The Greatest Pub in the World

If you say so...

The Most Famous Pub in Scotland. Fair enough.

We are the People. Yes, you are indeed the people.

This place scares me. It might even be appropriate to say that it scares the bejeesus out of me. It also depresses me.

I'm not a great football fan, but insofar as I am a football fan, I'm a Celtic supporter. I was also born a Catholic. I suspect that these two facts are connected: I've always been a Celtic supporter and I've no idea why, so I can only assume that it was instilled in me at a very young age as a consequence of my (nominal) Catholicism.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, the Louden Tavern is a Rangers pub. I get the feeling that if I walked in there, even if I were clad in blue and waving a little Union Flag, the patrons would smell my allegiance and ensure that I didn't walk out. So I am not inclined to drop in for a quiet pint and a chat with the locals. Ironically, the Louden Tavern is in the East End of Glasgow, not very far at all from Celtic Park.

That's why it scares me. It depresses me because it is brazenly symbolic of the sectarianism which still pervades Scottish society. The whole Celtic-Rangers, Catholic-Protestant thing is Scotland's shame and if I could do one thing to make our country better, it would be to rid ourselves of that.

It also depresses me because football-based tribal culture is not something we in the UK (not just Scotland) can be proud of. Football is a fine game and most of those who follow it are fine people, but there is far too much bad stuff associated with it.

A depressing blip. Sorry about that. Must be something to do with the weather... Apologies also to those who first thought that yesterday's shot was one of The Regulars. They will be back, but not for a few days...