2:00

Yeah, but I just thought that was normal of

2:02

course it wasn't so my home and my front

2:04

room was a wash-up area in the kitchen You

2:07

see I also think of that when I think of your

2:09

childhood, and I think of the pub Pubs,

2:12

and I worked in pubs as a teenager. You know pubs

2:14

are very public places and the

2:16

people who own the pub Have

2:19

they have a status, but also

2:20

their life is a is a bit of

2:22

an open book Yeah, you serve British

2:25

people often might not know this but like

2:27

a lot of my jobs traveling and there's nothing

2:30

like pubs in the world No, like a pub ain't a

2:32

bar You know a pub is like

2:34

the most democratic place on earth like everyone's

2:36

welcome, and I grew up And

2:40

this is a cliche, but it's true like with city

2:42

boys that have got back off of the

2:44

train to Bishop's to Orford Or Adley end and

2:47

they were single moat sort of cigar smoking.

2:49

Yeah, Jag outside Yeah, and then

2:52

there'll be travelers so my two best

2:54

friends were gypsies Right and

2:56

part of their lifestyle was part of my childhood and

2:59

there were farmers and there was the bowls Club OAP's

3:02

Kids family room so you throw in beer

3:04

which is obvious and then you start adding

3:07

Chalk boards and really good food and like

3:10

for me to see a lamb being butchered from whole was

3:12

very normal To have fish on Tuesdays

3:14

and Thursdays Primarily was normal

3:17

the only thing we bought in was puff pastry Right

3:19

and like which you still say people should buy Like

3:23

honestly, I'm not gonna do that and you'll

3:25

never see me do a lesson for making puff

3:27

pastry I mean it's beautiful, but it's we we have

3:29

got better things to do like this too short to laminate

3:32

Yeah, probably we'll do a better job So

3:34

when you think I mean what are the you

3:36

really paint that picture that is very vivid

3:39

and it's in primary colors If you

3:41

were to do that thing of sort of thing What's a fleeting

3:43

memory though? Do you have that sense of sort of fleeting

3:46

memories of sort of sitting up at the bar? Having

3:48

something to eat or what is it?

3:50

I just it's just like I Was

3:53

never bored. I was never lonely. You

3:56

know, I was dyslexic probably hyperactive, you

3:58

know, I don't think I'm ADHD But they probably thought

4:00

I was they probably didn't even know what that meant.

4:02

But in a pub like I'd bounce around

4:04

and I could learn from you know old

4:07

Spitfire pilots and you know and just

4:10

old age pensioners that just would come religiously

4:12

for a sense of community and then you'd

4:15

you know you'd I was I

4:17

never got pocket money I always earned my money. I

4:19

always had a score to any quid

4:21

in my pocket. I always had nice trainers but not because I

4:23

was spoiled because I worked. What were your first jobs

4:26

in the pub? Washing up first, cleaning

4:28

toilets, brushing the brass in the toilets,

4:30

picking up fag butts that the Americans always find

4:33

very funny. When I tell them that I had to

4:35

pick up hundreds and hundreds of fag butts

4:37

Yeah that's a different sort of job over there. And

4:41

cleaning out the bins. I was small so I could

4:43

get in the bin so that sort of solid layer

4:45

of fermenting crap would be like

4:47

you need after every like month you'd

4:49

have to have a proper dig out and that would be me. So

4:52

what you'll learn about child labour in

4:55

history is like in the old days you'd

4:57

look at labour and you'd look at the shape of people just

4:59

like people do on a rugby match you know

5:01

I reckon he could be a good prop. Yeah he definitely

5:04

got up a chimney or down a mine and

5:06

you got in the bin. Yeah it was quite strict. I mean dad

5:08

was amazing like he's an amazing loving

5:11

dad but he still has

5:13

an aversion to people sitting down doing nothing.

5:16

So like he feels uncomfortable

5:19

around idle people. Are

5:21

you the same? I think I've learnt it from

5:24

him. I think like you know hard work is

5:26

you have to work hard and you have to earn your crust

5:29

and like when you'd be outside watering the plants

5:31

and he'd get up on a bench and he'd water me in

5:34

bed and if there were friends doing a sleepover

5:36

they'd all get watered too. Okay. And I'd come up

5:38

east and say come on boy people die

5:40

in bed up you get and he'd get me bottling

5:43

up. But he paid for it. But

5:45

interestingly the Centre pub gave me a sense of

5:47

community and a sense of responsibility and a love

5:50

for people. Like a true love. I just

5:52

don't mind who you would sit me next to at a dinner party.

5:55

Yeah. Like I would find a way to enjoy

5:57

them.

5:58

When did your dyslexia present?

6:46

good

8:00

beers, great wines, amazing service and we're

8:03

gonna live a nice life. Is

8:07

there a bit of you that still like to do that? Of

8:09

course, of course. That was the plan, that was mine and Jaws'

8:11

plan and I met Jaws at 18. How

8:14

did you meet? I met her because

8:17

I obviously failed wonderfully at

8:19

school. So you did sit exams?

8:22

Yeah, but I kind of, most of them were ungraded

8:24

and I got an A in R and

8:26

a C in geology. No,

8:29

I went to catering college and

8:31

I was very lucky because in those days they would pay

8:33

for you if you couldn't get the course you

8:35

wanted, you could go outside of your area

8:38

and I was able to come to London. And

8:42

ironically, I had some mates that were like, it's kind

8:44

of loser, but it was kind of like, but in a friendly

8:46

way. But their idea

8:49

of great was estate agent

8:51

or city boy. But

8:53

I'd have Wednesday half day and

8:56

then I would go home and I'd go to the sixth form

8:58

of my old school, which theoretically I wasn't welcome.

9:01

But I was there and

9:03

then one day this beautiful tall

9:06

brown haired girl just walked past

9:08

and then fell over. She

9:10

just tripped over, she'd never changed, her

9:13

legs are always bruised because she's always bashing into things. But

9:16

she fell over and I went, oh my God,

9:18

totally fell in love straight away. And

9:21

but I was very shy and

9:23

it was at least two years before

9:26

I was able to even string a sentence

9:28

together to ask her on a date. And even when I did that,

9:30

I sounded like Scooby Doo, nothing came out right. I'm all you,

9:32

and she went, sorry, I'm all you, and she went, sorry, what is

9:34

it? Are you all right? And

9:37

I went, would you like to go out for a drink?

9:41

And I took her to Browns in Cambridge, which was the

9:43

most exciting place in Cambridge at that time.

9:46

But yeah, never look back. I don't

9:48

know if I could have done the journey.

9:50

I know I couldn't have done the journey. No, you

9:52

couldn't. I'll tell you if you don't know. I'll tell you. You could.

9:55

Because it's 23 years and five children

9:57

later. Yeah. Yeah. We've

9:59

gone through. everything together and it's

10:02

been a tricky old 23 years as well

10:04

as amazing but that's life life

10:06

that's life what what have

10:08

been I guess the difference is it's a public life

10:11

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10:13

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