At the Salisbury
Sir: I was also upset to find the 'gays' in the Salisbury and almost afraid to go down the steep stairs there to find the john. Unlike Alan Watkins (Diary, 29 June), I put the pub at the top of my list in the literary Fifties when some great meetings hap- pened there. Theatrical company was splendid and closely observed but the writers were even better. Hayter Preston recalled the West End pre-1914 with the old poet Henry Savage. J. P. Donleavy gave Muriel Spark a picture of the Pope and Derek Stanford asked for a brandy and soda in very hard times. In the mirrored back room where so much was said, the little waiter called 'sandwiches' and the row of lovely barmaids were proudly Irish and aloof.
Paul Allen
18 Firgrove Crescent, Hilsea, Portsmouth, Hants.
Previous page
