A break in the momentum ....

.... I've decided - with absolute relish - to spend less time writing magazine articles and more time writing books! That means this section of my website and blogs may become a little static for the moment while I concentrate on bigger projects, but who knows ---- next year (or the year after that) may see me writing more articles!

In the pipeline I have -

* "Tea 'n Turps" which may have to be called "Taking Tea With Artists" ... an amusing chronicle of my life spent interviewing artists, together with a selection of artist profiles and stunning images of their work. I'm hoping to produce it coffee-table-style but that final decision is still to be made ...

* the second edition of "The eArt Directory", first published in paperback in 2005, which is due to be published within the next 6 weeks or so as an e-book ..... so watch this space! (Or rather the space on my Published Books blog).

* "Stepmotherhood. My Story" - still in its early stages of writing.

* the fourth book is still largely ideas and notes, book research and one interview so far, relating to a rural and very beautiful area, overlooking one of the most stunning bays on the West Coast of Ireland. It may become more intriguing as time passes ........

Travel writing lurks forever in my mind, and here's a treat of an image from a trip to Florence :

Find your challenge this summer …

Summer Painting Holidays

Find your challenge this summer …

By Lynda Cookson

I’m an artist of the spoilt brat variety … self taught and revelling in learning what I want to learn, how and when I want to learn it; accepting the artistic challenges I am free to choose - when I feel ready. It’s heady stuff but it’s also really easy to hide in a comfort zone.

A couple of summers ago I joined a group of leisure artists on a sketching trip, to conquer my fear of drawing with charcoal.

The first lesson was very scary. The view stretched for endless miles - hot, hazy, distant mountains. Too intimidated at this stage to use charcoal, I grabbed a pencil and tried desperately to find a bit of that scene on which to focus my sketch. Two hours later, having been put through a number of challenging sketching exercises I felt humbled but good. I’d learnt to have confidence that my individual style will always be there like a trusted friend.

Later that day we were allowed to use paints – ‘Yippee!’ I thought. ‘My comfort zone.’ Oh dear. In my eagerness I totally over-worked the painting and was about to hide it and start again when the lesson ended. Now if I was back in my studio, it wouldn’t have seen the light of day and no-one would have been the wiser – but ‘the mess’ was whipped away from me and joined the pile of art to be analysed after dinner. I needn’t have worried. Most of the group felt the same and the tutors were kind and gentle, using very constructive criticism to nudge us all along the way.

The next day we were set free amongst the pencils, paints, charcoals and inks. It’s amazing how you can slip into a comfort zone when no-one’s watching! I had great fun painting a small stone outhouse and it was a wonderful release for my feelings of inadequacy which had been building up. I was quite happy to be hiding, messing with paints and giving a mere nod to the charcoal challenge. Did I really think I was getting into the charcoal thing by adding a few lines to a mainly acrylic piece? Hmmm.

I finally had to face The Challenge of the Charcoal. No choice. We were given five minutes to make a strong charcoal sketch of the landscape and pass it on to someone else in the group. Each person had to erase the sketch of the person they had received it from and produce a new sketch on top of that. We did this four or five times until our hands, faces and the boards were black with soot. It was heart-breaking rubbing away someone’s masterpiece and yet wonderfully exhilarating to feel free to make mistakes and experiment in the knowledge they’d be covered up!

Our last lesson arrived and this time I was ready to face my challenge head-on and picked up the charcoal. I didn’t manage to finish the large sketch – probably because I was trying to be too precious about it and it ended up pretty messy and undefined - but I felt I had conquered my fear of working with charcoal … and bought myself a few sticks to continue the challenge at home. I had done what an art course encourages you to do … start the process and face your fears.

Recently I visited Seosamh (Joseph) Ó Dálaigh at his Dánlann Yawl Art Gallery and School of Painting on the Curraun Peninsula in Co Mayo. He talks a blue streak and passes on his exuberance and love of culture and painting with such enthusiasm that I left there on a high of inspiration. The school is named after the famous work boat of Achill, the Yawl, and is set in the breathtaking landscape which Paul Henry’s paintings made so famous. Seosamh offers instruction in oils, watercolour and pastel in the peace and quiet of the Old Stable Studio overlooking the sea with an apartment which sleeps four attached to the gallery. Other accommodation is available in nearby Achill. Courses run from May through to September and it’s advisable to book early!

