Cheers to 'tiny sapphire in a bag of nutty slack'!

WELL, blow me down, the Vine pub in Pittshill has reopened. I never thought I'd see the day.

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This archetypal back street boozer flung open its doors again on Friday, June 13, and I paid a visit to run my eye over the resurrected hostelry's refurbishment.

Many folk will recall that it was kept for decades by Sid and Ida Alcock and like the Alcocks themselves, barely seemed to change whilst the pub scene continued to evolve.

To say that the Vine under the Alcocks was anachronistic doesn’t begin to describe its unique ambience.

Being a family-run pub enabled it to survive fads, short-term gimmicks and other frippery, so that it probably came to be regarded as tired by some, and not ‘belonging’ any longer.

However, if the Vine was stuck in the past, there were many of us who appreciated that quality.

It transcended the passage of time because it upheld fading values and displayed the fairest face of working-class life.

The line by Keats, ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever,’ might easily have been written about the Vine, whilst another poet - David Vickers of Penkhull - has written previously about the particular appeal of this hostelry.

Part of that appeal stems from the fact that it is one of the secret pubs of the Potteries, tucked away in a back street and hidden from those folk travelling up and down St Michael's Road.

As I once remarked, it is like a tiny sapphire in a bag of nutty slack - it takes some searching out.

In fact, I only found it with assistance myself.

A friend of mine had determined to find North Staffordshire pubs that he thought I'd never patronised and so took me to the Vine in February, 1991 for my maiden visit.

I loved the fact that there was no fascia sign, just the pub’s name painted on the gable end.

Over the years, I came to know Ida and particularly Sid, who would sometimes be wearing a tea cosy hat and who always spoke quickly and vigorously - a juggernaut in conversation.