At least either side of The Happy Five Minutes.

The Shiny Buskins at Lower Dannocks encourages a brutally honest approach to our parlous economic climate.

Landlord Jasper Bullard has replaced football flags over the bar with the legend” We are now at that bridge we were going to cross when we came to it”.

He knows more cruel cuts will eat into his meagre profits and further discomfort faithful regulars who asked long ago as ration books disappeared why the man entrusted to invest all your money was called a broker.

Mine host has warned against too much whinge drinking – complaining loudly about exorbitant prices on tap – and called for “measured moderation mixed with our renowned sense of humour” to meet exceptionally hard times.

Immediate encouragement flowed from a reserved table with comfortable chairs in a cosy corner as far away as possible from erratic young darts enthusiasts, effusive tourists trying out their three words of dialect and the big chap from the next village whose farmyard impressions consist solely of smells.

The hostelry’s three mainstays throughout feast and famine, boom and bust, mild and bitter,........

© Eastern Daily Press