The Wolf Tavern
Deep in the southern part of the Hart Harbour district, the Wolf Tavern is a rather unsavoury drinking den that very much caters to the rougher local clientele from around the area.
Such is its reputation that even many of the people who are resident in Hart Harbour avoid it, partly because of the unsavoury company that tends to frequent it, and also because it is widely known to be a front out of which a lot of the illegal activity that takes place in the town is orchestrated from.
Purpose / Function
Ostensibly, the purpose of the Wolf Tavern is to supply the local residents of southern Hart Harbour with a place to rest and relax after a day of work and perhaps drown their sorrows. Whilst the establishment certainly operates in this way, it is also common knowledge that the Wolf is used as a front out of which the mobsters loyal to the Halem Family run their illegal activities.
There are no rewards for winning a fight, except for the pride of victory, but as onlookers acting as unofficial bookies ply a swift trade and often make a tidy profit during the night, it is custom for a victorious fighter to be bought a drink by the bookie who has profited the most from them.
The Friday Fights
Every Friday the Wolf Tavern hosts a rather informal and brutal series of bareknuckle boxing matches out of its backyard, where anyone spoiling for a fight can put themselves forward to trade blows with another suitably aggressive or inebriated opponent. Despite their brutality, with people regularly breaking bones, being knocked out and even occasionally being killed, the fights attracted punters from all over Harthill, including from the more well-heeled districts of town.Entries
The main entrance to the Wolf Tavern is located on Coke Lane and there is a side entrance that leads onto the walled yard to the north east.
Contents & Furnishings
Almost mirroring the more run down, dour surroundings of the area it is situated in, the Wolf is furnished with a hodgepodge of furniture, with various mismatched items having been acquired over many years for their price tag rather than their aesthetic appeal or adherence to any particular style or theme. As a result tables of all sizes and shapes have been haphazardly arranged around the taproom, with all manner of chairs, many of which are inappropriately sized for the tables they are placed at, scattered around. Whilst half of the furniture looks worse fo ware because of old age and neglect, the other half looks ramshackled because these objects are frequently used as improvised weapons in fights.
The majority of the ground floor of the building is given over to an open taproom, with a large bar running all the way down the western side of the room. Behind the bar is a small kitchen where the paltry selection of food that the establishment offers is prepared.
A staircase along the eastern wall leads both down to the beer cellar below; which is kept locked at all times it is unattended, lest a brave or foolhardy patron decide to try and raid the pub's stock; and up to the rooms on the first floor.
The first floor of the pub is an array of small, private rooms that are predominantly used as meeting spaces for the planning or action of the illicit activities primarily run bypeople who are affiliated with the Halem Family.
A ladder leads from the first floor to the attic bedroom of Herbert Spanner, the publican.
Architecture
Like most of the buildings in its local area, the Wolf Tavern is a two story brickwork building with a grey slate roof, the vibrant crimson of its bricks stained almost black by the fumes extruded by the nearby McIntyre Steelworks , and the freight railway that runs to the north.
Unlike the buildings around it, the Wolf's situation as a semidetached building on the corner of Coke Alley and the Quayside means that it is has a much larger footprint.
by Chris Pyrah
Sign of the Wolf Tavern
Founding Date
1874
Type
Pub / Tavern / Restaurant
Parent Location
Owning Organization
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