Falstaff's second refurbishment in 18 months

The Sir John Falstaff - to reopen soon

This is a strange bit of local pub news. The Falstaff on King Street, Southport, has been closed for refurbishment and will soon reopen as the Sir John Falstaff. The odd thing is that it reopened 16 or 17 months ago after a major refurbishment that cost £325,000. What went wrong?

Before I answer that: this pub was once my local, and at that time was very busy, but in recent years it has not done well. I went in a couple of times after last year's refurbishment, but wasn't impressed, as I wrote here. When it reopened, it had advertised itself as a sports bar. I think this is a mistake: there is no shortage of pubs showing sports in the area, but I'm fairly certain that there are not enough pub-going sports fans to fill them all. Besides, the Sandgrounder sports bar on Lord Street is five minutes' walk away, with much cheaper beer to boot. In addition, the Sir Henry Segrave, a JDW pub, is a similar distance, with a much better range of beers. With those two pubs nearby, real ale drinkers are unlikely to go out of their way for a very ordinary beer such as Brains Reverend James, which was the only real ale on offer when I called in. Having said that, there obviously wasn't enough to draw in other drinkers either, because the place never seemed busy when I passed by.

The new management have stated that they are going to serve both craft beers and cask ales, mentioning local breweries such as Southport and Burscough, and 'a great selection of gins'. They are also advertising 'artisan pizza' and to that end have installed a new pizza oven. Sports will now be shown in just one half of the pub, with the remaining space available for those of us who aren't sports fans; the pub is certainly big enough to cope with such a division.

It reopens on 16 December. I'll certainly give it another chance, and I hope it does well, but it is not easy for a pub to claw back lost custom.

Here is the report in the Southport Visiter.

Not number one in my book

As I wrote last August, I don't have a high opinion of TripAdvisor, but I looked at it today as I was curious to find out how it ranks the pubs in Southport. I was quite surprised to see at number one the Falstaff in King Street. This pub had a £325,000 revamp last year, but when I went in on a Monday evening shortly after it had reopened, I was unimpressed, because the landlady had decided close the pub at 10.00 pm. I heard she was replaced shortly afterwards.

On Thursday last week I agreed to meet a friend there for the open mike night; I also thought it would be a chance to see what the pub is like now. I arrived at about 8.45 pm to find I was the only customer. Other than the staff, the only other person was setting up the PA system, which struck me as odd because the open mike was scheduled to begin at 8.00 pm. I saw only one advert for it, an A4 notice on the bar; if it's going to take off, it will need rather more publicity than that.

Two handpumps, but only one in operation serving Brain's Rev James. There was nothing wrong with the condition of the beer, but it's hardly an interesting offering. I had a look around at the refurbishment. The Falstaff is a long pub and down the middle they have installed a solid barrier made of rough-hewn planks, separating the drinking area by the bar, which is to the rear of the pub, from the front area. I think it looks awful, and it creates an unnecessary visual obstruction. A wooden banister rail with spindles would have been preferable.

My friend arrived at around nine and we had a drink together. Shortly after, two more customers arrived. There was clearly going to be no open mike (I was glad I hadn't brought my guitar along), the place was dead and the beer unremarkable, so my friend and I went to the busy Sir Henry Segrave, a JDW house around the corner, where we had a choice of ten real ales.

Looking at the reviews on TripAdvisor from January onwards, I noticed that they were all talking about the food; none referred to drinks, except in passing. That's all well and good, but it's not what I go to a pub for. I regret to say that in my estimation, the Falstaff remains nothing special for the real ale drinker. I say 'regret' sincerely because many years ago this was my local and I really used to like the place.

The early bird doesn't catch the punter

I wrote on 4 July that the Falstaff in King Street was reopening after an extensive refurbishment. This pub was my local for a while, so I was interested to see what had been done. On Monday, a friend and I went in at 9.45pm to have a look. There were only two or three other customers in, and as we approached the bar, the barman said, "You're just in time."
"For what?" I asked.
"The landlady wants to close the pub at ten tonight."
I replied: "I'm not drinking somewhere with stupid opening hours", and walked out. We went across the road to the Cheshire Lines, which was buzzing with a couple of reasonable beers on.

