1506.30 THE ROYAL GEORGE

The earliest mention the Royal George public house was in 1869. Throughout the years I imagine the pub must have served the community well. It would have served miners from the nearby Garrowtree mine and steel worker from the works in Masborough.

Fast forward to 2001, industry is a distant memory and deprivation is common in the area. Houses are built opposite (after many years of being a empty patch of land). It's at this point that I come into the story. It's at this point we begin to have issues with the pub behind our house.

I knew there would be some issues when we bought the house, drunks singing and taxis honking horns, I'm pretty tolerant. The issues we started to get were so much worse than that...

• Customers smoking weed
• Kids playing football
• People climbing into our garden
• Loud music (speaker put outside on sunny days) 
• Rowdy behaviour till all hours

It was really driving us mad, especially since our bedroom directly overlooked it. A lot of communication between me, the council and the police (I'm assuming other residents also complained) got the place closed. I always hoped it would reopen with a strong management to turn it into a community asset. It never did.

There was a planning application submitted to convert the building into a large house which was turned down. Then it looked like it might be a restaurant (which we would have apposed because of potential of parking issues).

Last week a fence went up around it and scaffolding went up. We thought it was about to get a refurb (although no planning had been put in). The next thing we knew contractors moved in and started knocking the building down. So now it's a big open space, I'm keeping an eye out for any plans but for now we have a view down the Don Valley.

I was never a customer of the 'George' but I can't help feel a little sad at its demise.

1506.05 SAN ANDREAS

Captain's Movie Review in Seven Words...

Visually impressive. Lacks story. They kill Kylie!
5/7

IMDb: San Andreas

Ok it's just the usual trip to the cinema except there's a little more to tell. Everyone that knows me knows I don't have hair (on my head) and as such I rarely go out without a hat. In winter they keep me warm and in summer they protect my delicate scalp from the harmful rays. I have quite a collection and last week Morticia bought me a new one when she visited Camden. It was this one I wore to the pictures, whilst we watched the film I set it down in the empty seat by my side. When the film ended we left swiftly. It was when I walked through my door and went to take off my hat I realised it wasn't there and I realised I never retrieved it from the cinema seat. 

I didn't tell Morticia, I felt guilty that I'd not taken care of the gift I'd just received. I fired off an email to the cinema in hope that they would have found it. I waited until lunchtime the next day for a response. I phoned, I re-emailed, and I even telephoned the customer service team. Nothing. In the afternoon I finally got a phone call to say that they had found my hat and I could call in and pick it up at my convenience. 

I'm calling in tomorrow.

Supplemental 1506.06: I called in this morning and retrieved my hat.

1506.04 NOT "FOREVER"

I love TV, I'm no snob about it. There are some great shows out there, too many for anyone to watch them all. Thankfully these days most people have the opportunity to 'catch up' using various methods.

I'm all for trying a new show, if it's good I'll stick with it, if it's bad I'll simply stop. Recently there was a programme called 'Forever' about an immortal doctor (I'll not bore you with the details, I'll stick a link at the bottom for that).

As the series progressed it was more and more evident from internet chatter that the chances of the show being renewed for a 2nd season were becoming less and less. I'll never understand American television politics. Sponsors and time slots are mentioned but I don't get it.

It was confirmed shortly before the season finalle that the show had been cancelled by its American network. A real shame, especially considering some of the crap the Americans keep renewing and sending over.

It's got a slim chance of a lifeline in the form of television streaming services (Netflix or Amazon) which could decide to revive the show. I'm not holding my breath.