The Three Swans, Market Harborough, Summary

February 11th 2013

All in all, I really liked the Three Swans. The staff were friendly and helpful and the customers were welcoming. We had one or two laughs, like when two ladies came in who, I would guess were in their 40s (hope I'm right). (you're not, mid 20's) When they ordered their drinks one of them asked for a particular wine and the barman thought it appropriate to point out the price of that beverage as "some of our OLDER customers" were shocked at the price. My son quickly pointed out, in front of the two ladies, his lack of diplomacy and when the poor man tried to recover  he made a pigs ear of it, so we asked him if we could get him a bigger shovel. Luckily for him the two ladies saw the funny side and we all had a laugh at his expense. 

My son and I also had a giggle over one of the locals who I won't identify. We saw him drink at least 5 pints and he was already in the pub when we got there. It was a few days after the sad death of the nurse at the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for severe morning sickness and, later in the night, the topic came up in conversation. Comments were passed on how sad the death was, whether there were any other factors that would compel the poor woman to take her own life, how much blame should be attached to the two Australian radio presenters, what action should be taken against them, should they be prosecuted, should they be sacked, should the radio station lose it's licence, etc., etc. But this guy just said " what was a nurse doing answering the phone"?.... After every comment..... No matter who said it..... Or what they said..... It was always "Yeah, but what was a nurse doing answering the phone"? 

The first time he said it I thought "Well, I suppose it's a fair question, but who else is gonna answer the phone in a hospital at night"? But after 6 or 7 times I was thinking "Who cares who answered the bloody phone". After the 12th or so time it got funny and by 16 or 17 I was in hysterics, so much so, that when he forgot to say it I was really disappointed.

I had a good night, even on the coffee, I was interested in the setting of the pub, the huge building it occupies, with it's outdoor features, it would be a nice summer pub. And inside, a very well kept Olde Worlde place, which has lost none of its history or character, making it a very welcoming pub. What normally happens when I've had a drink in a strange pub, is that after a few beers, I get brave and start some conversation with whoever is in earshot. maybe this time it was the caffeine kicking in, cos as normal, we were into some random drunken pub chat. The bloke on about the fecking nurse answering a phone might've been funny after a few pints, but when your sober as a judge, teeth itching from everyone around me drinking, he was starting to grate a little. Thank the lord when he finally shut up! (TBH, I'm being a bit mean, he was a nice bloke, but he did go on about that phone) 
Still, I had enjoyed the night, and its places like the Three Swans that make me feel good about the mammoth undertaking that Ye Olde Innseekers have ahead of us. Hopefully the next pub will be just as inviting, just as interesting, and just as welcoming, cos next time, I'll love it more, cos I'll be Drunk!!

To be honest, there's not a lot more to say about The Three Swans and that's mostly our fault. We didn't get to talk to many people because nobody knew we were going (The one fault I can  mention is that although I rang before we went and left a message for the manager and e-mailed her, twice, she couldn't be arsed to respond. Maybe if she had, we might have had more interest from the locals, but as she didn't, the locals didn't know we were turning up! Great Western take note. Poor customer relations). The few people that were there were very nice, as were the staff, but it was Monday, in December, two weeks before Christmas..... what do you expect? 

Anyway, as I said, this is down to us because we started by announcing where we were going ONE week before we went. This obviously isn't long enough for anyone to make plans to come and see us, so today we will tell you where we are going next and it's three weeks away (it was going to be a months notice but my son and I have been struggling to get the time together to write this), so hopefully we might get a better response. I've already been in touch with the next pub and the landlady seemed quite interested so keep your fingers crossed for us. One other thing, just to ensure that neither of us ever has to face the ignominy of being sober on one of these trips again, we promise that, for all future trips, we will stay overnight and party hard!!

We are going to create an event on Facebook for the next pub, and hopefully, any blog followers or Facebook friends will be kind enough to join us, come and see us and share a tale or two over half o' mild, so, for the big reveal, over to you Dad....

On Saturday 2nd March we are going to Ye Olde Boars Head, Long Street, Middleton. Lancashire M24 6UE (it's north of Manchester and west of Oldham). One final word about The Three Swans. The toilets were very nice, clean and smelt fresh. The Gents also contained a piece of artwork that ended up being our favourite photo of the evening and here it is.

 Cheers!!!