Topic ID 3496
Read this article in todays Times and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the potential of failing pubs in hertford? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3649052.ece I think a couple of places have recently changed hands Saracens Head and The Black Horse. And with the likes of the weatherspoons opening & the smoking ban is there any likely hood of any of the pubs in hertford closing? Have people seen fewer and fewer punters in the local pubs? Are super market prices stopping people going to the pub? Places that I think have fewer punters are the barge, two brewers, the ram inn, old cross tavern, I'm sure there's more. And before anyone gets on their high horse I don't know how profit margins work so haven't a clue if any of these are doing well or not, it is just my option and when I walk past these 3 places and don't think they are as busy as they used to be. Just for the record I love all the pubs in Hertford and visit all of them over the year and would hate to see any of them close.
Reply ID 51030
quote:Just for the record, the Black Horse has not yet changed hands, so it is business as usual for us.
Originally posted by teddylad
Read this article in todays Times and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the potential of failing pubs in hertford? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3649052.ece I think a couple of places have recently changed hands Saracens Head and The Black Horse. And with the likes of the weatherspoons opening & the smoking ban is there any likely hood of any of the pubs in hertford closing? Have people seen fewer and fewer punters in the local pubs? Are super market prices stopping people going to the pub? Places that I think have fewer punters are the barge, two brewers, the ram inn, old cross tavern, I'm sure there's more. And before anyone gets on their high horse I don't know how profit margins work so haven't a clue if any of these are doing well or not, it is just my option and when I walk past these 3 places and don't think they are as busy as they used to be. Just for the record I love all the pubs in Hertford and visit all of them over the year and would hate to see any of them close.
Reply ID 51031
Depends what you mean by "change hands". It could mean a simple change of manager/tenant (as with The Ram or Black Horse) or a complete change of ownership (as with The Saracen's or Sportsman)
Reply ID 51033
Is the Sportsman no longer owned by Bollywoods then?
Reply ID 51038
quote:These were examples, as in the fact that Bollywoods bought it from Barracuda. Not sure who the Sarry's was bought from. I doubt anyone would buy The Sportsman in it's current state, but that's another discussion.
Originally posted by thefair1973
Is the Sportsman no longer owned by Bollywoods then?
Reply ID 51039
We're (the barge) doing ok considering that we trade best in the sun and there hasn't been much of that lately, but still turning in a respectable turnover even in the wet weather. Not anywhere near going out of business lol.
quote:
Originally posted by teddylad
Read this article in todays Times and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the potential of failing pubs in hertford? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3649052.ece I think a couple of places have recently changed hands Saracens Head and The Black Horse. And with the likes of the weatherspoons opening & the smoking ban is there any likely hood of any of the pubs in hertford closing? Have people seen fewer and fewer punters in the local pubs? Are super market prices stopping people going to the pub? Places that I think have fewer punters are the barge, two brewers, the ram inn, old cross tavern, I'm sure there's more. And before anyone gets on their high horse I don't know how profit margins work so haven't a clue if any of these are doing well or not, it is just my option and when I walk past these 3 places and don't think they are as busy as they used to be. Just for the record I love all the pubs in Hertford and visit all of them over the year and would hate to see any of them close.
Reply ID 51047
quote:how many pubs are there in riventsonedale? It is extremely tough out there, whether a tenency or a tied house.
Originally posted by teddylad
Read this article in todays Times and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the potential of failing pubs in hertford? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3649052.ece I think a couple of places have recently changed hands Saracens Head and The Black Horse. And with the likes of the weatherspoons opening & the smoking ban is there any likely hood of any of the pubs in hertford closing? Have people seen fewer and fewer punters in the local pubs? Are super market prices stopping people going to the pub? Places that I think have fewer punters are the barge, two brewers, the ram inn, old cross tavern, I'm sure there's more. And before anyone gets on their high horse I don't know how profit margins work so haven't a clue if any of these are doing well or not, it is just my option and when I walk past these 3 places and don't think they are as busy as they used to be. Just for the record I love all the pubs in Hertford and visit all of them over the year and would hate to see any of them close.
Reply ID 51050
Pubs faced many challenges, even before the smoking ban and the knock-on anti-drinking pressure. I rarely use pubs now, not because I can't smoke in them, but because other people don't. A pub used to smell and look like....well, a pub. Now the traditional aroma of hundreds of years has been eradicted, new smells have been uncovered. I smell fish (if served at any time recently), the remains of the lunch from the kitchen, the Gents, B.O., stale beer in the cracks around the bar area, damp from careless mopping, cleaning products, over-enthusiastic cologne application...... It just isn't a pub anymore.
Reply ID 51052
quote:All those smells were there before, it was just that the smell of fags masked them all out. Much rather smell anything than fags.
Originally posted by shunt
Pubs faced many challenges, even before the smoking ban and the knock-on anti-drinking pressure. I rarely use pubs now, not because I can't smoke in them, but because other people don't. A pub used to smell and look like....well, a pub. Now the traditional aroma of hundreds of years has been eradicted, new smells have been uncovered. I smell fish (if served at any time recently), the remains of the lunch from the kitchen, the Gents, B.O., stale beer in the cracks around the bar area, damp from careless mopping, cleaning products, over-enthusiastic cologne application...... It just isn't a pub anymore.
