Ollie’s last stand
During a recent holiday in Malta, Sylvia my girlfriend and I visited its capital, Valletta.
We had a look around the harbour and climbed a steep gradient to pass the Carmelite church with its famous dome. But continuing up the same road leads you to a non-religious building which has become a place of pilgrimage in its own right. It was Sylvia who spotted this place, after various attempts were made to find a suitable watering hole. I wasn’t even sure about going in at first, but she was up for a beer.
Simply called ‘The Pub’, it is where the great British actor and hell-raiser, Oliver Reed, finished off life’s last great session. Perhaps the most fitting name for his demise, at least Ollie can say he died in ‘The Pub’ – exactly where he, and many more of us, would have wanted to draw our last breath.
Ollie was only 61 when he died in The Pub on May 2nd 1999. He called in during a break from filming ‘Gladiator’. This multi Oscar winning epic ended up being dedicated to him following his death. Ollie bumped into the Royal Navy crew, from HMS Cumberland, who were on shore leave, and had a great time. The landlord of The Pub said the last round he bought was eight beers, 12 double rums and half a bottle of whisky.
Sylvia and I were much more sedate during our visit to this hostelry. First person we bumped into was Steve; a Malta based Hells Angel, from Preston. He used to frequent Blackburn’s much missed Vulcan Hotel. He rode off into the sunset and few more came in. We had a collection of people from both sides of the Irish border, a German who spoke really good English and a Scouser called Phil.
Like Blackburn’s Quarryman’s, The Pub is only a small hostelry, which creates a good atmosphere when only a few punters are inside. There were only a dozen in when we had our afternoon session here. Prices are a little on the steep side at over €3 for a pint of Malta’s local beer. But with the euro at its low point, it wasn’t bad value at the time.
We enjoyed our afternoon in this appropriately named Valletta building. No doubt its reputation will grow and it will become one of the top attractions to visit in Malta. As Oliver Reed famously said: “You meet a better class of people in pubs”.