Happy Monday

If it's a rare treat to have a bank holiday off work, it's an even rarer treat to spend some of it relaxing in the pub enjoying a pint and some good company.

My friend Steve introduced me to Stroud's Crown and Sceptre and it is just my kind of pub - a nice, homely local with good real ale.

When it reopened last August, singer Lily Allen and her father, the actor Keith Allen, were at the launch, along with former international rugby and cricket star Alastair Hignell.

Landlord Rodda Thomas said of the pub at the time: "It was always a little gem that simply needed polishing. I want to make it a real local community pub."

And he seems to be doing a good job - all sorts of groups now use it and it has a welcoming ambiance.

Well, Steve and I put the world to rights this lunchtime and had a fascinating chat about music - not all of my mates have seen Jimi Hendrix at the Marquee club and I don't know anyone else who has had a song written about them by Robyn Hitchcock! (Clean Steve, by the way).

All that and delicious Budding beer by Stroud Brewery (named after Edwin Beard Budding, the inventor of the lawnmower, who was from Thrupp, near Stroud).

All in all, a perfect way to while away a bank holiday.