It was quiz last night in the pub and we had a first ever experience in all the years we’ve been quizzing in the Dolphin. We had to sit at the other end of the pub because there was a crowd of people sitting in our usual seats. There are three bars one at either and and one in the middle – we sit in the one along the end wall of the pub – we pass the windows as we walk there from home. There’s no reason for this, only that it’s the first bar we come to as we go in, and we’ve always done it – ever since we first began to visit the Dolphin.
On quiz night the Am-Drams (the Bleadon Players amateur dramatics group) sit in one corner, Tim’s team sit in the other and we and our team sit between them. We’re not so rigid that we get upset if someone else displaces us, we simply sit elsewhere, usually in the middle bar which we call the cross benches (we got the name from parliament “”a seat in Parliament occupied by a neutral or independent member”) Last night when we arrived at the pub there was no room at our usual end, the cross benches were packed and we ended up down at the far end which in any other pu might be called teh public bar or the sports bar. Inn the Dolphin it’s just ‘the other end’.
We have on occasion sat there – we know many of the regulars so we were quite happy, but for the first time we sat on a bench seat by the door into the pub cellar. It was no big deal of course, our quiz team did well, we enjoyed ourselves of course, but it just felt a bit odd. We have resolved that next week we will try and get down earlier so we can be in our familiar seats with the the Am-Drams on one side, and Tim’s team on the otehr!
Lois Elsden 