Thirsty Thursdays: One Pound A Drink Nights in Inferno, Bournemouth, England in 2014

I re-visited my old town of Bournemouth on the south coast of England again this year and this meant more reunions than could ever be counted, more nights out, lots of reminiscing and a certain sadness attached to the town I left behind in 2009. I moved to Bournemouth in 2003 and it kickstarted my crazy journey around the globe, but after a five year absence I was back.

There’s a bar called The Inferno, on the Holdenhurst Road in Bournemouth. It used to be frequented regularly by me (as did countless other bars in the town). From about 2003 – 2005 isn I used to head to this bar almost every Monday night that I could. This was because drinks were ONE POUND. That’s right – a quid for selected beers and cider on tap, a quid for spirits and mixer, a quid for certain alcopops and shots. Even back in 2003 I couldn’t believe how cheap the drinks were!! My flatmate Matt Denison also worked in the Inferno for a bit.

So…fast forward to 2014 and I found myself back in Bournemouth again! I thought to myself two things:

1. The Inferno couldn’t still be open, could it?? (Bars and pubs in this town had a habit of closing and reopening under new names and owners regularly)

2. The Inferno couldn’t possibly still have drinks for ONE POUND on Monday Nights, could they?

I seem to remember my last visit there was February 2008 after an AFC Bournemouth match. It had been almost six years exactly and I headed back on a Monday night to The Inferno with Dan and Austin. We were joined by Holly and Clare and had a few drinks. Inferno was still there! It was a Monday night, but no ONE POUND drinks anymore and the place was quiet…Then I saw the flier that advertose that every Thursday night drinks were ONE POUND! Amazing. I had been hanging out with a load of old mates the entire week I was back but on the Thirsty Thursday, which IT WAS, I arranged to meet Alan Walker. Alan and I worked together in bars in Bournemouth Pavilion and Bournemouth International Centre and are both Cherries fans. The arrangement was to meet in the Inferno around 6pm.

I got there first and was completely amazed that they still do ONE POUND drinks, it was due to start at 7pm so I opted for a drink not on the “Pound Menu” to start with. I even applied for a “Yellow Card” which offers you discount on drinks. I thought it was a student thing but apparently not. I now had a brand new Yellow Card and could get my drinks with 10% off!

Alan arrives and we both have a pint of Guinness about half an hour before 7pm. We await the thought of using a pound coin to buy a drink. It might seem that I’m over exaggerating here, but seriously, in the UK, in England in the year 2014, on a Thursday night in a decent bar, you can get a pint of beer for ONE POUND. You don’t need to be a student. You don’t need to pay an entry fee. It’s drinks for a quid!

We settled for 2 pints of Tennents and toasted to the fact that they were a pound each. We were both reliving our student days. As the students started to pile in, in their numbers (but in no way the same way that they used to back in 2003), we decided to have a one pound shot each and leave the students to it. Sure we could have partied all night for one pound, but I was flying back to Asia the next day, Alan was working and we’d got what we wanted – one pound drinks.

We had a cherry shot each for a pound and that was that.

The Inferno provided me with a load of cool moments when I was a student and worker in this lively seaside town. As a 33 year old returning, the feeling was still the same. I did miss this town when I backpacked my way round the world, but getting my pint of beer for a quid was a top class feeling. I sure hope I can relive some of my student nights on future Thirsty Thursdays on here.

A video of Alan and I in Inferno getting beers and shots for a pound each, yes one pound a drink nights in Inferno, Bournemouth: