Pub Odyssey 16

Tuesday 19 April:  RED LION, HATFIELD:  Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Bob Polydorou, Jeff Tipper, John Westwood.

COMMENT:  In the third week of April we sat ouside in the pub garden in our shirtsleeves (and in the case of the cyclist, in his shorts) enjoyning the brilliant sunshine, more like high summer than Spring.  With Jeff Tipper having just four days left at work, we collectively resemble ever more closely a day outing from a retirement home, though some of the details don't fit, eg the lack of Zimmer frames and the willingness/ability to walk/cycle long distances at home and abroad.

The "Red Lion" is the most common pub name in Britain but the Red Lion in Hatfield stands out from all the others because it was outside this pub that the craziest man in rock and roll, Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, killed his friend, driver and bodyguard Neil Boland.

On 4 January 1970, "Moon the Loon", drunk as usual, was trying outside the Red Lion to escape hostile patrons of the pub who had begun to attack his Bentley.  Moon attempted to take control of his car which in the melee ran over and killed Boland.  There is some doubt whether Moon was actually behind the wheel and the coroner in any event declared the incident an accident, Moon getting an absolute discharge having been charged with driving offences.  But it appears the incident haunted Moon for the rest of his short life.  He died of  gross drug and alcohol abuse in London on 7 September 1978, aged 32.  He was undoubtedly one of the greatest of rock drummers but is probably better remembered for the smashed up hotels, dynamited toilets, physically attacked girlfriends, and passings out on stage which punctuated his career.

Why is the "Red Lion" such a common pub name?  (There are over 600 of them round the country.)  The red lion is actually the red lion of Scotland which James VI of Scotland ordered should be displayed in public places when, in 1603, he also became King James I of England.  The public places included a great many pubs. The Hatfield Red Lion provided decent food and drink and was rather attractively refurbished inside but it was the sunshine which provided the high point as we looked from the garden to the ex-car park, now sold off for another building, where Keith Moon and Neil Boland had their tragic encounter..