Quote Originally Posted by sheffield hatter View Post
Sheffield enters Tier 3 at 00:01 tomorrow morning, so I went out for a few beers this afternoon, before things got crazy. First stop was the Crow Inn, but they had a very sparse selection - still able to get the American Solera barrel aged sour 10%, though not the Pohjala Pime Oo 13.9% that I've been dipping into on recent visits. So I kicked off my afternoon with a modest half of a beer that's been barrel aged on merlot grapes, making it quite a lot like a wine, with beerish hints. Anyway, I like it.

Next was going to be Shakespeare's, but they had almost nothing left, and certainly nothing that I wanted to drink, so I excused myself and went around the corner and across the road to the Kelham Island Tavern. I has barely finished signing in and taking my seat before two men came through the door, approached the bar and introduced themselves as being from the Daily Telegraph, asking if they could speak to the landlady. The youngish lad who runs the place with his wife (he's looked about 16 for the last 16 years) asked them to wait a bit, but please keep out of his way as he was serving his customers and was on his own, and they sat down at the nearest table and started talking to one of the customers.

I don't normally interfere with private conversations, but these were journalists, so I put my mask on and approached them, asking if they were housemates with the man they were talking to, and if not why were they sitting at his table, and by the way, had they remembered to scan the QR code on entering and, for fuck's sake, where were their masks? They were a bit disconcerted, and issued an all round apology, and I retired to my table. I spoke to the people around me (receiving general support), along the lines of one rule for us and another rule, apparently, for them, at which point both the photographer and the journalist approached me and said that they had apologised. Yes, I said, but you still haven't logged in or put your masks on. By this time they were blocking the route from the bar to the seats and were asked to get out of the way.

Eventually the licence holder appeared and had a slightly flustered interview, in which she said that they were unsure of what they were allowed to do under the new regulations, had had a dreadful year, including missing the expected enhanced takings associated with the Sheffield beer festival, and thought they might just be able to keep going until Christmas, and agreed to have her photo taken, after which the photographer left (by the wrong door) and logged out instead of logging in. People around me agreed that I had been quite right to challenge these interlopers, and when I apologised to the young(ish) lad who is the joint lessee for getting involved, he said they "needed telling".

I next went round the corner to the Fat Cat, where I saw the journalist interviewing the pub manager in the space outside the front door, while his photographer set up a shot. Inside, I discovered that they had walked straight into the pub just like they had done at the KIT, before being sent back out. I was still really angry, but managed to calm down a bit, helped by a very good pint of Kelham Island Best Bitter.

Next stop was the Wellington, where I had a couple of halves (Neepsend Ehecatl stout and a Harbour IPA) while being entertained by a couple who had clearly had a lot more to drink than I had. Final stop was the Blake Hotel, where I had a further pint of the Neepsend Rum Porter 5% that I had made a start on the night before.

It would have been an enjoyable crawl apart from the presence of the "gentlemen" of the press and the thought that I won't be back in any of these pubs for some time. (Actually, the Fat Cat does food, so it's staying open, but they don't know - despite asking - what the rules are for how much time people are allowed to stay and drink, and whether they actually have to eat the food).

Government by journalists. Don't you love it?
Might have had a different reception in the House of The Trembling Madness in York , the press are noted scum and although they sometimes expose the scumbags in our society they usually belong to the same happy club along with politicos, civil servants, and all the other entitled, self serving bastards that make up the upper reaches of our society. As has been noted many times before the scum always rises to the top. #first against the wall.