Struggling pubs

[Lootman]

There is a pub not too far away from us near Loggerheads, Mold. When you go inside you step back to the 1950s. Small rooms, plain seating chairs and benches.

That sounds a lot like The Victoria pub in the city of Durham. Again, very popular.

Except I would have put its period as the 1930s

[stewamax]

I know that pub, the Pear Tree at Whitley. There was a bit more to it than that, some of which would get me into a libel action.

Yip. And I have eaten there recently and it is back to the old Pear Tree: un-poncy food and good beer at a reasonable price. And well supported.
I knew from my daughter the tumultuous back-story of Mr White's unhappy tenure, and the newspaper reports are - perhaps to stay clear of Mr Plod and M'Lud - expurgated versions.

[stewamax]

There is a pub not too far away from us near Loggerheads, Mold. When you go inside you step back to the 1950s. Small rooms, plain seating chairs and benches.

Could perhaps be the Colomendy (spelling?) Arms, conveniently just off the A494 to Ruthin. It was - and I hope still is - a bastion of no-frills sanity and good beer in a tiny village.

[bungeejumper]

Marco has a way of annoying people, and he was on top form. The entire village boycotted his boozer because he was so insufferable. Marco couldn't keep staff for more than a few weeks at a time, and that was why he eventually shut its doors (without notice) and quit. A quick google will give you the whole story, which is really quite entertaining. He moved a few miles down the road to Rudloe, where this happened: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news ... ly%20fight. Nobody was the least bit surprised.

The story continues at the Rudloe emporium, apparently: https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/2 ... ty-towers/ . Whatever chaotic spell it is that Marco casts on those around him, it seems he's still got the recipe.

BJ

[88V8]

Our local Cotswolds village pub is doing OK. Has a few b&b rooms, and despite the disadvantage of being 50ft from a railway main line, they seem to have no trouble filling them.
Drinks not overpriced.
Meals, doing perhaps 400 covers/week... pile em high, all dishes with the same huge dish of slightly overcooked veg and a Yorkshire, all dishes bought in other than the very good weekend roasts.
Their revenue is roughly one third rooms, drinks, meals.

The key here is that the owners know what they are doing, having previously run a successful pub. Prior to their arrival it was owned by amateurs and was frankly useless, unwelcoming and empty.

However, the owner would like to retire, had a stroke and has Parkinsons, his wife soldiers on, been trying to sell for at least four years. It could still prosper with the right owner, but....

V8

[didds]

My 2ps... which are purely personal thougts - usual caveats apply!

Pubs that sell food are not doing either thing well, I don't find. Their food isn't as good as a restaurant and the beer isn't as good as a pub.

yep - my take as well Mike. When they charge £16 for fish and chips (which is potentially pre battered frozen fish anyway) they are on a par with a restaurant cooking from scratch, with fresh fish.

And pub curries - well once they charge the same as a sit down indian restaurant (or take away of course with attendant cheap s/market booze) - whats the point?

These high street 'brewery tap' type places seem to be doing well. Previously high street shops, and now they sell only beer. No food other than peanuts and crisps, no wine or anything else poncy like that, just good beer. Really good beer. I drove past the one in Pewsey high street last year and it was rammed, with drinkers out on the street as it was so full.

"The Shed" - fantastic place, one of my favourite pubs for when I can convince one of my sons to drive occasionally . I would slightly disagree on the "poncy" stuff like wine - there usually is a wine option - it may not be a wide selection that's all. Such places have learned that if (generalising!) there isn't an option for the girlfriend/wife/mum/auntie then they lose the ale/cider drinkers

I feel sure this is were pubs have gone wrong, trying to be all things to all people and doing none of it all that well.

I would concur its part of it. there is a distinct aura of "try and be everything to everybody" - which ends up as being not much for many.
Food is seen/perceived as "the saviour" - but when "everywhere" does basically the same menu of pub grub at similar prices where is the interest for anybody to travel from village A to village B for the same thing? And now you have village pub A only selling food to villagers from A - especially if A isn't on a trunk road with passing traffic. And all those villagers aren't going to eat in their pub that often in reality. Tied houses <i>can</I> be a cash cow to the breweries/pubcos with a seemingly endless supply of redundancy payouts to suck up from new tenants with (WADR) misty eyes dreams of what running a village pub is like.

Its very interesting in a small brewery town like what where i live, with an active local CAMRA branch, of the four pubs in the GBG three of them are wet pubs; the fourth does really good food at very reasonable prices... but doesn't do the burger/fish/wrap/sandwiches and chips route ever, but limited but intriguing options. Only that pub of the four sells the local brewery's ale as well, but generally only one handle out of four ...

[didds]

It put me in mind of bar/cafes I've seen in Spain selling their particular speciality cheaply by the bowl with a chunk of bread. Keep it very simple but do it really well kind of fayre.
Seems to me that notion of a large vat of daily special, when it's gone it's gone grub, would be ideally suited to an independent pub that may find it difficult to employ a chef and offer a full and varied menu every day.

