Never mind the air-freshener, the rot set in when they built inside toilets and put in a bar. And when the lager tap went in I swear you could hear the former landlady spinning in her grave...

It's still a great pub and the new owners have modernised it very sensitively, but it's the way of things that they depend on food sales. However they do continue to make us very welcome so no complaints on my part.

I'm struggling with the idea of my mate Tom Kitching as an "urban dandy".