The Nags Head

Arguably the funniest situation comedy ever aired on British television was the BBC's Only Fools and Horses. Starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, this was the story of two brothers in the Peckham area of London. The self-proclaimed 'Del Boy' was the classic wheeler-dealer type who would sell anything for money but kept one eye on the long arm of the law reaching out to stop him. The series ran for nearly 30 years and is still repeated on cable television to this day.

The pub in the programme was called The Nags Head. Fancying a weekend away with my beloved, I thought a wee trip to London might be a cunning plan. I was mildly surprised to discover there is a pub in the Covent Garden area called The Nags Head.

I'm curious as to how it would look. I envisage a stout fellow, with short grey hair being the genial 'mine host' behind the bar  - as Mike was in Only Fools and Horses. Supping a pint of foaming ale, I would expect to see a small chap in a sheepskin coat and flat cap wander in and being told to snub out his cigar by the aforementioned owner.

I don't doubt the owner of the real Nags Head has heard it all before and may well play on the name of the pub with the hope it attracts visitors other pubs in Covent Garden don't.

So, now the football season is over, I may treat the lovely Marion and head down to the Old Smoke. And if we go into a bar and there's an old man with a white beard answering to the name of Uncle Albert playing the piano then I'll know where we are!