[Drinking] Lunchtime Drinking (70s80s)

[Herr Tubthumper]

I'd like to put a word in for the 90s - the early 90s anyway.

At my first job, the local pub - The Golden Lion in Durrington - did a very brisk trade each lunchtime from workers employed at the nearby offices.

I graduated in the early 90s and worked in Holborn. Friday lunch sessions, a few hours at the desk and then back in the pub after work were routine. There was always someone having a midweek session afterwork if you wanted it as well. Brutal when I think about it. Being close to Soho meant there was always a risk of ending up in a dubious late night club as well.

 

[Normal Rob]

Went to the pub with my boss yesterday lunchtime to discuss my request for a pay rise. Couple of pints later I had a pay rise. Old skool.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Christmas 1984, my first office Xmas lunchtime booze up (the office had closed thankfully) took place at the Queen's Head, Queen's Road.
It took me 20 minutes to walk to the station afterwards

 

[Silverhatch]

Advertising in the mid 80s. All the agencies had drinking club memberships. Mental times.

 

[schmunk]

In That London, the last bastion of this is Leadenhall Market, where the insurance sector still gathers to booze. The rest of the City has (sort of) succumbed to the Americanized clean-cut culture (of waiting until 5pm or so).

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I started work in North Street in 1982 and most lunchtimes were spent in a pub in Queens Road.
Can't remember it's name but looks like it's The Hope and Ruin now.
By the 90s it was pretty much only Fridays that we'd go drinking.

It was called The William Tell in the late 80s when I was a regular. I believe that had been its name for a while

 

[B-right-on]

I had a YTS scheme job in 1981 when i'd turned 18, working in an office for a manufacturing company. Fridays were 'liquid lunch' days for the office staff and the MD would take the 6-8 of us down the boozer for a 'couple'. I'd have 2-3 in the 1-2 hrs and be useless for the afternoon (even more than normal), he'd down 5-6 and its like he's had a can of pop. Absolutely great bloke, knew his stuff and ended up workig there for a few years.

We'd all then drive home a few hrs later.

Different times.

 

[lawros left foot]

There weren’t many places you could carry on drinking after 2,30 on a Saturday afternoon.
Luckily we always had Woodside Road to ‘watch’ the football.

Did you ever use the little’club’ near the old Police station in Worthing?
It was an ordinary semi detached house, that had it’s downstairs rooms knocked into one and a small bar installed.
Can’t for the life of me remember its name, but spent many a Saturday afternoon in there, watching the wrestling, waiting for the football results.

 

[wunt be druv]

I'd like to put a word in for the 90s - the early 90s anyway.

At my first job, the local pub - The Golden Lion in Durrington - did a very brisk trade each lunchtime from workers employed at the nearby offices.

My Sister worked in the big Lloyds Bank just up the road and had many a liquid lunch in the "Lion" ...Friday was always "POETS" day...

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

The works social club bar was packed out every lunchtime when I first started work and back to the office where bottles of liquor were a plenty in desk draws. Office Christmas parties were bonkers. Zero tolerance by the end

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

So many men spent so much of their life pissed in the U.K. up until about 2005

Five past 8? I can assure you they were still pissed later in the evening.

(I have never had a lunchtime pint at work, except when visiting somewhere and been taken for lunch. Four pints at Northwick Park was emotional.)

 

[VAL1850]

Bury always kicked off on Saturday at 3.15pm to give market workers an extra 15mins drinking time....

 

[el punal]

Back in 1969 I was a student at a College Of Further Education in Sussex, I’m not telling you which one! I was in my first year doing a City and Guilds Hotel and Catering course. This culminated in doing a a five hour practical exam at the end of the summer term - in other words to prepare, cook and present a four course meal. The examiner entered the kitchen at 10.00 am and told us what was expected of us, which included that any mistakes in the process had to be shown.

At 10.30 he announced to all that he was leaving the kitchen and would be back later. I knew, I just knew, where he was heading - the pub! The rest of the students asked me how I knew. Well, my Dad had a pub and I was brought up in the booze trade so I had a bit of an intuition as to where he was heading.

Within our catering set there were only two of us lads among a group of smashing, friendly girls. My mate and I were absolutely useless cooks as our efforts proved. A couple of the girls felt sorry for us and shoved our food down the waste disposal unit (strictly forbidden!) and then proceeded to complete the practical for us.

At 2.40 the examiner returned, with ruddy cheeks, bloodshot eyes and reeking like a distillery. He then went round each of our presentations making notes on his clipboard - my meal looked sumptuous! When the exam results were announced I, and my mate, passed with flying colours!

I therefore raise my glass to the piss head of an examiner, the wonderful pub that provided him with copious amounts of alcohol, and to the darling girls who saved my bacon. Cheers!

 

[worthingweird]

Teachers at my Secondary School in the early 80’s always stank of alcohol in the afternoons

Don't blame em, i'd need a joint...

 

[Westdene Seagull]

My Dad who was a bank manager in the 70s and 80s always told us stories of him going to lunch with clients looking to borrow money. They would often sink a bottle of Scotch during the meetings and Dad would kind of stagger in the door later to be met my very angry Mum.

To be fair banking used to full of day time drinking - I worked for Lloyds Private Banking in the mid 90s and every lunchtime was spent in the pub. When I left I got a job with a defence company in Crawley. The interview was in a local pub over quite a number of pints. End of the interview - "you've got the job because you can drink." - Lloyds Lunches obviously served me well.

 

[Rogero]

Beer was generally a lot weaker then . Mild was only 2.8 percent

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Late 80s/early 90s, all the Partners in our company went on a Nouveau Beujolais day in London on that day….so us plebs all went down to Shades all afternoon to put the World to rights. Friday after work was also good with happy hour in the Thistle from 5pm. Our office manager nearly had a heart attack one Friday evening in the Druids/Pump House or one of those pubs when Cher came on the giant video duke box singing Turn Back Time sitting on a phallic battleship Wearing very little

 

[BrightonCottager]

i seem to recall around 1979, the bulk of the ESCC planning dept left work one friday luchtime to get as many pints of Harveys down them at the Lewes Arms due a increase in a pint from Saturday, My memory tells me a pint was going up to 36p

I was in Brighton BC planning dept in the mid 80s and there was always a Friday lunchtime session in what are now the Caxton Arms or Earth & Stars (?) and sometimes weekday 'lunches' as well while out on site visits. Those days are long gone now in municipal service.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

For some reason Tuesday was designated 'Market Day' in Haywards Heath, which meant the pubs were allowed to stay open all afternoon. Happy daze!

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

1994, I worked on a construction project when Van den Bergh foods merged with Brooke Bond and had a new headquarters in Manor Royal in Crawley. As a Dutch company, they had their own full on bar on the ground floor included as part of the development.