/early 80s.
My da worked for Fords in Woolwich and they often went on a short working week. Da would do bar work at the Dover to make up for it and I used to do the Saturday morning shifts with him.
In at 9am, bottling up and making sure all the kegs in the cellar were ready. Up to Tary’s Cash & Carry in the Old Kent Road for a cheap keg or 2 without letting on to the brewery. Then serving pints from 11-3 when the pub closed and da let me have a beer. Only the odd half.
I was doing that from the age of 12 for 2 years...probably explains a lot 🤷🏻♂️😂
Think you mentioned this in a inbox message to me previously. your mums cousin Pat? Proper old school landlady.
Shows what drinking from a young age does to your memory! Yes mate, Pat Martin. Old school Irish landlady, larger than life.
Pubs were a family thing. My uncle had a big place over in Ireland and every holiday meant long hours in and around the bar from a young age. Always lots of fun.
First legal drink was probably another Dover Castle. This time the one down on Plumstead Road where the London South East College now is. We’d been drinking in there since 5th form and seemed to be most of St Paul’s in there.
The Salutation in Dartford town centre. We were 15. Had two pints and my mate ended up outside puking. Bull and Vic in Dartford town centre was always good for under age drinking, and was run by the most miserable old git you could imagine, called Les. As someone has commented above, now a scummy disco. Drank in the Coach and Horses in Dartford town centre from about 16 to 26. Great great times. Then became a night club for teenagers and they bought the adjacent travel agents and knocked in to one. We visited for old times sake when we were in our 30s and looked a little out of place... Its now Dartford Sports Bar, and took my son there to watch Darts in the play off final a couple of months ago. Will definitely go back.
Was it the Coach and Horses that had Hurlimans on draught or the Royal Oak up the road ?
Wasn't the Coach. I used to drink Breaker myself. Didn't go in the Oak much so it may well have been there
Hooligans was definitely on tap somewhere........can't recall where though.
Never used to see it much. Only the Anglesea Arms in Woolwich had it.
Never dare venture not the Public of the Coach back bar only unless desperate for a toilet ... was always full of Temple Hill , Fleet or Tree Estate finest
Would have been the Red Hart, Coopers Arms or Three Moorhens, all in Hitchin, and would have been around 1986/87 (16/17 yrs old)… No idea what I'd have been drinking...way too long ago...
Never dare venture not the Public of the Coach back bar only unless desperate for a toilet ... was always full of Temple Hill , Fleet or Tree Estate finest
its funny how the Coach had effectively three bars, in what was a tiny pub. I would only go in the Public Bar for a jimmy if I had to. Kenny's (landlady's partner) brothers and friends use to drink in there and were effectively the pub police force. I used to drink in the back bar of the saloon - which was separated by a small corridor about 4 feet long, but had a completely different clientele from the front bar of the saloon.
hooligans on tap in the Oak use to drink in there when had top bar as well as downstairs great bar and still going . Think it is still a Sheps bar
When I've gone back to Dartford for bevvies with mates over the past 20 years we usually drink in the Oak, and its been very good. They stayed open late, and had a good jukebox. Never liked the beer in there, but I'm not a Sheps fan. There have a been several changes in ownership but I always thought it was good night out no matter who was running it. Sort of turned more in to a Sports Bar now. Was there last December on a Saturday night and it was rammed - until the tv game finished then it emptied! We went to our gig at the Jagger centre and went back to the Oak afterwards until gone half twelve. Lots of good characters in there (one or two from the Coach days which just seem to turn up) and a good laugh.
As per the first pint thread, from the age of 16 ;
The Hercules Pillars, WC1 (work)
The Railway Tavern, Bexley (my local)
Blimey Golfie, the Railway was our pub of choice in the late 80’s early 90’s. In there pretty much every Friday night.
We used to go in there in the early 80's on Friday nights for a couple before touring round the others in Bexley
Early 80’s was mainly Crayford, Bexleyheath & Dartford. The Railway didn’t become my local until 88 when I started dating a geezer whose mates all drank there. We sometimes went in the Millers (where I had my Old Brockleans rugby initiation 🙄). Couldn’t go in The George cos the ex was a barman. And avoided the Kings as my sister drank there lol.