Its something I thought what mkust be two decades ago now. I dont run a pub (but know several publicans and brewers etc) so Its easy for me to pontificate but id wondered if it really would be something like "Stews-day" - two stews (one meat, one veggie), Mac and cheese day etc etc - just as you suggest. It would have to be cheap - no £14 deals cos now you are in the territory of a sit down restaurant curry/pub burger elsewhere, Sub tenner for sure. I dunno how the economics of that add up of course

But summarising - again, I concur (caveats on never having priced it).

[didds]

Three years ago we used to go to the White Donkey for Pensioner's Special, cod, chips, mushy peas, slice of bread and butter, and a cup of tea. £6.35 each. £12.70 for the two of us.

An expensive treat admittedly but at our age the odd treat seemed forgiveable. We'd probably go once a fortnight or so.

Now the price is £9.25. knocking 20 quid for the two of us.

Last week we went for the first time this year.

All I might say is the UK has had 20% food inflation in the alst year (or similar etc etc). So that's £7.50 just to be on a par. If that £6.35 hadnt increased for a year or two then that is further inflation that may now be covered.

That of course doesn't mean your budget covers the (at least some) enforced price rises of course.

[didds]

Spoons ....

And with a proper drink as well.

Not in bl00dy Trowbridge they dont! LOL

[didds]

My daughter also lives in West Wilts, not far from Bath. A few years ago, their country local was given a make-over - design and food - by Marco Pierre White. The £outcome was presumably a mite disappointing to Mr White because not long afterwards it was un-tarted-up again and reverted to its old atmosphere and good un-poncy food.

Purely out of interest Stewamax, which pub?

didds (mid wilts!)

UPDATE: Seen BJ's post - Pear tree, whitley.

Yes - "rumours" reached as far east as Devizes about that and how allegedly the locals had basically been driven out . Allegedly.

didds

[didds]

Yes, and Fullers do a lot of food I think. As an aside, I used to go along with the conventional wisdom that London Pride was a good tasting beer but I don't anymore, the bitter market has moved on massively and their real ale hasn't.

I think they are at the point of many regional brewers [1]. My theory (usual caveats apply!) is that they are now too with mature large scale brewing setups to adapt to modern brewing trends and to brew multiple differing styles easily and quickly, in smaller batches to aid that range , and are "stuck" in the 60 petalitres of London pride each week position. But not large enough to then move to the Greene King national brewer level with those economies of scale and not having to worry about trends, selling into a monkeys-with-typewriters market.

If instead they probably are closer to GK than a Wadworth - then they dont care about imnproving/changing etc. They pile it high and sell it cheap in supermarkets and their tied houses estate sees them though

[Alaric]

If instead they probably are closer to GK than a Wadworth - then they dont care about imnproving/changing etc. They pile it high and sell it cheap in supermarkets and their tied houses estate sees them though

Fullers sold off the brewery in the recent past and the plc is now just a pubs and hotels group.

The new brewers are a Company called Asaki but still use the Fullers site and brand names.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller%27s_Brewery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asahi_Breweries

[didds]

ah , sorry! I did know that! DOH!

And that covers why the ale is unexciting. They arent in the real ale game for real ale's sake. multi national "brewer"

[didds]

UPDATE: Seen BJ's post - Pear tree, whitley.

Yes - "rumours" reached as far east as Devizes about that and how allegedly the locals had basically been driven out . Allegedly.

didds

and that's reminded me of this story from even closer to (my) home!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -Polo.html

[didds]

...I drove past the one in Pewsey high street last year and it was rammed, with drinkers out on the street as it was so full.

"The Shed" - fantastic place, one of my favourite pubs for when I can convince one of my sons to drive occasionally .

And here is what is on the bar this week (well, on Sunday gone - its all change all the time at the shed of course!)

[bungeejumper]

UPDATE: Seen BJ's post - Pear tree, whitley. Yes - "rumours" reached as far east as Devizes about that and how allegedly the locals had basically been driven out . Allegedly.

and that's reminded me of this story from even closer to (my) home!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -Polo.html

[/quote]
Oooh, that's another one I hadn't heard about. Still, the lad says he's turned a corner since then, after a stretch at her majesty's pleasure. (https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity- ... n-29310663). Good luck, kid, and stay away from the pubs.

BJ

[Tedx]

"The Shed" - fantastic place, one of my favourite pubs for when I can convince one of my sons to drive occasionally .

And here is what is on the bar this week (well, on Sunday gone - its all change all the time at the shed of course!)

Boke.

Just give me weak ass pissy lager everytime. The pissier the better.

[servodude]

And here is what is on the bar this week (well, on Sunday gone - its all change all the time at the shed of course!)

Boke.

Just give me weak ass pissy lager everytime. The pissier the better.

Never had you pegged as an English.. but hey it takes all sorts!

[didds]

meanwhile, Saltaire Triple Choc is totally LUSH!!!