I feel like such a hypocrite!

Last night a few of us who were visiting Doncaster were taken out for a meal in town.  After the meal we had a couple of drinks in a bar. After closing time we went on to an 80's club. When that turfed us all out after midnight I saw that it was right opposite the hotel I stayed in last week, where I was so pissed off by the racket from clubbers.

It was just a typical night out in Donny…  a girl had to be physically thrown out of the club when her swearing at her boyfriend escalated into broken beer glasses and thrown punches. When we came out there was a paramedics' car and two ambulances nearby.  They had not been called: they were just there as a pro-active measure.

The strange thing is that everyone was really friendly, in spite of the violence, and even that stayed confined to the couple involved.  It may have been loud, but it felt safe. In fact I did not see a single policeman at all.  The locals were perfectly happy to start conversations with total strangers, which is not always the case down South. 

And its not all stereotypical Northern grimness either. The bar we went to after dinner had been taken over by about 50 people who were having a latin ballroom dancing class.  I thought that dancing classes usually took place in community centres or hired function rooms, not in a public bar where anyone else can come in to watch.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves and bothered nobody, and nobody bothered them.