Strangers in tonight

Last night we had a very enjoyable evening in the Davenport Arms at Woodford to present licensee Yvonne Hallworth with a certificate commemorating 25 consecutive years in the Good Beer Guide. This is a classic pub, bursting with character and, while it has been altered a little over the years, still has a cosy tap-room and snug at the front, all warmed by real fires which, on a fairly mild evening, produced a roasting atmosphere. Robinson’s Hatters Mild, Unicorn, Mr Scrooge and Old Tom were all on excellent form.

However, amongst some people, this pub seems to have got a reputation for being “cliquey”. It was described by one person as “ very much a locals' local in the style of "American Werewolf in London"'s Slaughtered Lamb: odd looks from (most likely) regulars, and the like.” Well, yes, it does have a strong band of regular customers, and isn’t that really a sign of a good pub? And, given its location between Bramhall and Wilmslow, most of them tend to come from the comfortable middle classes.

I must declare an interest as I have been going in there throughout those twenty-five years, and before, delivering the local CAMRA magazine, and have had many stimulating conversations both with Yvonne and her late father John who was the licensee before her. Every pub has its own character, and I can understand why this one may not be to everyone’s taste, but I can honestly say I have never experienced that exclusiveness of which some complain. And, in reality, especially in the tap-room, it’s a lot more down-to-earth than some seem to think.

Do these moaners simply have a problem with any pub having regular customers? Another excellent Stockport pub sometimes unjustly tarred with the same brush – and which undeniably has a mostly middle-class clientele – is my local, the Nursery in Heaton Norris.

DON'T LET COUNCILS BULLY YOU

Here's a piece of good news to take us into the New Year and something that all smokers should be aware of as local authorities try and use bully-boy tactics to force smokers out of their communities as discrimination against them continues unabated.

Freedom2Choose has revealed that councils have no legal powers to stop people smoking in the open air although in Coventry at least, they will be forming Nagging or Bullying Policies in a bid to deny smoker council tax payers from using the very facilities they pay for.

They believe that Nagging smokers into submission justifies the discrimination they use against law abiding people they want to exclude from their communities.

So if approached by some Jobsworth paid to harass you if you smoke, your response should be that you are not breaking the law and they should just go away. But even though they may put you under severe provocation through their harassment, don't bite because they can then criminalise you under public order offences if you raise your voice or take issue with them.

Just be polite, smile and continue enjoying your cigarette** and tell the Jobsworth that you are breaking no laws and such council policy has no basis in law. In fact, ask them to quote what part of the Health Act 2006 they are using to stop you acting legally because they simply won't be able to tell you.

Meanwhile, as this awful fourth year of the ban is almost over, The Resistance fight continues and the anti-smoker fascists are being exposed further as their fraudulent junk science is revealed as not standing up to scrutiny

Let's hope 2012 is the year when discrimination ends against our lifestyle group and others and that the Govt starts actually funding patient care in the NHS and not propaganda designed by the bigoted ASH.

Don't forget that in Labour's term of office ONE BILLION POUNDS was thrown into the anti-smoker black hole of TV propaganda and various smoke free groups that were dying on their feet before this immoral piece of legislation was enforced through threat of criminal prosecution.

That money could have been so much better used in public service in all sorts of ways

** And don't forget to use your own pocket ashtrays.

Class in a glass

There have recently been a few postings on beer blogs discussing the issue of when the appreciation of unusual and expensive beers turns from simple enthusiasm to beer snobbery, such as here, here and here.

A point that was made was that some of this was tied up with the British class system, and it wasn’t anywhere near so prevalent in other countries. However, I have certainly got the impression that food and drink snobbery was alive and well in the USA, and indeed was often accentuated by being tied up with the “culture wars” that are a much more pronounced feature of that country’s society. This was confirmed by this piece I unearthed about food snobbery, which has very clear echoes of the way many craft beer devotees enthuse about their favoured brews:

Whereas you’re keen on Granny Smiths, he insists that you haven’t even tasted an apple until you’ve sampled a Newtown Pippin...

...Artisanal. Adjective suggestive of handmade goods and old-fashioned craftsmanship. In the food world, a romantic epithet bestowed upon the cheesemaker, breadbaker, bacon-curer, etc., who labors in his or her integrity-steeped native locale, independent of the pressures and toxicities of Big Food, to produce exquisite high-end, SMALL-BATCH edibles available by mail-order.

“The farmstand’s shelves groaned with a dazzling array of artisanal pickles.”

To my mind, anyone who ever uses the term “artisanal” in a food and drink context is unquestionably guilty of snobbery.

The pieces on the same site about rock snobbery and wine snobbery are also well worth reading.

Much of this modern snobbery is not driven by social-climbing affectation, as was often the case in the past, but by a genuine belief that one is being a champion of quality in food and drink, and indeed in other aspects of culture. But this can easily turn into a rancorous and patronising denigration of those – often from a working-class background – who do not share your heightened appreciation. Ironically this often comes from those who would consider themselves as having a left-wing political outlook. It’s far from uncommon to read denunciations in the columns of the Guardian and the Independent of people who swill Carling and eat Big Macs and pizzas from Iceland. If only we could have a society where everybody could afford to buy polenta from Waitrose!

In beer terms, I would say the key factor differentiating the snob from the mere enthusiast is whether you feel a sense of superiority over the unenlightened by choosing the expensive and exotic, or whether you just think “each to his own”.

I also came across this blog post about beer snobbery. Some of the “types of beer snobs”, particularly the “Beer Führer” and “Beer geek” are all too familiar.