The Lion At Somerton.

[batrabill]

Ah, so all pubs have to do is be exactly like each individual wants them to be. I’ll text every pub landlord/lady right away. They will be thrilled that the NBN members have solved all their problems. 

[Gracie]

I think, like me, most NBN members would just like to see the pubs survive

[YnysMon]

33 minutes ago, batrabill said:

Ah, so all pubs have to do is be exactly like each individual wants them to be. I’ll text every pub landlord/lady right away. They will be thrilled that the NBN members have solved all their problems. 

I don’t think it’s that. As far as Graham and I are concerned, we can’t afford to eat out that often. If you’ve read my holiday tales you’ll have seen that we mostly cater ‘on board’. So, when we do splash out and spend our hard earned cash we try to hedge our bets and go somewhere that might reasonably match with our preferences. Why waste our money on somewhere that we probably would not enjoy? Just because we chose to visit one pub over another doesn’t mean it’s the better for everyone. Not everyone has the same tastes/preferences. (And that’s a good thing.)

[NorfolkNog]

I don't drink at home and don't drink on a boat. Not everyone can afford to eat in a pub, understandably, but even a pint and a bitter lemon can make a difference. Please support the pubs if you can folks! 

[Chelsea14Ian]

So to Restaurants. I know only to well what effect recent  years have had on the food and drink business. 

 

 

[kpnut]

6 hours ago, stumpy said:

the slops would go into the mild barrel at closing and be settled by opening time the next day. 

Im fine with slops, dregs (of glssses etc) no, no, no!!!!

At the agric college I attended, I was the bar manager and the pigs used to be given the slops. They did seem to do well and were always keen to see me. 

[Wonderwall]

Soaring prices , and the lack of disposable income in folks pockets , is having a knock on effect in the pub industries.

Lets blame the punters 😂😂😂😂😂😂

The powers who have attributed to this way of thinking , have , regrettably, done a fantastic job.

[MargeandParge]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Im fine with slops, dregs (of glssses etc) no, no, no!!!!

At the agric college I attended, I was the bar manager and the pigs used to be given the slops. They did seem to do well and were always keen to see me. 

Paints a lovely picture KP all the piggies awaiting service from the bar  not the staff but the manageress they must have felt very important. We hope you cleared the patrons before you let them in

 Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[stumpy]

Adnams brewery used to have a  cracking cartoon on the back of their drays - a pig sitting in a deckchair raising a foaming tankard captioned "Adnam's pigs are happy pigs". They were fed on the spent mash from the brewery and made wonderful bacon!

[YnysMon]

8 minutes ago, stumpy said:

They were fed on the spent mash from the brewery and made wonderful bacon!

I bet that was tasty bacon! Similarly with Kate’s agri college pigs. 

[FlyingFortress]

Not sure I would frequent a pub that did Mild and Chicken in a basket.

Did that with my parents in the 1970's .

Don't want it now 😫

And BTW I go to a local pub at least 4 nights a week and eat out at least Twice a week. More when on the boat.

It's like all the folk who said they would be back in the pubs when they banned smoking.

They lied.😵

 

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, MargeandParge said:

We hope you cleared the patrons before you let them in

It was an agric college. I don’t think we’d have noticed much difference in the clientele, especially on rugby club night!!!

37 minutes ago, stumpy said:

They were fed on the spent mash from the brewery and made wonderful bacon!

When I worked in the brewery I bagged up the spent mash out of the tun and my dairy farmer friend picked it up every couple of days for the cows. Wonder if it altered the flavour of the milk?

Freshly drained spent mash is a really lovely taste. Bit like sweet grainy and slightly watery porridge. 

[MauriceMynah]

4 hours ago, batrabill said:

Ah, so all pubs have to do is be exactly like each individual wants them to be. I’ll text every pub landlord/lady right away. They will be thrilled that the NBN members have solved all their problems. 

I think that's a little unfair. If I want a pub to be exactly as I want it and run as I would run it, I would expect to have to buy a pub.

Do I expect everyone to love it? No. Of course not. Do I think it would be successful?  Well, actually,  yes I do.

I believe there are quite a lot of people who agree with my likes and dislikes. If I'm wrong,  the business would fail and I would have nobody to blame, nobody but myself. 

If we are looking for reasons why pubs are closing, there are too many to list in addition to those I listed in my previous post. 

I think they could all be lumped together and called "the evolution of society "

 

[kpnut]

21 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

the evolution of society "

Evolution usually improves on things, making a species ‘fitter’.  Not sure humankind is being very successful. 

[FlyingFortress]

I think MM it's because a lot of folks post on internet fora what they remembered from their young days and look back with rose tinted glasses.

Pubs in my youth were pretty rubbish with Watneys Red Barrel and if you were lucky a mince pie for lunch.

Then some blooming genius discovered Proper beer again and Pubs started selling it yippee.

Then people wanted more than a pie for lunch and pubs started selling it yippee

Then people wanted more than chicken in a basket and pubs started selling it yippie

Then there was Real Ale again and pubs started selling it yippie.

Then folks wanted more than a burger for dinner and pubs started selling it yippee

Then folks wanted craft beer, whatever the f££k that is and gourmet restaurants and pubs started selling it. A cautious yippee

Then it was decent ale but burgers at £15 a go and folks stated giving it a miss.

Then there was rubbish ale at £5 a pint and burgers at £15 a go , you have heard me preaching about The Norfolk Business Plan before, 🫣

Then they take over two absolute dives on the Broads and turn them into most successful places, The White Horse at Neatishead and The Lion at Thurne. 