Maureen Cahill runs the Suaibhneas Studio in Ballincollig in Co Cork, running courses in Co Kerry as well, and has a few amusing painting course tales to tell. She and a group of artists settled down to paint at the edge of a nearby golf course. Within minutes an irate foreman stomped over ready to shoo them away. To Maureen’s confusion he suddenly calmed down and thanked them for high-lighting the plight of the endangered Natter-jack toad …. and then Maureen realised she was wearing a wildlife preservation T-shirt. She didn’t enlighten him any further!

Across the country in Co Carlow, Mairead Holohan runs painting courses where she builds on the skills a student already possesses, encouraging the power of positive thinking. She says: ‘During your painting holiday I will introduce you to different techniques such as wet on wet, pen and wash, colour theory and its application in painting.’ She chuckled when she told me: ‘The most amusing group I hosted recently was a hen party! They collaborated on a couple of canvases in acrylic for the bride-to-be to do with as she wished.’

In the north-east of the country artist and art instructor Dermot Kelly tries to take the mystique out of watercolour painting and to eliminate the fear factor. He’s known for his contagious enthusiasm and declares: ‘An ounce of enthusiasm is worth a whole library of certificates!’ Harvey’s Point Country Hotel at the edge of Lough Eske in Donegal Town has been the seat of his classes for more than fifteen years and they offer four-day packages including breakfast, light lunches, coffee breaks and dinners.

So … haul out those brushes and paints and find your personal challenge this summer.

Great Britain and Ireland's Best Hotels 2008

In late 2007 I was commissioned to write about eight of the best hotels in Galway (Ireland) for the 2008 Great Britain and Ireland's Best Hotels published by Insight Guides based in Singapore and Australia.

The hotels reviewed were - The Ardilaun House Hotel, Days Inn, Galway Bay Hotel, The G Hotel, Jurys Inn, The Park House and The Radisson SAS Hotel which is featured here :

Galway Radisson SAS Hotel and Spa

Sumptuous. Sum…ptu...ous. Close your eyes, slowly roll your tongue around the sounds of the word and draw out all the sensuality. That’s Level Five and the Executive guest rooms where you can revel in an affaire passionnée with Galway’s Radisson SAS Hotel and Spa. Discreet access leads to the hedonistic swimming pool and softly lit gym for a gentle or punishing work-out to prepare your body for the delights of what lies a floor below in the chocolatey Spirit One Spa … the Hammam Turkish Bath, Rock Sauna, Aroma Grotto or a laze on the sand in the Beach Room for a full day - in half an hour! - while the rain pounds down outside.

General Manager Tom Flanagan, a Galway man born and bred, leads his team with solid Radisson hotel experience from years spent in Copenhagen, Beijing, Bahrain and Hamburg. The ‘Yes I can!’ philosophy starts at the top and really does filter down with tremendous impact to guests through Front Office Manager Micheal Stapleton; the exuberant Hans Prins, executive chef who has worked in five star hotels in Germany and Dubai and brought new flavours and menus to the Marinas Restaurant; Barcelona-born Ferran Bufau Operations Manager extraordinaire who has been with the hotel since its birth in 2001; and the vivacious Karen Jones, Director of Sales and Marketing.

‘Live passionately, Live well’ advises the classy white ‘With Compliments’ card embossed with the Radisson SAS Hotel and Spa Galway logo, continuing German Interior designer Henrik Frischgesel’s passion for art to complement the sassy and light contemporary decor. Original paintings by Galway-based and renowned Irish artists hang in happy company with quirky sculptures, their diversity handled with ease in the light and airy two and three-storey high lobby, not at all dwarfed by the big palm trees and pots of tall leafy bamboo.

Two penthouse suites together with the 16 Level Five executive guest rooms, 243 standard en-suite rooms and 21 one and two-bedroom apartments tally up to a grand 282 spacious rooms on offer. And the apartments really are quite something. Thick pile carpets, a mini-business corner, stylish and comfortable décor including plenty of mirrors, and so much more than a kitchenette with all the mod-cons well-hidden but available. You want more? Well, twice-weekly servicing is included as is breakfast every morning ... and the Marinas restaurant has the facility for a separate children’s dining area where, in times of high people-traffic, offspring are fed and entertained.

