In Which Marsh and I drink beer solely for the benefit of you, dear reader. Here I set the scene using unecessarily floral language to evoke nostalgia.

Ahh, the Northern pub! Cosy, dark rooms lit by reproduction gas-lamps and a coal fire. Horse brasses and bedwarming pans glister in the firelight as couples supping from barrel glasses enjoy quiet conversation on red velveteen banquettes, but all this is extra, why we're really here is to experience that wonder of the North: a pint wi 'ead on't.

Now I was raised in the North, when my Dad took me for my first pint I was presented with a ruby elixir topped with just a cream of foam, cool to the touch and a treat to the lips. As you drank, the head slid down the inside of the glass; the concoction, I was assured, would put hairs on my chest. In those salad days it never occurred to me that I was one of the fortunate ones, that in the south, particularly in East Anglia, they were bereft of the quiet pleasure of gazing into the foamy shapes left on the inside of the glass.

Here in the East the head of your pint disappears somewhere between the landlord pulling it and it arriving at your lips. You clearly see it forming as the pint is pulled, but so delicate is this head that it swoons out of existence before it's even had a chance to give you a comedy moustache. The East Anglian head, or frog eyes to its friends.

Last year Marsh, myself and 38 other lesbians temporarily took over the village of Castleton in the Peak District. We descended on one of the local pubs without warning; the bar staff wore slightly confused looks on their faces all evening, one young lad's ears burned red all night, but on the plus side they sold plates and plates of food and gallons of ale. Keen to try the local brew Marsh and I took our time at the bar and got chatting with the staff asking for their recommendations. Mid way through our 'try before you buy' session a local came to the bar and eyed up the guest ales. 'Adnams' Broadside' declared one of the pump clips, "I'll try one of those," he said. Marsh and exchanged looks. He left seemingly happy, but soon returned. He thrust the frog eyed pint under the barman's nose, "that's not right!" he said. The barman cleared his throat, "it's from down South; it's supposed to be like that." The man looked at his pint. Sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere, and for some reason feeling responsible, we backed the barman. "All East Anglian ale has that kind of head," Marsh said. "Yeah," I offered, "we call it frog eyes." We might as well have been from Klingon. The barman rushed to the rescue with a sparkler and forced a Northern head onto a half pint of the stuff: it weakly fought for life. By this point all the colour had drained from the man's face 'that's just not right,' he repeated. I could tell by the tone that he didn't mean the taste, he meant the morals of it, the very physics of it. This wasn't a man with a duff pint, this was a man taking his first sup of East Anglian ale. I saw myself nine years ago and shuddered. Ever since then, the prospect of a Northern pint fills me with tears of gratitude.

Join me again soon for Beer- the main course, when I'll actually get round to telling you about the beer we had.

Mounted Horsemen, One Relaxing with a Can of Beer, Await the Start of the Parade in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, near Emporia It Is a Part of theFlint Hills Rodeo, a Major Cultural Event of the Area...06/1974

Original Caption: Mounted Horsemen, One Relaxing with a Can of Beer, Await the Start of the Parade in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, near Emporia It Is a Part of the Flint Hills Rodeo, a Major Cultural Event of the Area. Horses and Cattle Trucks Are the Featured Modes of Transportation. It Is a 19th Century "Cowboy" Town in the Heart of the Kansas Flint Hills Region, and near an Area Designated as a Possible Site for a Tall Grass Prairie National Park 06/1974 U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-14591 Photographer: Duncan, Patricia D., 1932-

Subjects:
Emporia (Lyon county, Kansas, United States) inhabited place
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=557043
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted