“This is where he did it “said Phil, “What?” enquired Billy.” Jerome wrote a few chapters of “The Book””Can’t be its too modern,” added Billy. The landlord chipped in “This pub was built in 1755 “.The Captain thought Jerome would have turned in his grave now that this pub is classified as an Old English Gastro pub.” Of course it’s been modified since then” continued the landlord, the Captain thought,” ruined”, but then allowed the landlord to pontificate. “We’ve completely changed the place .We now have has three function rooms which are available for private parties, business seminars, clubs and society meetings and a range of special events. The Cabin Boy immediately thought of Pole Dancers, Stag Parties and Strippers but was disappointed to hear that Tony, the landlord, was going to hold wine tasting and cookery evenings and even theatre nights. The Captain thought in his mind “Maybe watching paint dry, women’s topless darts and dwarf tossing would be more appropriate in order to bring in customers and a bit of life to the place”.
One good think about the pub was that the clientele didn’t seem to fit the type of place that the owner was trying to create. We spoke to a couple of guys, Dick and Dave and their conversation seemed to be quite normal, wogs, woofters and women and of course football, beer and what they’d like to do to our useless politicians. As well as having the same standards of common decency as us, we were all drinking the same beer “Mutiny” brewed locally by the local Rebellion Brewery.
While drinking with loving care his umpteenth pint and attention the Cabin Boy said “It just goes to show that even in this present economic climate, some businesses can still be successful and what we are holding in our hands is testament to this. The Rebellion Brewery here in Marlow is a small micro-brewery set up when one of the larger brewers of yesteryear decided to shut its doors here, it may have been Wethereds.If my memory serves me correctly, they sold out to the property division of one of the mega breweries .Undaunted by the refusal of the large brewery to embark on some form of joint venture, ,a couple of guys bought some brewing equipment from Courage, I think in Reading and had a bit of luck, when a sympathetic farmer at Marlow Bottom sold then a couple of units to start off a new brewery. There was an article in the Camra magazine “What’s Brewing” a few years ago. It just goes to show what a bit of perseverance can do .Even though they were strapped for money and were working on a shoestring budget plus problems with the local planning department; they still managed to achieve their goal and, I wonder if this pub is named after the two guys who spearheaded this brewery project?”.
The Captain interrupted “That reminds me of my buddy back Roy, back in Caversham, who uses the phrase “Out of adversity comes opportunity and this certainly applies in this case”
“I think you’ll find that that phrase was originally coined by Benjamin Disraeli,” continued the Cabin Boy”.”Almost right Billy” commented the First Mate,”It was Benjamin Franklin across the Pond”.”Almost right “interjected the landlord “I think you’ll find that the Pond refers to crossing the Atlantic from the States to England”. And the First Mate thought he had ended the conversation with “And I think you ill find that a landlord is supposed to be genial, unassuming host and not some sort of know-it-all prat who fancies himself as a pseudo intellectual and that’s being polite!!!” “And I’ll think you ‘ill find that as a landlord. I can throw out any one I like to, so gentlemen drink up and leave my pub at once”.
The crew quickly knocked back the remains of their pints and as they were opening the door to leave the Cabin Boy said politely “And I think you will find Sir ,that we won’t be dirtying your door again” and the First Mate added “ And I’ll think, you ‘ill find that you’ll never make a landlord as long as you’ve got a hole in your arse”
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