And what would a Radisson SAS Hotel be without fully-equipped conference and business facilities? Galway’s hotel has 13 meeting rooms peacefully tucked beside the huge three-part Ballroom; and for the lone business guest a small room off the reception area offers computers and a printer.

City centre location, wide views over Lough Atalia and Galway Bay, with Galway’s social butterflies spicing up the night beside the weekend cocktail pianist in the Veranda Bar may be great but it’s really all about service, consistency, service, great rooms, service, well-planned facilities and … well, service!

Don't almost do it … do it now!

Volunteer and find your passion

Don't almost do it … do it now!

By Lynda Cookson

Mary (not her real name) got out of bed on this particular morning and most things were just the same … her knees still cracked their beat; her ankles needed a few minutes to warm up to full movement capacity; her body looked suspiciously like a ‘z’ as she hobbled along to the kitchen; and her hands were flapping about, trying to look inconspicuous as they touched on walls and banisters for balance. A familiar scene? Mary didn’t care …. as a volunteer worker in a local charity she knew her day would only get better.

Oxfam Ireland

I spoke with two volunteers, Cathleen Hawkshaw and Maura Roche, both in their late 60s, who spend time in the office at Oxfam Ireland. Cathleen helps to keep the accounts in order for two days every week. She says it’s an absolute joy to come in – ‘I miss the interaction with people from my working days and the conversations we have here are very important to me. We chat about the books we’ve read, often exchange books, and simply enjoy the satisfaction of a good conversation.’ Maura spends one day a week helping to check donor addresses on the computer, fill envelopes and handle some of the load of phone calls to donors. She’s happy to turn her hand to any vital office job and said: ‘This keeps me in touch with younger people and their way of life – which is so different to my life! I really enjoy the contact with them and it helps me to keep an open mind.’

Oxfam Ireland is committed to ending poverty and suffering in developing countries; promoting understanding of the causes of these injustices; and campaigning for a world where every man, woman and child can live free from hunger, poverty and oppression. They have opportunities for volunteers in their 45 shops and Oxfam garden initiative as well as for their campaigns and overseas projects.

Volunteering Ireland

Volunteering Ireland is a membership based organisation which promotes high quality voluntary activity, by encouraging organisations which involve volunteers to adopt good policy and practice, and by acting as a link between such organisations and individuals who wish to undertake meaningful voluntary work. They match individuals who wish to volunteer, with organisations which offer suitable volunteering opportunities.

As a support and advice group, if you wish to discuss any aspect of volunteering, however large or small, Volunteering Ireland are there to listen and to provide practical support. Their Charter for Effective Volunteering will advise and inform you of your rights as a volunteer.

On their website, they speak of the importance of passion; how volunteers will only do, in the long-term, what they believe to be meaningful; enthusiasm for the cause you choose is absolutely essential. ‘A shared passion within the organisation is the ultimate ‘glue’ of the group; without this, it will crumble. To ensure ongoing motivation, keep reminding yourself what the world would be like if the group did not exist.’

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Enable Ireland

Enable Ireland is a leading national provider of services for children and adults with disabilities, and for their families. Many of the staff in the 19 retail shops are dedicated volunteers helping to raise vital funds. Money raised supports essential projects such as building new Services Centres, carrying out renovations, and building Hydrotherapy treatment pools.

Recently President Mary McAleese hosted a reception to acknowledge the contribution of volunteers who raise funds for charitable organisations under her patronage, and a selection of outstanding volunteers from each charity was invited to attend this symbolic event. Mary Gilmartin from Santry and May McNally from Drimnagh were among Enable Ireland’s nominated five volunteer representatives who met the President at the reception in Áras an Uachtaráin.

Mary Gilmartin has been an enthusiastic and committed collector for the annual Enable Ireland House-2-House collection for the past twelve years. May McNally is 84 years old, a widow with 12 children, and has worked as a volunteer in the Enable Ireland Camden Street Shop since the day it opened in July 1989. She is a regular volunteer from Monday to Friday and sets up the stock in the store room ready for shop opening each day. ‘It was a day with a difference’ said May ‘and I was delighted to meet the President and have such a lovely time at the Áras. It was a great surprise to be chosen to represent the work of Enable Ireland shop volunteers.’

Whatever your passion, whatever your interest, there is always a charity which will benefit from your input. As a starting point, if you have a computer, login to the Google.com search page, type in ‘Volunteering for the over 50s’ and sift through the sites that come up. Otherwise, pick up the phone and call the charity of your choice from those we have listed, or call Volunteering Ireland who will be only too happy to help you.

