7.10: A plague of poets
A week later, the telephone rings in the hallway area of the Pointing Shed, in the draughty bit near the front door (where telephone landlines tend, by sensible convention, to be located). It is the Barman. He asks if Alcock can come over to the Swan Hotel. “Things have turned a little strange” he says. When Alcock arrives, he finds that the Swan Hotel is surrounded by old men who somehow give the impression that there were once young. Some are wearing donkey jackets. Others have scarves. There are discreet badges advertising 1980s popular bands. One or two have an earring which perhaps looked better forty years earlier. The scene looks a bit like a campsite although there are no actual tents. “No,” the Barman reports “They all go home when I call time. I think they are staying in bed and breakfast accommodation or hotels in the town. They aren’t young! But I told them that they couldn’t stay here. They just stand around shouting ‘Play us a song, Nick!’ One of them has a gui...
