The rise of- The Speak Easy!
Not quite the prohibition era style, but neighborhood garages that have been decked out as bars.
Attracting a selective clientele of locals- word of mouth only, these bars provide what the pubs and clubs cannot.
A place free from louts, bogans and thugs.
A place where you can hear somebody across the room talk.
A safe place to have a drink amongst friends.
Quite probably somewhere where you can smoke a cigarette without a trip out into the cold!
Drinks marked up a bit from the supermarket price- not a 300% markup. The wine, beer and spirits may even (shock-horror) home-made!
That charming Kiwiana decor - the style of the real Kiwi bach- no two items match! Carpet squares salvaged from the dump over the concrete floor. An old piano with a couple of keys missing. A mangy stags head with an old bra over one antler. Ashtrays stolen from pubs back in the days when they had them. An old dog sleeping next to a permit-free pot-bellied stove in the corner.
The more ambitious may have an old pool table and the Tv that was retired when the owner got an LCD. Only for when the rugby or cricket is on, of course!
There is an outdoors toilet that may or may not be connected to the sewers, depending on the skills of the relaative that illegally onstalled it.
This is nothing new- I knew of one years ago in a town that will not be named. This was a house brought by a bunch of blokes who wanted somewhere to go for a drink and to watch the game. The only pubs in the area were populated by the local PWT and knuckle-draggers, so they made their own. You had your own lock-up fridge and it was BYO, thus totally legal. They paid subs which covered rates, power and a cleaner.
A great arrangement!
The Speak Easy is alive and well in the UK- The Pub Shed
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