Forging ahead in leaps and bounds

The Hugh Lane Gallery

Forging ahead in leaps and bounds

By Lynda Cookson

Charlemont House, since 1933 the elegant home of the Hugh Lane modern and contemporary art collection, graces the far side of Parnell Square in Dublin. Stepping off the Luas at Abbey Street I wandered up the wide pavements of O’Connell Street feeling more and more light-hearted as I neared Parnell Square - thanks to Barry Flanagan’s huge sculptures of Hares leading me to the gallery. I’ll miss their bounding cheerfulness when they leave Dublin at the end of October after helping to celebrate the May 2006 launch of the expanded and refurbished Hugh Lane Gallery.

Another important celebration of the Hugh Lane’s watershed extension is the return of Harry Clarke’s stained glass ‘The Eve of Saint Agnes’ to permanent exhibition in pride of place as the first exhibit as you enter the gallery. You can’t help but catch your breath, readjust your spectacles (unless youth is still on your side) and gaze in wonder at the fineness of hand and clarity of imagination Clarke drew on to create his masterpieces. Childhood memories of fairy stories rush at you with an adult’s appreciation of the level of artistry, and it’s difficult indeed to move on to the Sculpture Hall … I turned, and stopped again at a small abstract stained glass piece – James Scanlon’s ‘Study No 2 for Miro 1985’ – which is sure to keep your eyes delving into the depths of colour and design. Stunning. Finally, I managed to pull myself away.

For the first time since 1913 Hugh Lane’s original collection of Impressionist paintings is hanging together. Failing to overcome difficulties in finding a permanent home for his collection in Dublin during the early 1900s, Lane bequeathed his continental paintings to the National Gallery in London. Just before his death on the liner The Lusitania in 1915 he changed his mind when London baulked at hanging the entire collection believing some works to be below standard. Lane added a Codicil to his Will leaving the famous collection of 39 paintings to the new gallery in Dublin – but the Codicil was not witnessed. A British commission decided that the works, including paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Pissarro, Degas and Vuillard, should stay in London. Lady Gregory, Lane’s aunt, fought for decades to prove that her nephew wished the paintings to go to Dublin and in 1959 it was finally agreed that the paintings be shared in a rotating arrangement between Dublin and London with the agreement being reviewed every 12 years.

The recent expansion of the gallery, on the site of the famous former national ballroom and utilising the gardens of two neighbouring houses which were bought in 1995, has doubled gallery space allowing for thirteen new temporary exhibition rooms, a dedicated children’s area and education resource room, a lecture theatre with state of the art equipment, and an extensive archive and storage area together with a larger bookshop and café opening onto an internal courtyard.

My eye was caught specifically by three pieces: ‘The Umbrellas’ by Renoir; George Clausen’s ‘The Haymaker’; and ‘There is No Night’ by Jack B Yeats, as I moved through the five galleries leading to the much-publicised Francis Bacon Studio and I sank onto a couch to watch a continuous video of an interview of the celebrated Dublin-born artist. What a difference it makes to be able to hear and see the artist speak. After having only a passing interest in his life and work, I became entranced with the person, with his unaffected manner and warmth – and I sat through the video twice. His studio is an incredible mess yet as my eye searched, expecting a mouse or two to appear from beneath the piles of paper, I realised that this gift of his studio is priceless – worth more as the essence and secrets of a great artist than any painting could be. Dublin is truly privileged.

I spoke to Barbara Dawson, Director of the Hugh Lane Gallery, about the gallery’s philosophy, of how new works of art are chosen: ‘Hugh Lane had been supportive of the living artists of his time so we focus on living art, on young, contemporary, national and international art, and in some circumstances established artists like Louis Le Brocquy, Patrick Scott, Francis Bacon and Ellsworth Kelly. We look at contemporary artists and see what their practice is and how it would relate to our reading of pioneering practice today. Although we like to exhibit two or three works by the same artist so that the visitor may understand the practice instead of just being presented with one example by many artists, our annual budget for purchasing is very low – so we strongly encourage specific donations.’ She went on to say that the Acquisitions Board looks to her for guidance. ‘They rely on my recommendations for focus – not the only focus – but a defined focus. A collection cannot be great in any way unless there is a definite focus and ours has a strong contemporary relevance.’

