THE quiet little country inn, which is unfortunately

THE quiet little country inn, which is unfortunately passing away in favour of the more vulgar public house and pretentious gin palace, is essentially a cottage, some rooms of which are devoted to public use, while in many of the best of them a few bedrooms are reserved for casual travellers. An illustration of one, the Bull Ring Inn at North Shields (see Fig. 9), designed by Mr. F. R. N. Haswell, F.R.I. B.A., and planned in accordance with the old traditions, is, how- ever, given. The whole of the front is devoted to a large open bar having window seats with tables arranged in front of them, and a fireplace at each end of the room, forming a kind of club, such as is essential in village life, at which the men can meet and chat of an evening while enjoying their smoke and a modest glass of beer.
This, it will be noticed, is something quite different from a mere drinking saloon. The customers do not come in, drink, and go out again, but sit in the bar, perhaps for hours, using it as a meeting-place for discussion and general sociability. There is the bar counter, certainly,
at which casual callers can be served, and a certain concession to modern requirements is made by screen- ing off a small portion for jug and bottle trade, this being served from an entrance lobby or passage and not from the front door. The cellar flaps in the pavement in front and also in the floor behind the bar counter will be noticed, leading down in a primitive manner, the
one by slides and the other by a step-ladder, to the cellar below. There is a block at the foot of the slides to receive the barrels as they are let down by ropes, and gantries or stands for the barrels are provided round the bar cellar. This being a small inn, the sale
would be almost entirely of beer in some counties and cider in others, and scarcely at all of spirits or wines.
At the back of the bar on the ground floor two sitting- rooms will be noticed, one of them being what is often called a bar parlour with seats round the walls, and standing tables where refreshments can be served, and the other, or best sitting-room, being also intended for guests. Both of them can be served from the space behind the bar counter, but the latter only has direct
service from the kitchen upstairs, so that it alone could be used for meals. As a general rule the kitchens are found on the same floor, but with limited space it has been necessary in this case to place them on another level.