I heard yesterday that the manager had been dismissed - after just two weeks - because the pub wasn't making enough money. If she's been closing it on a whim, I'm not surprised.

It was not the early closing that irritated me; after all some micropubs have early closing times, such as the Barrel House in Birkdale and the Liverpool Pigeon in Crosby. The difference is that these are their scheduled times. Closing early than the normal closing time is usually the sign of a pub that is on the way out, not one that has just reopened after a £325,000 revamp. Anyone arriving during normal pub hours to find it shut is unlikely to bother trying again: there is, after all, no shortage of other real ale pubs nearby.

Let's hope the replacement licensee is more on the ball.

I didn't get much of a chance to look at the refurbishment, but here is how the Southport Visiter reported the opening.

Pubs - something old, something new ...

An old photo of the Falstaff

The Falstaff on King Street in Southport was once a great pub. It used to have up to 10 real ales, provided good, reasonably-priced meals and was the original venue for the singaround that now takes place in the Guest House on the first Monday of the month. It went into a slow decline after its licensee, Gail, left to take over the Guest House about 14 years ago. There was a brief interlude when the pub revived under a dynamic young licensee, Adrian Davies, but he was dismissed at short notice by the pubco; Adrian told me he didn't really understand why. It has in recent years advertised itself as an LGBT pub, but I've no idea how well that has gone. The last time I called in a couple of years ago, there were at most half a dozen customers and no real ale. It is a large, single-roomed pub, having expanded some time ago into neighbouring shops, and needs a lot of customers not to appear depressingly empty.

I was pleased to see Inglenook Inns & Taverns, who have taken it over, announce a £325,000 revamp. Inglenook runs the Thatch & Thistle that I wrote positively about recently. According to one of our local papers, the interior will be redesigned to include a coffee lounge, a raised dining area, booths and a zone suitable for larger parties. If as a result of these plans the large expanses are broken up, that would definitely be an improvement. The paper wrongly asserts that food will be provided for the first time: nonsense - the Falstaff used to have a good reputation for its food. It has a large terrace to the front which is great on a summer's day; we had acoustic song sessions there a couple of times. I'm hoping all this revives a pub that I used to regard as my local.

Also in the news are plans for a new micropub in a former shop in Sandon Road near Hillside Station, a couple of stops from Southport on the Liverpool line. The plans include limited opening hours (Monday to Friday 4pm to 9.30pm, and midday to 9.30pm at weekends), no hot food and no music. They haven't got permission yet, but the application is recommended for approval. Hillside is badly served for pubs: there's only The Crown on Liverpool Road. Interestingly, there's also an application to convert a shop into a café bar just around the corner in Hillside Road; if that is approved too, as is recommended, the number of licensed outlets in the area will triple.

This will be the fourth micropub in Southport - I wrote about the others in April. It is interesting that these are opening while some big old pubs in residential areas are suffering and closing, which all suggests less that going to the pub is a declining activity, and more that what people want from pubs is changing.

Falstaff reopens

The Falstaff in King Street is reopening after a short closure following the departure of Adrian Davies. Adrian was forced out by the pub company who saw that he had built up the trade from a very low starting point. The previous licensees had run the pub into the ground, despite it being a very successful operation when Gail Heyes (now at the Guest House) had left it a few years earlier. I don't know why Adrian, the licensee with the highest profile in Southport, was made to leave, but pub companies move in mysterious ways.

The new licensee is Mick Kershaw, who also runs the Ring O' Bells in Lathom and the Martin Inn in Burscough. This seems to be another example of the increasing trend for licensees to run more than one pub. The Falstaff reopens on Monday 21st (tomorrow) with an Elvis-themed night. I might pop in for a while to check what beers are on before moving on to the music session in the Guest House in Union Street.

