An area full of public houses

The area around Cannon Street was full of public houses. They were the sort with sawdust on the floor so were meant for working men; you didn’t get many women sitting in them. In Artillery Street there was a public house at the top, which was run by the brothers Vine, and called the Artillery Arms. When you went down Russell Street there was a pub half way down, which also had a gymnasium for boxers to train in. I saw Tommy Farr and Jack Pettifer, as well as most of the well known boxers of that time training there. In that small area there must have been at least twelve pubs. There was drunkenness as the pubs opened long hours.