from at the 3Roses

The Three Roses is a real pub which is also known as'The Scottish Embassy'.'This is a very friendly bar/ landlady Marina Gallacher told me as she poured me a glass of Murphy's ale. 'If you come in here on your own,someone'll be talking to you in minutes, asking where you come from, offering to buy you a pint...'

Marina was full of praise for bar staff Caroline, Anne and Becky: 'they're cracking girls, bright and cheerful,great barmaids, great with the customers,and both steady, long-term employees with a good track record in the business.'

The drinkers themselves are gen erally down-to-earth workers, both ex-pats and Gibraltarian, and with quite a few Gibraltar pensioners enjoying the good-humoured at mosphere at various times of day.

The customers also include forces personnel as well as visitors from the UK who have heard about the Three Roses, including whole families who base their holidays on the bar.There are people from Glas gow who keep coming back, year after year. 'It's a man's bar,' said Marina,'where they can relax and not have to be careful what they say; but families and children are welcome — the youngsters prefer to go into the pool room for a game or to watch Disney Channel on the television in there.' or put them in a taxi.'She also read ily confessed to having done a pole dance on the bar — leading to the destruction of the poor pole — but assured me she was off-duty that night:

The Three Roses has been under going a gradual transformation over the last few months, with re painting, wood stripped and var nished, retiling and a new window to let in more light. Air-condition ing is now installed and new seats are on the way.

'We like people to think of it as a home-from-home,' Marina said, and proved how far this extends: she lets bachelor customers use her backroom washing machine on Sunday afternoons while they have a drink at the bar, for instance. She did it for one man and didn't mind at all when word spread. 'And there's no worries here,' Marina added;'if anyone has had a drop too much to drink there's always someone to see them safely home.

Marina also serves free tapas be tween 4 and 6pm on Fridays, but they're more raciones than tapas good-sized portions of something substantial like spaghetti bolognaise or sausage stovies, a Scottish dish.

Marina always take note of any of the customers' suggestions (within reason of course) and will do it if she can. Examples are a Robbie Burns Night that she held, complete with bagpipers, haggis and Scotch Pie & Beans;she's plan ning on introducing karaoke in the pool room on Sundays between 4 and 8pm,and will probably include a plateful of curry with that. She also does parties, usually birthdays or other celebrations for customers.

The beers are Murphy's, Heineken, Ruddle's, Old Speclded Hen and Amstel lager along with Slrongbow cider. Pints are £2(£1.50 in Happy Hours) and spirits are £1.70 (doubles in Happy Hours). Happy Hours are from 3to 7pm on Fridays and noon to 2pm on Satur days.

The Three Roses, Governor's Street, telephone 51614, is open every day: Sunday to Thursday 11am to midnight;Fridays and Sat urdays noon to lam.

If you don't know it, it's worth a look in. It's a proper Scottish pub.