Someone mentioned the Hare & Billet. I was in there once of a legal age when in walked a fella I went to school with. He stopped to say hello to me, then picked up an ash tray, walked over to the biggest fella in the pub, smashed it over his head, said goodbye to me and left. Not the most pleasant evening I spent in there.
The Welcome Inn and The Man of Kent, Eltham. The Standard. Had a sort of bar area with phones on the table which you used to phone other tables and the DJ.
As per the first pint thread, from the age of 16 ;
The Hercules Pillars, WC1 (work)
The Railway Tavern, Bexley (my local)
Blimey Golfie, the Railway was our pub of choice in the late 80’s early 90’s. In there pretty much every Friday night.
I wonder if you were the young lady I had my eye on (although I was seeing someone at the time). All I can remember is that she went to cadets/scouts and used to be in there with her brother.
As per the first pint thread, from the age of 16 ;
The Hercules Pillars, WC1 (work)
The Railway Tavern, Bexley (my local)
Blimey Golfie, the Railway was our pub of choice in the late 80’s early 90’s. In there pretty much every Friday night.
I wonder if you were the young lady I had my eye on (although I was seeing someone at the time). All I can remember is that she went to cadets/scouts and used to be in there with her brother.
Rye Hotel, Peckham Rye, before the hipsters moved in. Plastic gangsters ruled the roost there late 80s/early 90s. Being 17/18 all the dodgy goings on past me and my mates by....
Memories : many Roan schoolboys lived in Shooters Hill area and we began at the Bull; pint of light and bitter and a packet of 'Beefeaters' and ha'penny change from half a crown. When we hit 18 we moved to the red Lion down the hill.
As per the first pint thread, from the age of 16 ;
The Hercules Pillars, WC1 (work)
The Railway Tavern, Bexley (my local)
Blimey Golfie, the Railway was our pub of choice in the late 80’s early 90’s. In there pretty much every Friday night.
I wonder if you were the young lady I had my eye on (although I was seeing someone at the time). All I can remember is that she went to cadets/scouts and used to be in there with her brother.
Jaysus no! Bruv was stuck in with the kids at that stage & I was already in the Met. I was a Girl Guide though 😎
The Eagle in Red Lion Lane. Used to go there during school.lunch breaks. Most of our PE teachers were in there and didn't seem to care!
Snap. Except no teachers in my day that I recall.
An amusing tale - at least I think it is.
We used to use the Red Lion. One of the teachers complained to the headmaster who dragged four of us into his office. He said we shouldn’t go to the pub at lunchtime as we wouldn’t be able to perform at our best in the afternoon. One of our number said if that’s true, how can the teachers perform at their best if they have been drinking. That was the end of the meeting, with no consequences for any of us.
He did write to the landlord, asking him not to serve us. The landlord told us he sent a letter back saying he’d rather not serve the teachers as we spent more money.
Light and bitter. Those were the days. My Dad introduced me to this at age 16. It meant more than a pint which was always good.
First pint I ever bought on my own was in the Park Tavern Eltham (aged 16). The barman had a Charlton tattoo on his arm. I said come on you reds or something similar and all was good for my friend and I for a couple of pints.
We then went to the Greyhound in Eltham. The barman asked my friend for ID. Cocky me piped up ‘what, he’s not even 18, he’s 19’ (he was 16). Barman then informed us it was over 21’s only.
As per the first pint thread, from the age of 16 ;
The Hercules Pillars, WC1 (work)
The Railway Tavern, Bexley (my local)
Blimey Golfie, the Railway was our pub of choice in the late 80’s early 90’s. In there pretty much every Friday night.
I wonder if you were the young lady I had my eye on (although I was seeing someone at the time). All I can remember is that she went to cadets/scouts and used to be in there with her brother.
The idea of me going in to a pub with Sis in her cadets outfit made me laugh.
Bexley was not a venue for me anyway. Bird in Hand, Dartford was my first unofficial and official drinking hole, (aside from the holiday ones in Bailieborough that Sis alluded too and a fateful night as a kid waiting for relatives outside the White Swan in Crayford).
