I used to have a quiet drink in the Carters Arms when I lived in Kirkby in the 60's. It was the type of pub you could take your Mum to,no music just quiet conversation. Just along the road from it was the Railway,an all together different kettle of fish. The back room was'nt too bad ,but the bar was where the bums and stiffs drank. I took an Irish /American friend home with me for a flying visit in '63 and my dad suggested we go up and have a "quiet" drink before we returned to our ship. The three of us were standing at the bar in the backroom and we could see the front room through the arched opening that connected the serving areas. A stool came flying through the opening and crashed into the optics at the back of bar we were standing at.
Two men appeared through the opening ,they were knocking lumps out of each and then someone smashed a stool over one of their heads .Bodies were flying everywhere whilst we in the back stood silently viewing the gory spectacle. We finished our drinks and bade our goodbyes and got a taxi back to the docks. Mick,the Yank, says to me "Brian,if thats your old mans idea of a quiet drink.. I'd take a rain check on going for a wild night out with him !"
Happy days in Kirkby,where the kids played tag with axes,
BrianD