Wednesday 25 July 2007

The Salisbury, Harringay RIP (now gentrified)




Description: Victorian grandeur laid to waste.

Action: Saloon bar has two pool tables and tellies with the racing on. Older gents watch the racing with rollups pasted to lips. Lads are playing pool. Pool cues are suddenly raised. Gruff red-faced Boer landlord rushes out to take matters into hand - snatches the cues from their hands and barks in their faces until they decide to carry on playing as though nothing has happened. Lounge Bar: A quieter scene - a single man in a camouflage jacket sits staring into his pint. Red box with the enigmatic 'Ken's Downfall' written on it sits on the rancid carpet by the bar. We ask what it is, no one knows, why is it there? it always has been. Toilets have simple "GENTLEMAN" scrawled on the door in felt tip pen. Disco at the weekends in the small room out back, metal detector on the door. Virtually pitch black interior, all four walls lined with plastic chairs - it's like the grimmest school disco ever. Drug dealers stare at your girlfriend's arse from the stalls.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

this sounds delightful, a real tour de force, and a must for Camra's updated guide to the best london pubs 2007. CM.