Quote Originally Posted by london calling View Post
Do you remember it when the 2 old ladies had it.Quaint rules and regulations.When you ordered crisps the packet was open for you and the crisps put on a plate.No sleeveless tops for men you were asked to leave.No shorts of any kid for men either.I once saw a about 4 guys who had cycled miles just for a pint of Bass being told to leave the pub.They turned to us locals and pleaded for us to get the decision reversed as wearing smart shorts was usual for cyclist but to no avail.We used to call it the Funeral Parlour it was so quiet.Happy days.
I lived across the road for a few months, must be 35 years ago now. As well as the two ladies there was the old man Aldington himself, who always wore a regimental blazer and a younger guy who I guess must have been a son of one of them. John Bonser says it's still in the Aldington family today. We were a bunch of twenty year old lads sharing a flat. We liked our beer and it was a cracking area for pubs, what with Strand on the Green and then Kew Green over the bridge as well as that little corner. But we always treated the Express Hotel as the 'local'.