The Mug and DJ ventured for a quick punting donation to The Junction Hotel, Preston. This pub has always been intriguing. It sits on the junction (surprise) where Plenty Rd and High St merge into just High St and looks from the outside as if only the lowest of low characters would frequent it. But whether it’s something to do with the gentrification of Preston or not, both the Pub and crowd were surprisingly fun.

The punting room is in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid (who said studying maths would have no real life use!), with the bar being at the fat end and the main screen at the skinny end. Although to even talk about the main screen is a bit irrelevant in this place. The centre of the room is divided by what DJ described as “an architectural flourish” - a set of wrought iron arranged randomly like prison bars (more about this anon) that had been broken out of by the Incredible Hulk. Attached to the centre artwork are 1/2 dozen tables, each with their own punting cards, hole in the middle housing a bin for dead tickets and 20 inch TV showing the current Skychannel race.

Spread around the edges of the room are more flatscreen TV’s than at a Good Guys. There are punting tickets, form guides and tables a plenty. And although the room is really one big space (architecture excluded), there has been a great use of the space to create a couple of small pockets of seating that feel separated from the punting. The loos were good in the same way that the Cramer Hotel ones were bad - clean, warm and modern. The outdoor smoking area was also great - heaters to keep those clambering for early death warm while they do it and nice tables and chairs to keep their legs fresh while they do it.

As always, though, there is room for improvement. The placement of the TAB self service betting machine is just wrong. There seemed to be 5, unobtrusive places that it could’ve gone but instead it sits in the centre blocking the view of half the room?!? And why not have a couple of flat screen TV’s out in the smoking area. No doubt there were a few spares that could sit out there and be wheeled in at the end of the day. Seems a summertime must to me.

But the main complaint is more general, and relates to these ridiculous Trackside machines. Whose idea was these things? They take up half the wall at the back end that could be given over to a better view of proper racing. I’m guessing that there must be a great commission on them, but if the pub has to have them, put them where they belong - the Pokies area.

This shouldn’t take away from the venue, though, particularly not of a few of the characters the place housed. Firstly, the apocryphal one armed man - I can only think of the fear that must have been running through the betting machine operator as this guy with the ugliest, biggest hook attached to his arm coming up for a bet! And the old character on the other side of the architecture, who not once, not twice, but three times during the 2 hours we were there made jokes across to us like “So, how long you in for?”, “I’m out in 2 weeks, can you pick me up”, etc, etc. It would’ve been less funny if he didn’t look a little like he might have just actually got out of prison recently. And for the first time ever there was someone actually playing that f#$%ing Trackside machine - he did look as much like a loser as imagined, too. Then just as we were about to leave, up to our table to join us saunters the shortest non-dwarf in the best suit even to grace a pubtab.

There were fantastic potato wedges doing the rounds, with sour cream or sweet chili but otherwise the other criteria for assessment were just not there - lots of women in attendance, no cab drivers, no tracky dacks (more suits, in fact - see above) and smoking obviously not on the agenda.

But could it be a new local? Maybe just maybe.