GOODBYE,GOD BLESS AND SAFE HOME.
I am sitting here at half past six in the morning looking out over not quite the broad atlantic ocean,its probably the Adriatic Sea i would say but i realised i probably never said goodbye properly.So here it is.
Over the many many,too many some people would say years that i spent in the Witch,i had some of the happiest moments of my life and thats no lie.I also had some sad times,some bad times and some downright awful times.I could go through them all but that would take hours and this is not THE LONG GOODBYE so i will ention a few highlights for me.
I would have to start with the Horse Racing DAYS when we had some times and even a few winners but they were great days out.Ascot,Epsom,Sandown,Goodwood,Lingfield,Plumpton,Fontwell,Kempton,Salisbury,Worcester,Ludlow,Warwick,Folkestone,Aintree even the hallowed ground of Cheltenham, nowhere was safe from the green and black strpes of the Witch Racing Club.Then there were football matches one in particular i remember with great fondness was Brighton v Notts County in about 1991 when two bus loads of us went to Wembley to support the Seagulls and have a few drinks of course.We stopped off at my old pal Tony Grealishs dads pub The Halo on Harrow Road before and after the game.There were Darts nights,the Pool nights were brilliant we had so many great ones and we celebrated in the traditional manner on many many nights and mornings.We also had our own Sunday football team which had some great days winning leagues and cups on a regular basis.My abiding memory of Sunday football was after my 40th birthday party which finished at 7 o clock in the morning being knocked up at 9 o clock because i had said early the night before as i usually did give me a shout if your short lads,well they did and we lost 18-2,i came off drunk at half time it was only 9 at that stage.There were Quiz nights and all sorts of nights i would try to drum up trade not all successful i might add.What i would consider my glory years were from 1995 to 2005 when that pub rocked like no other pub before or since.My plan was simple but payed off hugely.Nobody wanted kids but i took them on,but under my rules and believe me when i say nobody broke my rules if they did they were out and they would not get back.I fought and scrapped and chased kids all over through those years but i believed in them and they came good for me.Not all kids are good but there is good in most of them.Those years brought on the Music nights,the Fancy Dress Parties,New Years Eve,Christmas Eve and St Patricks Day.Rocol were my great discovery.I met Ronan and Colin as 18 year old boys at a small wedding in Ireland ten years ago and the rest is history..During that time we had our own Rugby team which i took to Galway on tour and had a ball.My favourite times of all were the big Football tournaments from 1988 to 2006 World Cups and European Cups what days they were in the sunshine with the flags all round the pub and more tvs than you could shake a stick at but it was awesome,and never any trouble.I cant go without saying a big thank you to the MCFC Supporters Club(there is about 80 now) who are a great bunch of guys who support Man City till they die.Good days ahead lads.
Now i know i have gone on a bit but there is more.No i have given you a flavour of what its been like for me,i enjoyed every last minute but as you all know i suffered a stroke almost three years ago and its all too much now.I MUST say a huge thank you to all my guys and beautiful girls who worked and made the Witch what it is today and a special thank you to Christelle who has been my girl friday for the last year.
Well thats about it i probably wont be coming on here much now so Goodbye,God Bless and Safe Home in the words of Pele "I LOVE YOU ALL"
posted by The Witch Inn @ 5/12/2010
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