Great Western Coffee Shop

Couldn't help but notice the two inebriated gentlemen at 7am at Reading this morning and still drinking.

Both of them were all over the place and a danger to themselves. It is conceivable that they started there journey at an unmanned station, but I do hope they were not allowed in at Reading as they were in no fit state to be on a busy railway station.

When I was in Trowbridge the other day I was reading a historical information board, which included a picture of a lovely little building which was apparently used as the local lock-up in which the towns inebriates would be flung to sober up.  I'm not sure the building still exists, but it sounds like the ideal depository for the two drunken men you spotted in Reading this morning!

Castle Cary still has theirs (no longer in active use though!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Circular_lock-up_-_geograph.org.uk_-_472113.jpg

Still there in Trowbridge and in Bradford-on-Avon.   Melksham's was removed many years ago as it was no longer required for the purpose for which it was built ...  ;D

Drunkeness is not to be commended at any time of day, but it does somehow seem worse in the morning rush hour than at say midnight.

It still to me "looks wrong" when I see pubs serving alcohol in the morning rush hour.

at 06:51 on 28th February 2014 ...

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/trowbridgelockup.jpg)

In the days when I used to travel on the early services from Thatcham TO reading you would often see passengers leaving the westbound local services at Thatcham in a drunken state. Apparently this was down to there being some cheap (boozing) nights at Reading, so in this case it wasn't the case they had started drinking early in the morning they hadn't stopped from the night before.

On one occasion one of the drunken lads tried to climb over the closed level crossing barrier but thankfully in this case he was so drunk he couldn't get his leg over (if you get my meaning)

Oh, thanks for that, grahame, and how pleased Melkshamites must have felt to learn their lock-up for drunks was no longer required!

I would agree with other forum members here that it doesn't seem right for people to be in a drunken state in the morning, and I'm not sure I'd have had a huge amount of sympathy with the man who couldn't get his leg over (!) if he had eventually managed to clamber over the crossing barrier.