There were no women in here, that was the first thing that struck him. The dozen or so rickety tables were taken up by brutish men in various gnarled states, some still puffing on cigarettes despite the ban on smoking that had long existed in British pubs. They were rules for the outside world, where respectability still had a place. They had no business here, amongst the chipped enamel boards and smoke-faded posters of toucans and adverts for Irish stout.