A visit to the gallery before 10th September means you will be able to catch Beyond The White Cube, a retrospective of pioneering conceptual artist Patrick Ireland. From December 2006 to February 2007 ‘The Studio’ will present work by artists who directly address their relationship to the studio – inspired by the Francis Bacon Studio. A series of public lectures and films will take place throughout autumn on Sundays at 3pm. Free guided tours of the collection take place every Tuesdays at 11.00 and Sunday at 1.30.

Further information can be gleaned from the gallery’s website : www.hughlane.ie

It’s never too late in Studio 10

Irish Museum of Modern Art

It’s never too late in Studio 10

By Lynda Cookson

‘When I was in my late twenties, I met a friend who was involved in art. I asked her about learning to draw but she said – well May, it’s a bit late now – now I know she was wrong, it’s never too late.’ These are the words of May Twomey, a member of the St Michael’s Active Retirement group who have been coming to Studio 10 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in the Kilmainham Royal Hospital every Friday morning since 1992.

A preoccupied murmuring and lowered heads above working hands greeted me as I entered Studio 10 one Friday morning. It didn’t take long for me to learn that there was mischief in those murmurs – the happy mischief that comes with a group of people thoroughly enjoying their time together while exploring their own abilities as well as that of established and famous artists.

The open studio with its drop-in programme – which means that anyone can join in whenever they wish, no previous art experience is necessary, no booking is required, nor is it necessary to attend every week – began this season in September and will run every Friday morning from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm until May 2007. Participants can work on their own projects in the studio or work with the facilitating artists on new projects. Frequent visits to the IMMA exhibitions and the resident artists’ studios are part of the programme to give participants a chance to discover the secrets of professional and famous artists producing modern and contemporary art.

There is no charge for these workshops and basic materials are provided. On the day of my visit participants were using pencils, rulers, carbon paper, charcoal and black felt tip pens on various types of paper to produce caricatures of the group as they worked, line drawings to challenge a mathematician, balloons and space ships, country landscapes, flowers and squiggles. Two artists, Claire Halpin and Chris Jones, were assisting 27 people in two spacious rooms with lots of fluid movements and concentrated moments discussing design, going on; big flourishing charcoal sketches were throwing down the gauntlet to scissors, small mathematical set squares and compasses while tracing paper and acetate worked their perfection. I was told that pottery and painting are also included in the activities during the season.

Over a cup of coffee in the café near the bookshop Lisa Moran, IMMA’s Curator of Education and Community Programmes, told me how, when the museum first opened, it was important to them to link in with local communities to involve them in the experience of the museum exhibitions; and she outlined the museum’s plans for the growth of the project: ‘It can go through stages of chaos with erratic attendance and we feel it’s still a new and experimental project. Studio 10, in its present open form, is only in its second year. We’re conscious of keeping the group’s attachment to the museum, emphasising what the participants are seeing in the gallery space; looking, discussing and responding to that in the workshop. We want to keep revisiting that connection, having the kind of discussions which question the artist’s intention and why they choose to use the materials they do. It’s facilitating experimentation, exploring and looking at things from a different angle and encouraging them to challenge assumptions and question the work. We’ve had some very interesting discussions. We constantly monitor the process, informed by people’s experiences, and if the project becomes too unwieldy we remain open to change. A strand of it may stay the same and become self selecting but we could also run parallel strands of the same model to accommodate the group’s needs. The idea is to give people a range of options.’

Wanting to know more about what regular attendees to the workshops felt I flipped through a report Lisa had given me entitled ‘Even Her Nudes Were Lovely’:

‘… even her [Mainie Jellett, artist] nude figures were lovely, they weren’t these big floppy fat ones …’

‘… and when you go home especially when you’re living alone you don’t feel so lonely because you know you’ve someone out there even though you’re not talking to them they’re there if you want them and you feel like one happy family …’

‘It’s all new to me because I went to school in 1941 … you were never ever brought to museums you were never brought to anything … the only thing I ever did in school was cooking … sewing and once a month brought walking to confession.’

‘Well through that really you kinda look at the world different, you don’t go around with your head on the ground, you’re looking at the shape of roofs and trees and the skyline and you see things.’

The Irish Museum of Modern Art is a comfortable five to ten minute walk from Heuston Station at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8.

The Morning After …

How are the Stricter Drink Driving Laws Affecting Pubs in Rural Ireland?

