We support and also make money for the pub we frequent so it works mutually.

When Sam Smiths threw us out of the Blacksmiths Arms in Farlington I went and found another pub that would have us and it now has every Wednesday a good solid crowd of 25-40 people who come (compared with the handful that normally would be there) - mostly local but occasionally from some distance. It has spawned various other things and we play in there with our little rock band too sometimes and have organised some other things. Nice place to go to so if you are in North Yorkshire any Wednesday come and visit the Thompsons Arms in Flaxton (between Sheriff Hutton and the A64). We don't go out of our way to publicise it as word of mouth keeps it at a manageable size but everyone who wants to contribute or just listen is always welcome. The singing age range is from the 11 year old who sang the other week to the guy who has come occasionally to sing who is over 90.

The Blacksmiths Arms now does so little business generally apart from occasional parties that people don't bother to go in which is sad as it is a beautiful pub - compared with some people here on Mudcat will remember an evening where a group of local people and a truck load of friends from Beverley-Hull etc piled their way through 700 pints of beer in an evening (and early morning) and had a great time singing and playing music (nostalgia trip - 1 - 2 - 3. Sad that Humphrey Smith buggered it up otherwise we would still be there doing all sorts of things. For a village with only a handful of locals we definitely used to make a difference with our support.

I do sense though that pubs are looking for other things now than the mass rush to turn them all into eating establishments trying to dish out food for a fiver and that some of them are now amenable to music more than they were as an alternative to food and Sky.