LONDON’S NIGHT LIFE

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 January 1931, Page 11

LONDON’S NIGHT LIFE

CHAMPAGNE) IN RURAL INNS. In a widening circle, thirty or more miles from Piccadilly Circus, the night life of London, which had been stamped out by Scotland Yard’s war on illicit pleasure re_sorts, is springing up again in a new guise, says a “Daily Express” correspondent. ' The scene has shifted to the Thames Valley and the rolling hills of Surrey, where ancient hostelries with weathered oak beams, massive stone fireplaces, and low sloping ceilings are being rapidly converted into expensive modern “road houses,” where a tolerant view of the law is taken. More ‘than fifty separate establishments have been opened since Lord Byng launched his campaign against the West .London night haunts two •years ago, and drove gay Londoners into the country in search of entertainment. Gambling, dancing, and allnight drinking have developed in this rustic atmosphere with almost Parisian abandon. “Sign the register, sir,” says mine host to his visitor, “and you may have wine as long as you like.” A broad wink accompanies this advice. The maitre d’hotel receives word. And in the dining room, where a log fire crackles and leaps up the age-smoked chimney, and the soft lilt of music glides across the polished dance floor, the guest is served with his champagne until he wearies of the place. The price of a “fbom” is, of course, added to the bill, for he is regarded as a hotel guest.

CLIENTS JUDGED Big CARS. Most of the former monarchs of London’s night life have vanished, and this new attraction is in the hands of proprietors unknown in the purlieus of Piccadilly. News of these neiv rural amenities spreads slowly. . Each establishment is creating its own “reputation.” Strange arrivals are treated with some suspicion, and it is only the visitor who has become, known who receives really liberal attention in the piatter of drinks. There are special saloons hidden away in the rambling structures for bridge at high stakes, poker with the “limit” beyond the roof, and now and again a roulette wheel. Pretty young dancing “hostesses” are employed during the busy weekend, and .employment for the hundreds of girls who lost their work when the bogus clubs of Piccadilly were wrecked by the police is opening up once again. The “road house” is the resort of the motorist, for it is impossible to reach these quaint old establishments except by motor-car. “We do not get so many ‘fourflushers’ and cheap youngsters,” one. inn , manager said to the correspondent. “We can gauge our clients by the type of car they arrive in.” The majority of these places are tucked away off the main roads in isolated parts of the countryside. Elaborate alterations are carried out to provide the necessary dining room space and luxurious lounge accommodation. Trained staffs of. waiters and chefs are imported from London, and, in most cases, the food is of high excellence and variety. The service is equal to that of the most expensive Mayfair hotel.

Some of the inns are richly furnished, with fine paintings, valuable tapestries, and heavy Oriental rugs. Tho walls are surrounded with imitation carved oak panelling, and the fireplaces have been cleverly adapted from their ancient use to modern decorative and heating purposes. Outside the faded distempered walls, low windows, and crazily-pitched roof conceal the sumptuous accommodation within. Local police, so far, have paid little or no attention to the operations of these resorts, and they do not come within the area of Scotland Yard. Inquiries show that it is exceedingly difficult to check their activities, for as long as the visitors go through a form of registering and the room accommodation cannot bo shown to be grossly inadequate, there is no basis for prosecution.

“If the people like to pay,” a police office rsaid. “and they do not object to being fleeced, I do not see what we can do.”