I was recently outraged and ashamed that a great blues singer and guitarist from our area has been denied access to a local public house.

The artist in question - a member of the Boots family of singers - was raised in the Adur delta area of Sussex (in the UK) and spent his formative years sharecropping on a smallholding on the banks of that river. As a child he tied chicken wire to the door handle of a barn and sang old roundelays while pulling and plucking on the wire. His father, recognising the boy's natural talent, bought him a cheap plywood guitar - and a legend was born. The boy grew into a gifted young man who used to practice his art while standing ankle deep in mud by the river band - getting himself the nickname of "Muddy" as he was always walking around the place with dirty shoes.

Over the years, he became famous in the Adur delta area and in localities further afield, but was not always treated well. Discrimination has always been present and haunts him right up until the present day.

Which was why I was saddened to see a notice pinned to the door of my local pub:

"PLEASE LEAVE MUDDY BOOTS OUTSIDE"

Outrageous!