Reply ID 51053
Yes and most, if not all, of those smells do not travel home with you.
Reply ID 51054
Can I plead that we don't reignite the smoking ban debate, it was flogged to death on this forum before the ban came in. More heat than enlightenment.
Reply ID 51059
I tend not to visit pubs much anymore. Just don't find them inspiring and the cost of a pint is reaching ludicrous levels.
Reply ID 51062
The smoking thing is only a very small part. I feel pubs are gradually losing their quaintness, character and many of the things that made them unique, different and very English. Many seem to have all the ambience of a department store or an airport bar, however smart, or however many olde worlde trinkets have been purchased from Pub Paraphenalia.com and glued to carefully aged shelves. All a little too sterile, controlled and regulated.
Reply ID 51063
Amazed, I find myself agreeing with Shunt! The Six Templars has about as much character Delia Smith in a deep sleep.
Reply ID 51064
quote:Damn! I must be losing my abrasive edge.[:o)]
Originally posted by Victor Meldrew
Amazed, I find myself agreeing with Shunt! The Six Templars has about as much character Delia Smith in a deep sleep.
Reply ID 51081
I don't smoke, but I know exactly what people mean about it giving a pub an 'atmosphere'. I'd rather go to a dark pub with atmosphere than a new, sterile pub. When I think of dark cosy smoky pubs this poem always pops into my head (apologies for two poems in one day - must be the sun. Normal service will soon be resumed): I hope there's a place, way up in the sky, Where I can go, when I have to die. A place where a guy can get a cold beer For a friend or a comrade whose memory is dear. A place where no Health & Safety can tread, And a scribbly-type would not be caught dead! Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke, Where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke! The kind of a place where a lady could go, And feel safe and secure by the men she would know. (Adapted from a poem read out at somebody's funeral).
Reply ID 51157
Dobbin is doing his 'bit' on the front page of the East Herts Herald. http://www.herald24.co.uk/content/herald/default/default.aspx
Reply ID 51165
quote:I totally agree. For me, its the menus. The same stuff, pub after pub. Jackets, baguettes, paninis, nachos and wedges. All frozen for freshness!
Originally posted by shunt
The smoking thing is only a very small part. I feel pubs are gradually losing their quaintness, character and many of the things that made them unique, different and very English. Many seem to have all the ambience of a department store or an airport bar, however smart, or however many olde worlde trinkets have been purchased from Pub Paraphenalia.com and glued to carefully aged shelves. All a little too sterile, controlled and regulated.
Reply ID 51181
quote:What happened to a good old bag of crisps with a pickled egg in? [:)]
Originally posted by Dude I totally agree. For me, its the menus. The same stuff, pub after pub. Jackets, baguettes, paninis, nachos and wedges. All frozen for freshness!
Reply ID 51182
**** the pc brigade, 007 loves a pub with a bowl of pickled onions or roast potatoes on the bar.
Reply ID 51221
quote:I tell you what James a pub i use to go in on a Sunday used to put the roast tatties on the bar, then somebody (PC Bridage) moaned that you may catch germs from unwashed hands so they stopped it.
Originally posted by James007
**** the pc brigade, 007 loves a pub with a bowl of pickled onions or roast potatoes on the bar.
Reply ID 51279
quote:Are the Police now monitoring public health matters?
Originally posted by hertford born and bredquote:I tell you what James a pub i use to go in on a Sunday used to put the roast tatties on the bar, then somebody (PC Bridage) moaned that you may catch germs from unwashed hands so they stopped it.
Originally posted by James007
**** the pc brigade, 007 loves a pub with a bowl of pickled onions or roast potatoes on the bar.
Reply ID 51384
Still some great pubs in Hertford and surrounding villages, serving great beers with fantastic grub who seem to thrive. So why can some pubs make it and some fail? I don't think no-smoking and taxing goods with inelastic demand can be fully blamed. Some tenants need to look closer to home for why they haven't adapted to survive rather than blame it on the things that appear to make it not their fault. Last Sunday the White Horse was serving a superb Venison in a home made red wine sauce and the smell alone was heavenly. There is always a good selection of well managed beer, with a good turnaround on availability suggesting the barrels are selling, which appears to be backed up as the pub (with its unique charms) is regularly busy. I have found that the Farmers Boy at Brickendon is regularly fully booked for food and serves fresh, local produce and always with a great selection of ales on tap. The Timothy Taylor Landlord being a particular favourite. The tables at the Prince of Wales at Hertingfordbury are also regularly full and the food is good quality and value - you can tell the roast meats are fresh from their carved texture unlike poor quality frozen joints. On the other-hand in the past six-months I have experienced pubs with tenants under pressure who have had to tap into savings to pay bills; who serve low quality food and wonder why repeat trade is down or non-existent when some quality control in the kitchen would supplement their wet sales and who have been seen to vent their frustration on regular punters who then vote with their feet. Competition is tough but when you don't try to compete for the punter's hard-earned cash then there is no-one to blame but yourself.
Reply ID 51391
Welcome Woody...good first post !
Reply ID 51432
quote:Thank you.
Originally posted by Frenchie
Welcome Woody...good first post !