Cheers, Paul! It’s ‘Happy Hour’ at the White Horse all night

There was a ‘Pint for Whoever’ at The White Horse in Hutton Cranswick after musician Paul Heaton put money behind the bar to celebrate his 60th birthday.

The former Housemartins and Beautiful South singer was planning a tour of 60 venues to celebrate his milestone, much in the same way he visited The White Horse and other pubs across the UK as part of his Pumps and Pedals tour in 2010.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic putting paid to the tour, instead, Heaton, who lived in Hull during the 1980s and played football for Cherry Burton FC, told fans to enjoy a drink on him instead.

“Both regulars and yourselves can enjoy a birthday drink on me, until the money runs out, or the bar runs dry,” said Heaton in a Facebook post.

“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.”

‘Happy Hour’ started at The White Horse from 3pm, with one free drink on offer to punters who went along to raise a toast to Heaton, who had two number one hit singles – Caravan of Love with the Housemartins and A Little Time with Beautiful South.

Clive Tomlinson, landlord of the pub, told the Wolds Weekly that he was surprised when he took a call from the singer’s management company, with the offer to put £1,000 behind the bar.

He said the gesture was embraced by both his regular punters and those from further afield, with the money lasting into Tuesday, giving people ‘A Little More Time’ to enjoy a drink on Paul.

“I first heard about the money Paul Heaton wanted to put behind the bar last Thursday afternoon (5th May),” said Clive.

“It was a strange phone call. The person on the other end said that they represented Paul Heaton and explained that it was his 60th birthday the following Monday.

“They went on to say that they wanted to give The White Horse some money to put behind the bar and could I supply them with my bank details.

“I was a bit unsure so asked them to send an email and once that came over, I knew it was legitimate.

“We’ve dealt with Paul before when he did his Pedals & Pumps tour, so we were already aware of his management team. I responded and sent over my bank details and within two hours the money was there.

“Paul wasn’t announcing the 60 pubs until the Sunday, so we kept it under wraps. Normally on a Monday, we would open around 3pm, and our regulars know that. However, we decided to keep an eye out for anyone who was around earlier than three and, lo and behold, someone came along at 1pm and it turned into a busy day.

“We had people in the pub from Bridlington, Scarborough and Selby. In fact, the men from Selby were intending to go to the Bay Horse in Market Weighton, which had also received some money. However, it was closed so they carried on their journey and came to us instead.

“We played Paul Heaton’s music all day long and we were supported by lots of our regulars and locals and quite a few people we didn’t know too. All in all, it was a good day.”

As previously mentioned, the Bay Horse in Market Weighton was another pub to benefit from Heaton’s donation, whilst Ye Olde Blue Bell, The Whalebone and The Grafton in Hull also received £1,000 behind their respective bars.

For Clive and customers at The White Horse, it brought memories of the pub being just one of 16 to be named on Heaton’s Pumps and Pedals tour, when the singer cycled 720 miles between venues.

And Paul sprung a surprise on that occasion when he became the Master of Ceremonies at the weekly pub quiz.

“Although we are busy most of the time, every little helps and that’s the beauty of the gesture from Paul,” said Clive. “It’s brilliant support for local pubs and he certainly didn’t have to do it. We still had a little bit of money carrying into Tuesday as we initially limited it to one drink per person.

“Then, after 9pm, it was an open house. With people travelling from all over the place, I didn’t want them to get to the pub only to find we had run out of money.

“On Monday, we finished just after midnight and then used the remainder on Tuesday.”