As part of my diet I had to eat cottage cheese and the one they sold in Bahrain came from Langley farm in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. What a small world- as I lived here from 1978 to 1982 when I was at Huddersfield Polytechnic studying Hotel Management. I ran one of the student bars in our Hall of Residence and was introduced to a guy called David Green , who was the sales representative for Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.
Later I worked with David for an outside bar run by a pub called the Slubbbers Arms and we provided bars for concerts, birthday parties and the like all over Huddersfield. Sadly the Landlady of the Slubbers, Mary Carrol, died and David bought the pub and it became my "Local". Long after I left Huddersfield in 1981 I used to call in to the Slubbers for a drink if I was working in the area. The greeting was always warm and friendly "Ey up, its the boy who ate all the sandwiches"
When I was doing the outside bars Mary would invite us all in for a drink and sandwiches after we unloaded the last crate of beer into their garage, and being a poor hungry student , I always ate all the sandwiches.
In 2010 , when I moved to Bahrain I met a Bahraini who was going to study in Huddersfield so i gave him a signed copy of David's first book ( he is now retired and a Pub Historian) and asked if he could take them a gift from me. It was a beautiful Bahraini traditional jewellery case and inside we put a sandwich! They sent me the photos and I saw that David loved the joke! John Jaworski was there as well and took them some Great Bahrain Beer Festival tee shirts and then, in true David style, he took John and his son around some of Huddersfield watering holes, much as he did when I was a student!
Lynda and Dave Green with their GBBF1 tee shirts at the George Hotel in
Huddersfield in 2010
For over 42 years we have kept in touch as we both traveled the world ( they have family in Australia and go to the USA and Canada, and I have been to Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand , Cambodia etc. ) with Christmas cards, letters and the occasional email. Sadly I never got that signed book back so I ordered another so I would have a full set of Huddersfield memories in the Philippines.
When I was eating my cottage Cheese in June 2020 I saw it was from West Yorkshire so I sent the Greens a long email and a few days later I had an equally long reply. Lynda was saying they were clearing out their cellar in the COV 19 lock-down in the UK and finally got rid of all the paperwork belonging to the Slubbers Arms which they sold 23 years ago. How time flies! Also their children, Johanna, Alistair and Jonathan have 6 grand kids between them! I remember them 30 years ago when they were pre teens!
So I just wanted to pay tribute to this wonderful family , who like Stella, Alison, 3 Janes, Nadya , Fran , Bekki and so many others , have been such good friends for so many years.
Thanks for all the sandwiches, Beer, love, letters, breakfasts, dinners and hospitality and look forward to receiving my copies of your latest literary masterpieces David Signed by the author! Don't worry, I will pay for the postage!
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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