Southport Jazz Festival

The Southport Jazz Festival takes place from 27th to 30th May in various venues around the town centre. The festival seems smaller than last year, probably due to the recession. Disappointingly, unlike last year, hardly any events take place in real ale venues ~ in fact only two, in the Falstaff on King Street: a jazz quiz on Thursday evening, and the Original Guinness Jazz Band on Saturday from 9.30pm, both free. There are several other free events on the fringe around the town during the festival, and the headline events are in the Prince of Wales Hotel this year, as the Arts Centre is closed for refurbishment.

You can click in this link for the festival programme.

Falstaff runs out of beer ~ again

The Falstaff won a CAMRA award at this year’s Southport Beer Festival for the most innovative licensee. In many respects this award is deserved, as licensee Adrian Davies has certainly been innovative in attracting customers to his pub by hosting drama, rock bands, and the heats for the Southport’s Got Talent competition. The problem is that, as the award is a CAMRA one, there has to be real ale involved.

At the Falstaff on Saturday night when local rock band Fag Ash Lil was performing, there was only Wells Bombardier on offer (normally the range includes beers like Theakston’s Bitter and Deuchars IPA), and this ran out during the course of the evening. To my certain knowledge, this is the third time that the Falstaff has run out of real ale in the last couple of months.

I regret having to write this, as Adrian is a likeable person, but real ale drinkers aren't inclined visit a pub that has a reputation for running out of real beer. This pub has to decide whether it wants to be a serious real ale contender in Southport or not. If it does, then the first step must be to ensure that real ale is available at all times. The next step may well be to consider more interesting beers:  a predictable PubCo range isn’t going to excite knowledgeable real ale drinkers, especially when a revitalised Wetherspoons just yards away is selling a bigger and more imaginative range at significantly lower prices. But the main thing is that a pub with a CAMRA award has to sell real ale, or otherwise give up any hopes of being taken seriously.

Fag Ash Lil at the Falstaff

Local rock band Fag Ash Lil are playing a gig at the Falstaff, King Street, Southport this weekend. If you fancy a bit of classic rock with a touch of blues and, as the mighty Lil tells us, "Too many influences to quote and we play a variety of styles all under the 'rock' umbrella", the Falstaff is the place to be on Saturday 14th November.  Fag Ash Lil never give anything less than a great show, which will begin at 9.00 PM.

The Falstaff sells real ales of the Theakstons and Bombadier variety.

Southport's Always Had Talent

The Falstaff pub, a taxi firm and our local free sheet are running a "Southport's Got Talent" competition. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, except I do wonder why we have to mimic a TV show before people realise that there is plenty of home-grown talent all around us.

There are two chances for local acoustic singers and musicians to perform in the next few days. On Monday 2nd November, there is a singaround in the Guest House in Union Street from around 8.00 pm. The Guest House has the best range of real ale of any pub in Southport, with up to 10 beers on at any time. Gail sometimes provides snacks; chip butties last time.

On Wednesday 4th, the Mason's on Anchor Street (behind the main post office on Lord Street) is the venue for a singaround, which also begins around 8-ish.  The pub likes to provide supper for all present. The Mason's is the only pub in Southport that serves Robinson's beers.

These singarounds are free and open to all, and performing is not compulsory; just sit and listen if you like. However, if you do want to sing and it's your first time, don't be nervous as it's all very informal: we just go around the room, rather than have a stage area.  The music is completely unplugged ~ no amplification at all.  Free local talent (don't take that the wrong way!) and good beer in comfortable, friendly pubs.  What else do you want for nothing?

The picture is The Guitar Player by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1672.

Beer festival success ~ but where next year?

The Southport beer festival ended on Saturday night practically sold out. Contrary to the Southport Drinker’s predictions, it did not consist solely of lone males morosely sipping solitary pints. There were plenty of young women around for the (I thought happily married) SD to gaze upon. Selling out was a vast improvement on 2008 when some perfectly good beer had to be poured away, the result of a beer festival in the Fylde clashing with ours.

