The Greyhound
My first review of pubs of the 60’s has to be The Greyhound on Holloway Head. Not the most salubrious of pubs but it was still frequented by pop stars, dipsomaniacs, tv personalities, and idiots such as myself looking for cheap drinks before heading into town and paying the prices there.
I’m talking about a pint of rough at 10p a pint old money when beer drinkers were paying around 2/- a pint for a pint of bitter or 1/10d for a pint of mild (no lager then). At that time my preferred drink was 2 bottles of light ale, alas not available in the Greyhound so it was a pint of rough. One thing I never stooped to was having my pint topped up with blackcurrant it looked a horrible concoction but it was obviously a favoured drink amongst the men and women.
Three things I remember about the Greyhound are although I was never what you would call a regular. One in the times I frequented the place it was always that crowded that I was never once able to get a seat, the other thing was I never saw a fight inside the pub or outside, as rough as the pub was. Finally, it was the first place I ever saw one of these toasted sandwich machines, of course after seeing it I had to try one, my lasting memory was walking around for the rest of the evening unable to talk properly because of a burnt tongue.
Alas the Greyhound has passed into history now, and scrumpy houses are becoming few and far between.