Rene the landlady of the Bird in Hand gave me a good clip round the ear when I had my 18th birthday bash. Because I'd been going in there for about a year beforehand 😂
Comments
Ah , The Salutation , my 1st pub , along with the Masons Arms, The Plough and Bull & Vic....never dared venture into the Coach at the time.
Hooligans was definitely on tap somewhere........can't recall where though.
In there pretty much every Friday night.
Think I was bought a glass of the black stuff by another new relative I had never met at 13. He thought it would make me sick. Just got off the bus & gone straight in the Cusack Stand, Bailieboro . Took It gladly, drank it happily 🤣
Mum always let me have a Babysham (I hated it then & still do) from the age of about 15 in the Duke of Wellington (Corner Pin) Crayford whenever they dragged me in there with them.
Unbeknownst to them, we were already drinking in pubs in Dartford, Erith & Bexleyheath.
The one & only time I was refused a beer was the day after my 18th.
I was as rough as hell after celebrating in Flicks (used to get free tickets for your 18th back then) & then carried on at a mates house.
Friends dragged me into the Albert in Bexleyheath. Never went in it normally as it was the ‘old bill pub’ (the irony). I clearly didn’t look my best as the landlord took one look & said there was no way I was 18 😳
One & only time anyone had ever said that to me. I’d been conning landlords for years 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pubs were a family thing. My uncle had a big place over in Ireland and every holiday meant long hours in and around the bar from a young age. Always lots of fun.
First legal drink was probably another Dover Castle. This time the one down on Plumstead Road where the London South East College now is. We’d been drinking in there since 5th form and seemed to be most of St Paul’s in there.
The Tigers Heads - Bellingham/catford.
Princess of wales and the Hare and Billet - Blackheath
The sub-standard - Standard/Blackheath
i would of guessed it would of been one of these that i had my first legal pint due to where I lived at the time.
Bligh's - Sevenoaks
Five Bells, The Yeoman or the Crown- Seal
its funny how the Coach had effectively three bars, in what was a tiny pub. I would only go in the Public Bar for a jimmy if I had to. Kenny's (landlady's partner) brothers and friends use to drink in there and were effectively the pub police force. I used to drink in the back bar of the saloon - which was separated by a small corridor about 4 feet long, but had a completely different clientele from the front bar of the saloon.
When I've gone back to Dartford for bevvies with mates over the past 20 years we usually drink in the Oak, and its been very good. They stayed open late, and had a good jukebox. Never liked the beer in there, but I'm not a Sheps fan. There have a been several changes in ownership but I always thought it was good night out no matter who was running it. Sort of turned more in to a Sports Bar now. Was there last December on a Saturday night and it was rammed - until the tv game finished then it emptied! We went to our gig at the Jagger centre and went back to the Oak afterwards until gone half twelve. Lots of good characters in there (one or two from the Coach days which just seem to turn up) and a good laugh.
We used to go in there in the early 80's on Friday nights for a couple before touring round the others in Bexley
The Railway didn’t become my local until 88 when I started dating a geezer whose mates all drank there. We sometimes went in the Millers (where I had my Old Brockleans rugby initiation 🙄). Couldn’t go in The George cos the ex was a barman. And avoided the Kings as my sister drank there lol.
Bruv was stuck in with the kids at that stage & I was already in the Met.
I was a Girl Guide though 😎
We used to use the Red Lion. One of the teachers complained to the headmaster who dragged four of us into his office. He said we shouldn’t go to the pub at lunchtime as we wouldn’t be able to perform at our best in the afternoon. One of our number said if that’s true, how can the teachers perform at their best if they have been drinking. That was the end of the meeting, with no consequences for any of us.
Bexley was not a venue for me anyway. Bird in Hand, Dartford was my first unofficial and official drinking hole, (aside from the holiday ones in Bailieborough that Sis alluded too and a fateful night as a kid waiting for relatives outside the White Swan in Crayford).
Rene the landlady of the Bird in Hand gave me a good clip round the ear when I had my 18th birthday bash. Because I'd been going in there for about a year beforehand 😂