DJ Barefoot took to the electronic decks again last night down at the Tap House (Go down, you’ll love it) and played tunes from 8 till very late, well I jacked it in around 11:45, too many teenagers, far too few people over the age of 30 and I felt way older than anyone else there, and truthfully; I probably was! So being pestered by youngsters asking if I’d heard of the Arctic Monkeys and such like was becoming tiresome and yes,  I have heard of them, I heard of them before some of these were born, and yes this does make me feel older than the forests surrounding the Tap House with more tales to tell than the Teme which gurgles past their home relentlessly. What’s up Grandad, can’t take the drum and bass? In truth; now, probably not, with the speaker turned up to 11  and  positioned right next to me.

Anyway the lack of responsible adults struck me as being different to the usual crowd which frequents the place, usually theres a bunch of older campers and older folks hunched in the corner, nearer to the warmth of the log burner, but possibly the Anthony Joshua fight which was televised in a pub 5 miles down the road and drew a majority of the drunkedly mobile, may have played a part in vacating the premises, I guess if they’ve driven out, they probably want to stay put, and trundle silently inebriated down the unclassified roads to their beds. At this point I’d like to say I do not condone drink driving and I do not actively partake in drink driving but over here its a fact of life, and very occasionally there is an accident and you don’t see someone for a while as they save up for a new car they’ve probably written off early on Sunday Morning. In the past it was common to see farmers asleep in a tractor halfway in a ditches the church bells began to sound for communion. It seems some are keen to reproduce the days of a bygone age and the lack of available police officers or community support officers gives the option to do so.

But enough of that, it happens and you’d do well to avoid the late night roads. The weird thing about this particular night which seemed different from any other night down the Tap House was the lack of anyone older than me, usually theres a sizeable bunch of stunningly attractive generic 50 somethings drinking shots and dancing unwisely, who were fully aware that this time “I will not dance on the table and do a splits dismount”, sadly the drink wiped any memory of last time and the over confidence of the drunken 50 year old man or woman is palpable. So as the teenagers and early twenty year olds swirled and bubbled around the tap house, vaping and smoking, drinking and downing, dogs ran free and the system of payment for said drinks seemed hap hazard too say the least. I couldn’t take any more drum and bass and really bad shouty mixing so I sat out side with my mate, chatting to some of the kids as they paired off and walked out of the yard past the apple crate entrance gate and into the darkness, its so dark around here, do they call it a Dark Skies Park or something? Peaceful dark skies doesn’t mix with Chase and Status at this early hour on Sunday morning as I waited for Dev the taxi. So the kids wondered off in pairs and threes, occasionally a four, disappearing into the darkness quiet and engulfed until a few minutes later they returned, somehow different, full of ballsy vim and vigour. It doesn’t take a genius to realise what they were probably doing, I’ve been there in the past, staying  therefor longer than I probably should have done, and so know all about “there” The drugs may have changed but the routine remains the same. There is one guy who seemed to be involved with all the groups, vacating the Tap House in favour of the dark, coming back, then going back out again and again.

He’s a mate of my son’s and a nice bloke, but hes 16, and I’ve heard of county lines, I even spoke to a police man on Sunday as I stood next on the touchline of the rugby pitch for about 5 hours watching my sons team train and play. So I’ve got my eye on this chap, I’ve got my eye on my son and his mates. I’m just going to keep quiet for a bit, as I could be wrong. Drugs will be a natural temptation, as will booze for the kids at this age especially as they’ve got such a great place to go, which isn’t a town centre and where adults can cast an eye over them. Saturday was proper bonkers, it’lll close down for the winter in a bout 3 or 4 more weekends and then things will calm down and we’ll see where we are come springtime, and we’ll see what Inspector Poirot can find out for himself before he ruins everything and ends up drug addled himself in a hospice for the delusionally insane.

Don’t laugh its hard enough to understand what’s going on at work let alone in Rural crimewatch.