The Morning After …

By Lynda Cookson

In shoes big enough to float him to America, a work-worn suit with the jacket threatening to drown him, and a battered cap on his head, a local Connemara man nods his greeting as he rolls into the pub in Maam with a walk unique to himself …. long, measured steps which he’s cultivated to compensate for his slight build, or maybe so that he can cope with those huge shoes! He heads straight to the local's corner for his pint and a hearty conversation with his mates. Have the recent more strict drink driving laws affected his social and drinking life? Possibly only in that there are now less people to give him a lift the few kilometres home.

It was a Monday evening about 8.45 pm when I spoke to a couple of regular drinkers in the pub in Maam, deep in Connemara. Keane’s Pub (with its excellent reputation for an outstanding pint of porter) is the only pub Garrett Keane frequents – he lives hardly 200 metres down the road and always drives there and back: ‘The social lives of the older folk are going down the tube fast. There are no taxis here, and the locals’ cars are their lifeline, so they come in for their pint about 6pm and are out home by 7 pm. They can’t risk losing their licences. It’s a battle because country folk are not great TV watchers either and it doesn’t leave much else for them in the evenings. The eighteen and nineteen year olds have grown up with the drink driving laws – they’re used to them – and have no problem designating a driver for the evening so it isn’t such a problem or such a huge social change for them.’

Sitting next to Garrett was Martin Berry who found his solution before the problem arose – he gave up drink a long time ago, before the drink drive regulations, and now enjoys pub social life with a soft drink on the counter before him. So perhaps you don’t have to drink alcohol to be a part of the pub scene.

In O’Malley’s pub in Cornamona on a weekday at 4 pm I found Maggie behind the counter serving pints to five regulars - Martin Monroe, Michael Anthony, John Walsh, Sean Sullivan and Seán O’Gabháin. Not letting the changes get them down they declared there was no problem at all with the recent tightening in law. With at least one taxi operating in the area and a generous offering of lifts to and fro by neighbours and friends plus the added advantage of having feet on the ends of their legs ... ‘and hopefully you don’t walk into a heap of briars!’ … it didn’t seem to worry anyone. However, a little more chat revealed that the taxi service is a bit hit and miss and increasingly Maggie is hearing: ‘A coupla pints only please because I’m travelling in the morning.’

I heard these words from more publicans and regulars drinkers than just Maggie: ‘The recent random checks and morning-after checks have hit pub life big time. It’s a huge problem and rural pubs are closing down nationwide. Sunday night is a really bad night now because people have to drive to work in the morning and can’t risk the checks. Social life has taken a big drop.’

On the other side of Galway city, at the edge of Kilcolgan, is O’Donohue’s pub run by Michael and Mary O’Donohue. They’ve been there twenty-seven years and run a B&B as well as the pub. Mary outlined their struggle to keep going: ‘Yes, people have definitely stopped coming since the random testing was introduced. No-one is taking any chances now and it’s a disaster. The pub business peaked in 2001 and then fell away with the smoking ban making a small difference – we were hoping it would level out but it didn’t – and now the drink drive regulations have extinguished that light of hope. The taxis in the area are not reliable and I don’t feel I should have to organise lifts. We provide top quality pints, a warm pub with TV and quiz evenings but feel we are fighting against the wind. There are not so many older folk, with their card evenings, left now and the younger crowd here are different – drink is not their first priority.’

A little way down the road from O’Donohues pub is Raftery’s Rest, a cheerful pub and restaurant with lively session music one night a week. I spotted a shiny white courtesy car parked at the entrance to the pub and was told that it’s used to ferry drinkers home, at no set time, simply whenever the need arises. Albert Hynes was one of two men resting their elbows on the counter next to their pints late that afternoon and this is what he had to say: ‘People drink less and there’s a lot more home drinking now even although many people do live within walking distance. I usually have a family member drop me off and fetch me but it’s inconvenient and my lack of independence makes it a drag.’ Are some drinkers too embarrassed to use a courtesy car emblazoned with the pub’s logo?

The inevitable and necessary drink driving laws are badly affecting both pubs and drinkers in the rural areas, literally bringing it down to the survival of the fittest. So where will it go from here? Change always brings in new things and loses some of the old and familiar; it closes doors and opens others to fresh potential … are we game for sessions of music and companionable chat in bright new coffee shops in the back of beyond?