Family

1985 was the start of married life for me,and something that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

The pub scene in Eastwood was now in a bit of a decline as the coal mines in the area were closed or closing and the bustling Friday,Saturday and Sunday nights were now a thing of the past.How would the humble pub survive in these uncertain times?

Well a lot of them didn’t and 4 or 5 of them were demolished to make way for much needed housing soon after.

My married life was eventually blessed with my first child born in 1992 and this meant the end of regular visits to the pubs although it was no great loss at the time as the start of the 90s was a very disappointing pub scene,they tried there hardest to entice customers in with various ideas (quizes,live music etc) but looking back all we wanted was some great tasting beers.

1994 saw the birth of my second child and again the pub visits were few and far between.This was the period of change for me,the Newcastle brown ale incident mentioned earlier changed my view of beer forever.

So almost into my 30s I came to the decision that would change my drinking habits forever.No more corporate large brewery best bitters for me,although this would be generally difficult in the early days as there was still very limited options in the local pubs.