I was never much of a drinker in my formative years. I think the last time I had any alcohol at all was Easter Sunday 2005 and, even then, it was due to a mistake made by the bar staff at The Vulcan in Winlaton (I asked for a pint of Coke and ended up with a pint of Fosters - I tried to give it away but to no avail). As someone who doesn't enjoy drinking, pubs and clubs have never held any real appeal. To be frank, pubs and clubs bore me rigid - I've always been a house-party type of person. So it should come as no surprise when I say I've never ever been on the drink in either Sunderland or Durham. To the best of my knowledge, I've only ever frequented bars located in Newcastle, Winlaton, Whickham, High Spen, Chopwell and Consett on the rare occasions I've been 'out of the piss'.

However, I did hold an affiliation card and used to go 'social clubbing' (albeit without any drinking involved on my part) during my latter teenage years. Social clubbing involves visiting as many clubs as you can during the day - having a drink, a game of pool and a quick game of darts in each venue.