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	Tom Calls Time! FRONT BAR BOMBSHELL Filed 4 April 2001 In a shock statement issued over the bar just after closing time last night, Tom, Head Barman at the Queen's Head, announced his resignation. He will be leaving the pub next Tuesday. "It's supposed to be Wednesday but I've got to have a word with Neil about that," he said. "You're not moving are you, Tom?" I asked. "No, I've had enough," he said. For five years, Tom, the man from Motherwell, brought in by Neil and Jean Yardley, has been top man behind the bar with his friendly, professional approach and civilised but firm "Let's have your glasses please!" exhortations at tweny past eleven. I'll tell you the kind of barman he has been, he spots the regulars, myself included, walking down the hill to the quay and, by the time you walk in, he's already got your pint waiting on the bar. Now that's class. A rare thing in the trade. "I'll have more time to spend on the other side," he added as he placed one more empty glass into the dishwasher under the counter. Now the one thing that regulars enjoy in any pub is the regularity. They don't like change. The pub is the bedrock of favourite routines. You invest in it your history, your values and your sense that all is as it should be. Something like this, the departure of the head confidante is something of a blow. Tom knows what I drink and he knows what I've been up to for the last few years. There's a shorthand that takes time to build. Yes, that shorthand also exists with the other regular staff but Tom is the main man. Who am I going to talk to about football for goodness sake! I mean, Neil and Jean are good for anything to do with the community or the pub itself. Alf's good about guitars and the history of Pentangle and music but, come on, they're not the kind of people you can say, "What's the score?" to. They wouldn't know. Tom knows about this kind of thing, he's Scottish. He's got himself another job, another career. That's all fine but when you think that going down the Queen's Head is one of those prospects that is difficult to improve on then you are knocked a little sideways when someone else doesn't see it quite that way. It must be different on the other side of the bar. Well, there you go, I know it wouldn't be for me. That's obviously part of Tom's thoughts too. It's nice to go down the pub but not to work there. As Tom himself said in a statement issued this morning over the ICQ: " I am sorry to be leaving the pub as I have made lots of friends but I really do need a change." Good luck, Tom. I'll see you down the pub. Right, who's next?			"Good luck, Tom. I wish you well." Martin Bowers "Best of luck Tom, we'll miss you." Ian Hughes. "Thanks, Tom." Melvin Goldsmith. "The greatest." Paul Collins.