Dawn Matthews

I used to work in a hairdressers in Queen Square called Zaks and one of my fellow junior hairdressers used to pop into the Tavern and he was saying, 'Oh, it's a nice pub and it's ony round the corner." So the one day instead of going straight for the bus, basically I needed a wee, so I just popped in there. And I remember walking past the bar, heading to the toilets and two chaps who I ended up knowing afterwards sez, Oh, that must be the new Belstaff. because I'd got a bright red furry coat on. And I thought, Oh, oh.  They're a bit rude. So I didn't buy a drink or anything I just went straight back out after I'd been to the loo. And a few weeks later I popped in again and then about a month later I was talking to an old school friend and she said that she had started going there and did I want to tag along, so I did. 

Everybody seemed friendly and I dunno you got to know people even if it was just like on nodding terms, so you felt you weren't on your own which was nice. I mean I was only about 17 myself and as a young single woman just sitting there it felt alright.

But I think a lot of us went more for the social part of it than actually the drinking, because everybody was there, you know. And we were all sort of the slightly outcasts. All the freaks together.

It was nice because you felt accepted. Didn't matter what you looked like. I mean, I could go in with whatever colour hair, in whatever clothes, I’d be fine. You'd be fine, you know. I mean there was punks went in there, rockers, you had the occasional rasta. There was all sorts who went in there. And it was great.

The toilets were vile. Really steep steps. There was a sink at the top so that if the queue was too long you'd pee in the sink. Because there was only the one toilet wasn’t there? And then if you were pissed you'd slide down the stairs, and hit yourself on the door on the bottom.

It was a friendly, safe place. Very deceptive by its appearance, cuz it was dark and smoky and stunk of weed and fags and beer. Oh, it was great.

Even after I'd had kids I still felt I could go in. I took my eldest son into the Tavern at four days old. Yeah, he was there in his pram. A barman called Dave was behind the bar, and I sez, Am I OK? He sez, Yeah, as long as you sit near the door. In case you have to get out. 

At the end the brewery didn't want us there. And they changed it didn't they. And it become Moriarty's, was it? They redecorated it so it was like an American theme pub. And it just wasn't the same. It really wasn't.