And folk on here complain that they don't serve Fosters or good old Boddingtons and don't do chicken in a basket.

These two places are very successful and deservedly so due to serving good quality ale at reasonable prices for the area and decent quality food at again a reasonable rate for the area but no blooming Yorkshire Bitter with a great big head, this is The South where us shandy drinking ####### drink beer with no head, and blooming enjoy it without moaning .

If you want Yorkshire Bitter, go to Yorkshire, or Lancashire or Scotland or Wales or any blooming place but Norfolk 

Norfolk has been my home for 30 years or more.

It is your holiday destination. Don't turn it into the home you left behind to come here.

Gosh a rant.

😵😫🫣

[MauriceMynah]

A small personal history lesson.

When I was young my mother used to buy cornflakes for breakfast.  We liked cornflakes. 

One day I asked if we might have shredded wheat.

For some years we had shredded wheat. 

My sister got brave and asked if we could have sugar puffs.

For some years we had sugar puffs. 

My father, brave fellow, asked for cornflakes. 

"But you all told me you didn't like cornflakes" was my mother's reply.

Much the same has happened to pubs. 

"In with the new" shouldn't necessarily  mean "out with the old" at least, not all of it.

Oh and by the way,  the breakfast saga was true and pretty accurate. 

[Vaughan]

8 hours ago, FlyingFortress said:

Pubs in my youth were pretty rubbish with Watneys Red Barrel and if you were lucky a mince pie for lunch.

They were indeed! A period in pub history that is definitely best forgotten.

But perhaps my memory goes back further than that, in my dotage!  I can remember back to when beer was delivered to the Buck in Thorpe by Bullards brewery dray, drawn by two shire horses, with brasses gleaming.  The wooden barrels were stacked up on racks behind the bar counter and pints were served direct from the barrel tap.

I also remember so many character landlords, such as Simon Whitmore at Surlingham, who would come out and sound a fanfare on his post horn, when you left in your boat after a good lunchtime session.  Or Harry Last at Coldham, where a tame swan would come waddling into the bar among all the locals, and stand there until someone gave it a beer.

I suggest 3 main reasons for the decline :

1/. There are very few character landlords left, where you always felt specially welcome whenever you called in.

2/. Pubs are now almost all owned by chains, who charge impossible rates for the tenant to make a living.

3/. Pubs are no longer places where you just call in for a drink with the locals, at lunchtime or before supper on the way back from work.  Nowadays, you go there for a meal, which may or may not be a pleasure.  But how many other people do you actually talk to, when sitting at your table?  Do you know any of the locals, at the bar?  Do you even want to know?  They are just not the social centres of the community, as they always used to be.

[Smoggy]

23 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

 But how many other people do you actually talk to, when sitting at your table?  Do you know any of the locals, at the bar?

One of my locals made a point of laying tables out so you didn't have much choice but to interact with others (made it harder during covid) and that is exactly how it works, they don't do food and have 6 casks behind the bar with taps direct as well as more in the cellar, they have another 6 taps that are all keykeg and nothing from the mainstream brands.

There are so many places now where will only speak to the people you went in with and as for ordering from an app!!!!!!

[Ray]

From all the posts in this thread it seems as though today there is everything from Gastro Pubs to traditional Ale Houses ans all points in-between.

Something to please everyone... maybe things aren't so bad after all 🍺

[Chelsea14Ian]

Chains do have a place.They often take on pubs that perhaps would have gone.Yes not always top quality,but often affordable. Pubs in Norfolk and Suffolk are far better then many pubs in London. Many pubs we go to here are more welcoming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyingFortress]

42 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

They were indeed! A period in pub history that is definitely best forgotten.

But perhaps my memory goes back further than that, in my dotage!  I can remember back to when beer was delivered to the Buck in Thorpe by Bullards brewery dray, drawn by two shire horses, with brasses gleaming.  The wooden barrels were stacked up on racks behind the bar counter and pints were served direct from the barrel tap.

I also remember so many character landlords, such as Simon Whitmore at Surlingham, who would come out and sound a fanfare on his post horn, when you left in your boat after a good lunchtime session.  Or Harry Last at Coldham, where a tame swan would come waddling into the bar among all the locals, and stand there until someone gave it a beer.

I suggest 3 main reasons for the decline :

1/. There are very few character landlords left, where you always felt specially welcome whenever you called in.

2/. Pubs are now almost all owned by chains, who charge impossible rates for the tenant to make a living.

3/. Pubs are no longer places where you just call in for a drink with the locals, at lunchtime or before supper on the way back from work.  Nowadays, you go there for a meal, which may or may not be a pleasure.  But how many other people do you actually talk to, when sitting at your table?  Do you know any of the locals, at the bar?  Do you even want to know?  They are just not the social centres of the community, as they always used to be.

Of all your very valid points above I think 2/. Is the most relevant sadly.

[Smoggy]

As for character landlords we have one of those as well in one of my locals, have a read of this little review, I'm fairly sure we were in that day (or several days like it), he's a grumpy old git but part of the entertainment as long as you're used to him.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g499501-d8484541-r699177572-Ye_Olde_Sun-St_Neots_Cambridgeshire_England.html

It is actually a good little pub with good prices, proper old school place.

[Vaughan]

22 hours ago, Vaughan said:

I also remember so many character landlords,

I have just remembered another one!  Peter Tallowin, in those roaringly successful years when he had the Woods End at Bramerton, water ski-ing down the reach outside the pub on New Year's Day, dressed in a dinner jacket and carrying a tray of drinks.

Which he didn't spill!