Monday 25 April 2011

Easter Monday - Rochdale

I'm feeling relatively fine after my first three and a half hours of the year in the saddle. No doubt I will feel stiffer tomorrow but I should be walking normally around the Valley later today. It was great to get out at 7am yesterday in the cool Spring air and stretch my legs on a run down to Gravesend. We stopped short of going on to Higham (which is a great flat run through open farmland with views to the Thames estuary) because Pete needed to collect his car from Crayford Dogs. With hindsight, that was the right move because I felt tired by the time I got home and my bum had had enough for one day.


Today looks like it will be last of the recent hot spell (how unusual for it to end on a bank holiday rather than start on a Tuesday) and it should be a decent day in SE7 for a match. Rochdale are pressing for 6th place but they lost at home 3-2 to Carlisle on Saturday are now need a minor miracle to overhaul Bournemouth where they also have to go before the end of the season. I can see today's game being decided by just how much belief the Rochdale players have that they can still make it. If it's still make or break, they might have enough to scrape three points although they could throw the towel in if we can open the scoring. 


I am heading up to the newly refurbished White Swan pre-match to inspect the decor and see if the new owner has any chance of breaking the cycle. Good reports were emanating about the refurb which apparently cost £170,000 and has included "chandeliers."  One of the workmen involved was heard in the Oak to say that the Swan now resembled "a boozer in Chelsea." I am taking that with a handful of salt. A neighbour who climbed the hill on Good Friday texted me to say that the prices were reassuringly expensive but that in terms of Chelsea it was "no way Jose." Not altogether a bad a thing.


One of my regular refrains on this blog is about the dire shortage of a "decent" pub in Charlton. By decent, I think I really mean upmarket. I am not asking for too much; decent decor, new carpets, curtains, a proper bar, a landlord with a stake, regular professional barstaff, real ale, food, no machines or pool tables and a bit of music. It would also be nice not to have a hypocritical notice on the toilet doors about the management not tolerating drugs and instead have a vigilant landlord who knows his customers and simply bars those he/she catches. Let's face it, if you think you can casually snort a line in the toilet in view of any of Customers who want a pee by saying "alright mate" to anyone who sees you do it, you might as well do it at the bar. Ray Woodard was brilliant at sussing out drug users and would follow them into the toilets and bar them then and there so they could finish their drink and slink off without a scene. Kath and Dermot don't tolerate any nonsense in the Rose of Denmark although the Rose tends not to attract that much of a problem.


I may sound like a Turkey voting for Christmas here but I hope the new owners have upped the prices in the White Swan. That might be enough to deter some of the regular clientele who ruined it for Vito (last para). If they can encourage the wino's to drink elsewhere and stop the bad language and more anti-social behaviour, they might have half-a-chance. I know I am sounding like a 70 year-old member of the Conservative Party, but it's what we need before all hope of a really good drinking venue is lost in London SE7. I think the Customer base is there in spite of the fact that pubs are a dying trade. The Rose and the Anchor are both decent pubs but the Rose is limited (Estate pub on a main road) and the Anchor always seems much further away than it really is - that from me who will have to scale the Charlton Heights to reach the White Swan.


If you are going to the game today, remember that there's only one left to endure after this before we can sit back and marvel as the big signings roll in and the wasters are left to rue their missed opportunities.


Enjoy your day.

1 comment:

  1. Be interested to know your thoughts on the White Swan. Shame about the last bloke's efforts, he at least tried.

    ReplyDelete

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