stu till

It was always one of these places that people said Oh it's rough in there, it's rough. To be honest, in all the time I went in there I don't think we had any trouble. Never had a problem with anybody and nobody was ever offish. There were some people who used to come in and you'd sort of evacuate the pub because they'd got a bit of a reputation, but apart from that I used to find the place was great.  

When I first went in, I'd either have been unemployed or I was working in a crossbow factory. Barnetts International. It was the first job I ever had. They used to build crossbows. In fact, they did the crossbow for one of the James Bond films. I remember they gave us all a poster. I’m trying to think which Bond film it was. I don’t think it was one of the best ones. 

I'd not be much more than eighteen when I started going in, because prior to that my only experience of pubs was pubs in Bilston. And I’d go in to the Tavern to meet the people I was hanging round with, like Bob and Dave. That's where I met up with them. And then it became the sort of Saturday afternoon thing. I can remember when I used to go into town on a Saturday I had to take my little brother with me a few times and some of the girls I knew looked after my brother outside the Tavern while I went in. That’s scary to think of, cuz he's in his forties now. I remember that as plain as day. 

The thing about the Tavern, it was like there was like a roof inside which was over the bar to the right hand side. It looked like the outside roof had been bought in if you know what I mean, like a sort of tiki bar you'd have in the garden. So it was quite unusual for that. 

I know the pool table was down the bottom, and I can remember an incident once where the pool table was actually stolen, somebody took it out the back of the pub. How they managed that one I don't know, but I can remember that legend.  

They had a video jukebox at one point too, and I was fascinated because they actually played a Kiss video on there. I was into Kiss. Nobody else in Wolverhampton was into ’em I don't think, but I can always remember standing there glassy-eyed, looking at that, because video jukeboxes was a bit like eye magnets when they first came out. It was I Love It Loud, I think. 

We used to congregate by the door, but then they did some refurb work and put some stupid slanty stools on the wall. That was when it turned into Moriarty's, when they was changing the name and it always seemed to be full of fifteen-year-olds with pencil moustaches. I can only compare the stools to like the ones you used to get in the bus shelter. Ones that were on a slope so you can't sit there all night. I've never come across a pub that had them fitted before, and what the purpose was I don’t know. You were just standing at an angle really.  

I remember some great parties. There was a party at my mate Dave's sister’s, and somebody turned up and they were dressed all in blue, and we asked What have you come as? They said I've come as copper sulphate. I remember that to this day. I think Dave was dressed as Little Bo Peep. I went with Bob Watson and we went as the Blues Brothers and we couldn't get the sunglasses anywhere, so we ended up blacking out a pair of inspection glasses which meant you could see diddly when you'd got them on but they looked the part. I think I drove to that one, thinking about it. There was one when we'd actually met in the old Fox. I remember sitting in the pub dressed as a Viking. Now that was an interesting experience!

I've got one picture of me when I'd got long hair. Nowadays it's different, because everybody's got a phone with a camera on. In those days, unless you physically took a camera out with you, you'd probably only get pictures at Christmas or somebody's birthday. That's a major disadvantage for then, but now everybody's got a camera with them.  

Makes me smile a bit thinking of the Tavern. It was nice, and you could get on with people, you could have a laugh, and no harm came from doing it. If anything it brought me out of my shell a bit, I think. 

In my job when I was in the Civic, anybody who'd turn up drunk they'd phone me to come down and have a chat with ’em. I find I try and talk to people and I'll get on with ’em, and it was probably as a result of just mixing with all sorts of people in the Tavern. Made me a bit more commonsense-y with the world.