Anchor's Away

Last night I went to the pub. "ooh er What's new? " I hear you mutter. Well I did, but it proved to be a very intersting pub. We had moored by Anchor bridge and probably should have guessed there was a pub nearby (probably called The Anchor). Anyway it was 6.30 and having battened down Weyward Lady's hatches for the night, the thought of a pint of God's nectar trickling past my pearly pink epiglottis was too much to refuse. So off I went in search of refreshment.
Having found the pub SHOCK and HORROR it was closed. A passing yokel was quick to point out, however, how lucky I was. "ooh aarh " he said ( yes they really do talk like that here albeit with an twinge of Brummie thrown in) "it's closed during the week so you're lucky it's Sunday and opens at 7.00.
At 7.10 because I would never like to be seen waiting outside a pub for it to open, so common, I entered the licences premises. Two steps and I was in the bar, three steps and I would have been in the Landlady's parlour. A small bar to my left with a few tables and chairs and a small bar to my right with two huge semi-circular pine benches placed around a roaring fire.
"A pint of your best bitter please" I requested. A glass jug was placed on the counter. I always prefer a jug anyway but normally have to ask. This was closely folllowed by a quart jug of frothy beer from which my jug was filled.
It appears that as a part of the recent modernisation process, 20 or so years ago a pump had been installed from the cellar to draw the beer up but Olive, the Landlady couldn't quite get the hang of it so continued to bring beer up from the cellar by jug, just as her mother had done, and her mother before that,since time immemorial.
It was first a pub in the early 1800s providing ale to thirsty canal barge people and has been in Olive's family since the early 1900s, resisting any type of change. Olive's daughter is already being schooled to take over.
History and tradition is the "new rock and roll".Never has a pint tasted so good!