The glass of 96
Express features subs drink in the New Year
JEFF BOYLE reports: Rummaging through the attic of Boyle Towers I came across a dusty, faded folder bearing the legend 'Express Features New Year piss-up'. Inside were photos of the usual suspects attempting to drink as much as they had in their Poppins heyday.
The occasion was organised by Angela 'Hotlips' Brown in about 1996/97 at that God-awful pub (I think it was called either Stammies or Doggett's) opposite the Blackfriars Lubyanka. The London features subs had either trousered the dubloons in their golden wheelbarrows and gone to pastures new, or moved elsewhere within the Express. Sadly, this New Year celebration proved to be the last round of all, as two of those present — Ross 'Crommers' Tayne and Van 'Captain Apples' Enstone — are no longer with us.
One thing's for sure. We all look a bloody sight older than we did in Fleet Street - and we certainly couldn't drink as much.
Jeff and John Seb(astian)
Steve Wood, 'Crommers' and Simon Brodbeck
Uploaded 18 October 2024
From left: Mike Snaith, Mal Markland, Jeff Boyle, Steve Wood, Ross 'Crommers' Tayne, Dave Emmanuel, Ian Norton and Van Enstone
Ian Norton, eyeing up the optics, with Simon Brodbeck