Whitbread Pale Ale

Nope - try again - I think the postcode is EC1V 9NR which makes it closer to Old Street than Angel.

Is that a Good Thing, in the words of '1066 And All That'?

Yikes! Remind me never to drink in EC1.

Ale seems c. £3 -£3.20 a pint in these parts, 50p less in a WMC, £2.20 in a 'spoon.

I then went to The Masque Haunt, a JDW pub. They had a Pakistani beer on ca lled Doosra, but they said it had just gone. I said, "It turned, did it?" W aited for laugh. Not a sausage.

Some years back (and again recently, it's all repeats nowadays, grumble grumble) I saw Mr Palin queueing up to receive his special quota of "strictly for non-muslims" beer.

Aaah - I remember getting my liquor license in 'Pindi back in 1997. You had to pay 35 rupee into a special account at the bank and get a typed receipt (from a man outside), you then had to get a judge/senior lawyer to certify that you weren't a muslim, you then filled in a form and took it to the dog, car and liquor licensing office who eventually gave you form saying you could have so many units per month (in my case 7).

The only place you could then get it was a small hatch around the back of the Marriott which was also the laundry entrance - you knocked on there and were offered either a case of beer or a bottle of whiskey for one unit.

I seem to remember it tasted awful.