Star foots bill at 60 pubs for 60th birthday

IT was happy hour again for drinkers at The Glue Pot in Swindon on Monday as they enjoyed free drinks courtesy of musical legend Paul Heaton.

The Housemartins and Beautiful South singer put a £1,000 bar tab down at 60 pubs across the UK to celebrate his

60th birthday.

The musician had originally planned to perform at 60 pubs on a bicycle tour but after the pandemic caused recording delays decided to give the gift of free drinks up and down the country instead.

He revealed on Sunday evening the 60 pubs that he would be involving, and the Glue Pot in Swindon made the list.

The establishment opened early at 12pm on Monday for the occasion and manager Mark says he thinks they served around 200 free drinks to Swindon revellers throughout the course of the day.

Speaking yesterday morning he said there was still a few free drinks left in the pot, which will no doubt have been snapped up by now.

He said: “We’ve still got some left, we managed to get £927 spent, so we’ve got a little bit left over for today”.

In a statement the singer wrote: “Both regulars and yourselves can enjoy a birthday drink on me (until the money runs out, or the bar runs dry!). The hope is to bring people together on the day, whilst recognising that many folk who bought my records or showed me support over the years, could do with a wee party, as we come out of Covid and hit potential financial struggles.

“If there’s one near you please head over on Monday, show your support and raise a toast to me on my birthday!”

And The Glue Pot did just that, with a video of the evening showing drinkers raising their glasses to Paul Heaton.

“It was really good, a really good atmosphere that is for sure”, Mark added.

“The pub was busy throughout the day with regulars, and in the evening we had some new faces in, people I hadn’t seen before.”

They even sent a birthday message to the man himself.

Mark said: “We sent photos to Paul Heaton as well saying happy birthday and thank you very much, that it was appreciated. Maybe it might set a precedent now and other celebrities might be able to follow through.”

Mark said he wasn’t entirely sure why his pub had been chosen, but he assumes Paul must have visited them in the past.

He said: “I heard that he played here in Swindon at Level 3 I believe so perhaps he came across the pub then, obviously being just down the road. So for a good nine or ten years he’s had this place in mind for this sort of thing I’m assuming. It’s quite a small pub, it’s an old railway workers pub.”