Coronation violence

The Coronation (picture from Google maps)

We read about acts of violence all the time, but somehow it seems more disturbing when it happens somewhere you know. Yesterday two thugs dressed all in black with their faces covered burst into the Coronation pub on King Street in Southport town centre and attacked two drinkers with machetes and a hammer. One of the victims fled from the pub and ran into the nearby Subway, where blood spots could be seen on the shop's doorstep. Both victims were taken to hospital.

I used to go to the Coronation every week in the 1970s and 80s when it was a Whitbread house, not for the beer (keg Trophy Bitter), but for the folk club that used to meet there, and eight years ago those of us who were declared surplus after the closure of Southport's benefits office met there for a few drinks on our final day. Three or four years ago I watched the Sue Raymond Band play there.

Although I'm not a regular - their only real ale is Greene King IPA, and even that wasn't available the last time I called in a few months ago - I'm still slightly shocked by the violence that occurred there yesterday.

So much for Southport being posh.