Table talk
Strictly no drinking and Zimmering
A landlady at a Hartlepool pub is appealing to centenarians to help her celebrate the reopening of her pub. The Centenary reopened last week after refurbishment, and is offering a free drink to anyone who provides identification to prove they're 100 years old or more. New landlady Philippa Waters reported that she hadn't exactly had a stampede of senior citizens so far, but was doing a roaring trade all the same.
So what's Jim Davidson ever done for Great Yarmouth?
If you'd taken away the sun this summer, what would British seaside resorts have had to offer? Not much, according to comedian Jim Davidson, who slammed Great Yarmouth in a recent interview, comparing an egg he was served at the three-star Regency Dolphin hotel to an "ice hockey puck", and slamming the whole operation as "adequately sh**te". The Norfolk seaside town wasn't spared either, described as full of "overweight people in flip-flops and fat children of all colours and no class".
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
Corrie stars told to rove off somewhere else
TV bosses at Granada have called time on Coronation Street actors having a drink in the Rovers Return. Apparently the soap opera's very own local isn't just for show - the mocked-up pub did actually function as an after-work hang-out for the actors. But now the company claims that the sale of booze on set goes against its alcohol policy.
Veggie restaurant lays down law over chicken
A mother was asked to leave a vegetarian restaurant for feeding her 11-month-old son a jar of chicken baby food. Sarah Graham was told her behaviour was "offensive" by Maggie Cotton, owner of the Rendezvous in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, who said she was worried about "contamination".
Cotton said: "I'm very particular even about dairy products being brought into the restaurant, let alone meat. It is a vegetarian restaurant, after all. We often get families in and we gladly give them vegetarian food for the baby." The Vegetarian Society defended her stance.
A spokeswoman said: "There's no point in having this kind of restaurant and then alowing meat on the premises."
Cheeky chippy quip tips the scales
Multinationals spend millions on dreaming up effective brand names, but all it took for a Welsh fish-and-chip shop owner was a quick chat with his cousin. When Leighton Jones the chippy and Roger Jones the bricklayer put their heads together they came up with A Fish Called Rhondda. Their take on the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda has won the takeaway, in Ton Pentre, Rhondda - where else? - the title of best business name in Wales. It also takes its deserved place in the pantheon of cleverly-named chippies such as Our Plaice, the Frying Squad, and The Codfather.
