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I wonder who this fellow will apologise to first? His insurance company, the Heritage Trust, his staff, his customers?

Yep Ozzz, take a look at the state of the place now courtesy of Sky News even the pub has a hangover!!!

What I thought was funny is that there is a ...

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Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer advocacy group for the beer industry.

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You have to love a country that values its beer so much.

What a New Year this guy will have:

His insurance company won't pay up.

The Heritage Trust will take him to court as well as the police, resulting in massive fine.

His staff will now be unemployed, and therefore take him to court for loss of wages.

His customers will find somewhere else to drink, or will they? Real Ale pubs are few and far between, oh well, they'll save money and be healthier.

He's wasted the thousands of pounds that he spent doing the place up.

I wonder why he wasn't done for drink driving.

Happy New Year to him.

Russ, what is a "Real Ale" pub? A kind of franchise or something?

Some people seem to have really strong principles when it come to alcohol. First I read in 'The Commons' about the man who shot his friend dead over a can of beer (from beer to bier) and now there's someone bulldozing his pub because he couldn't get a drink.

A bit more involved than just the alcohol there perhaps but still drink related. Maybe I should switch to orange juice.

It looks like he could be the winner of the idiot of the year award!

I've heard of people having hissy fits over little things before, but this one beats anything I have ever seen or heard.

In the UK, a Real Ale pub is one that specializes in beer that is made in the 'traditional' way, starting with the picking of the hops that are used. Most pubs here are 'conventional' pubs that sell chemical garbage, that can rot concrete in extremely fast times.

If this pub was a Real Ale pub, (they aren't franchises, they are privately owned), then the chances are that the nearest one won't in fact be near at all. If these Real Ale drinkers do wish to follow their passion, then they'll get darn fit in the process.

Oh yeah, these pubs are generally found in the countryside, miles from anywhere, frequented by the local people. Edited for offensive content And they play a game called 'bar billiards', the only game that I know of that is slower and more boring than cricket, if that's possible.

Hope that helps.

You're forgetting shove 'apenny - those were the days!!!

Of course, and the all time classic, tiddlywinks.

Nostalgia rules, hokey cokey.

Just noted your addition, nice one

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've just remembered the tune that your post reminded me of Russ, Duelling Banjos from the film Deliverance.

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Thanks izzi! Now that silly tune will be stuck in my head for days.....

There's an organisation called 'CAMRA' in the UK that started the 'Campaign For Real Ale' some years ago. Real Ale is brewed in a traditional way as Russ5 describes. These days though, the campaign for pubs to supply it has just about been won.

I suppose you'd describe the area where we live as 'suburban'. Light industry, housing estates etc. There are many real ale pubs around. Practically every other one I'd say ...and their are lots of pubs in our area. Some are privately owned, some are tied to breweries but most sell real ale of various names. Many pubs are restaurants too and belong to a 'chain'. I suppose they buy their beer from whoever they want to. There's always traditionally brewed beer at these.

Maybe it just all depends on the UK area as to the availability of traditionally brewed beer. I'm reasonably well travelled in the UK and have always been able to get 'real ale' wherever I've been. I'm a bit of a lager man myself but do like the occasional pint of real ale.

Edited - my post doesn't make much sense now that Russ' has been censored.

You can certainly buy 'real ale' here too. One pub brews its own and the beer they produce is considered to be quite good.

I have read most carefully what dear Russ5 has written about; real ale, the country side and bar billiards. I note that; I like real ale, used to live in the country and like bar billiards and similar pub games. I am therefore looking for volunteers to help build a large wicker person, fill it almost full of highly combustible substances and invite Russ5 to a nice sacrifice to a dark god and fry-up deep in the country side. Alternatively we could just drown him in a barrel of Bishops' Tipple, no forget that it is much too lovely a beer to waste even in a noble cause. Off to the osier beds then.

Tielhard, hello.

You've been reading Dale Carnegie's book: How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Nice positive affect

Tielhard, you crack me up

First and foremost, the man needs to be thrown into a paddock surrounded by the regulars of the pub. Hey, I understand as much as the next person the want for beer. It's smooth creamy head, it's clean crisp taste, the little fizzy bubbles, that first taste after a long day....

....sorry. What was I saying?....

....That's right. Beer is good, yes. Need for beer is natural, agreed. Why would you disrespect the place of beer? Why would you destroy your own place of beer? This man obviously needs very very long and hard core therapy. It just aint right. I think of that pub, all broken and sad. No longer a place of beer.....it just makes me.....so.......sad......

PS - Can someone please explain bar billards to me? I have this bizarre vision of people playing pool along the bar, and trying to pot the balls in strategically placed pot glasses...

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No longer a place of beer.....it just makes me.....so.......sad......

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Oh, Tanzen, it breaks my heart the way you described the pub as broken and sad. I hadn't thought of it that way yet

Tanzen,

Bar billiards is a kind of miniature coin-operated snooker.

You have a number of red object balls and a white cue ball. The table has a number of holes in its surface (not pockets in the corners). You have to pot the balls in the holes. When a red goes down a hole, it is returned to you until the time limit for the game is reached: after that you just carry on with the balls on the table until they're all potted.

The score for potting a ball is between 10 and 200 points, depending on the degree of difficulty of the particular hole. There are also two white pegs and one black peg on the table. If you knock down a white peg, your break ends and you lose all the points for the break. If you knock down the black peg (which is right in front of the 200 hole), you lose your whole score in the game so far.

The game used to be found in a lot of British pubs, but you don't see it often nowadays – not in my part of the country at least. It seems to have been replaced by pool. When I was an undergraduate, you used to get about a quarter of an hour for sixpence (which was about a third of the price of a pint), but I dare say it's rather more expensive today.

There was an add here not too long ago for tissues that had all these men crying. Big manly men sobbing like children and holding each other. Then it cut to a shot of a destroyed pub. That add also made me sad, and that is what I am reminded of in this story....

...I really don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to my pub. I have so many good memories and have made so many good friends there. I honestly think I would be distraught if anything ever happened to it...

And thanks for explaining bar billiards Tabby Tom. See, I'm learning new things all the time! Me, I'm still quite content with the normal pool tables as they are. At the pub it costs two dollars for a game of pool (I remember when you could play for 40 cents, oh for shame.... ), but if you want to go ot a pool hall and use the proper comp tables (ie the big ones) I think it usually costs something like four dollars for an hour.....

....Oh, the heady days of my misspent youth.....and the utter glory in the knowledge that I'm still living them....

Our previous local pub (moved house a couple of times since it was) recently burnt to the ground. We spent many happy hours in that pub. On Sunday lunchtimes we'd meet all our friends in there. It was a great atmosphere, especially since the real ale flowed freely!

It was turned into a pub/restaurant some time ago. This had proved so popular that the building had just undergone a second renovation. It was a really nice pub that served up good quality (and good value) 'pub grub' and real ale. We occasionally went back there for an evening.

It was very sad to hear about it burning down. Not only did the area loose a traditional style pub but the living accommodation, possessions and livelihood of the people that ran it also went up in smoke.

Just before Christmas, as a one off, they erected a marquee in the pub car park and opened a bar. No doubt the locals will have made good use of it. I hope the pub gets rebuilt soon.

Why does this title say"Funny News Story"? It's SAD I tell you!! Very, very sad!!

All these pubs in ruins.....tragic.....

We don't lose too many of our pubs down here like that. If a good pub goes down, it's because of the pokies....