The Southport Brewery’s Golden Sands was voted beer of the festival by the customers. This is yet another award for an excellent local beer.

Our local MP, John Pugh, who is himself a lover of real ale, came along on Thursday to present the CAMRA Branch awards.

Pubs of excellence: Guest House, Union Street; Baron’s Bar, Lord Street; Derby Arms, Aughton; Queens Head, Ormskirk; Sir Henry Segrave, Lord Street.
Best country pub: Ship, Haskayne.
Best community pub: Volunteer, Eastbank Street.
Most innovative licensee: Adrian Davies, Falstaff, King Street.

The big question now is where the next year’s festival will be held, seeing that the Arts Centre is going to be closed for a ridiculous two and a half years by our philistine local council, who are unable to see the damage that completely closing down our town’s cultural facilities for such a long period of time will cause. But the local CAMRA Branch is determined that the festival will go ahead.

No more live music at the Falstaff

I mentioned a few days ago that the Falstaff does little to advertise its music nights, except to bury a mention of a band in an incredibly detailed newspaper advert, but no adverts in the pub or on its website. I've learned recently that the pub has decided to stop putting on live bands. It's a pity, but I'm not surprised really.

Real Ale & Real Music

When I began this blog, I assumed that venues with both cask beer & real music in this area would be rather more common than in fact they are. Locally the Fox & Goose is an well-established rock venue, but it hasn't served real ale for many years; it used to serve Castle Eden, if I remember correctly. Our venue for big music events, the Southport Theatre (where I have seen Marvin Gaye, Kim Wilde, Hall & Oates and Black Sabbath, although not on the same bill) has never sold decent beer.

The Arts Centre occasionally puts on a cask of Southport beer for a big folk event, but mostly relies on bottled ales. It used to serve real Higson's many years ago, but strangely had both the cask and keg versions next to each other with the keg 2p cheaper; the staff automatically reached for the keg pump unless the customer specified otherwise, and as you'd expect the real version soon disappeared. Apparently we CAMRA types were all to blame for not coming in en masse and drinking it; I replied that there were simply weren't enough CAMRA members to sustain every real ale outlet in the area.

The Falstaff does have real ale and sometimes has live bands on, but strangely doesn't advertise them in the pub or on its website, so finding out what's going on there is surprisingly difficult. They seem to rely solely on adverts in the local papers, but these adverts are so cluttered with various meal offers, quiz nights, the Campaign for Real Chips, Liz Dawn, and everything else that's going on that any mention of live bands is usually swamped. Adrian, the licensee, agreed weeks ago to send details of forthcoming music events to local CAMRA to go on their website and then on this blog, but nothing has appeared yet.

Incidentally, the Southport CAMRA website now has a 'what's on' page, derived in part from this blog. The website has recently been revamped and is looking a lot better, especially now that they have dispensed with the muddy brown colour scheme, apparently intended to resemble the colour of beer.

I have been asked why I don't mention the Maghull Folk Club. I always have a link to their website, and will mention their guest artists in my 'What's On' column, but the venue doesn't serve real ale. For information, they meet on Tuesdays mostly with singers nights (i.e. anyone is welcome to perform) with a PA if you want to use it; it is a very friendly club, and they have a booked guest singer about once every two months.

I do know there are music nights at the award-winning Derby Arms in Aughton, about which I wrote a couple of weeks ago (click here),and the folk nights at the Ship Inn in Haskayne have begun again. I hope to visit and write about these in the near future.

Falstaff and Golden Sands Mentioned at Westminster

In a debate at Westminster recently, Southport's MP, Dr John Pugh, mentioned the Falstaff Inn and the Southport Brewery's Golden Sands winning of the SIBA North West Champion Beer award. He was calling for the Government to take action over PubCos which are contributing to the large number of pub closures by their restrictive and - frankly - suicidal practices. Click here for a clip of what he said. For the full speech and a transcript, click here. It is good to see that our MP taking this matter seriously, especially as perusal of other beer blogs has convinced me that many MPs don't. But then, why should they bother when we taxpayers subsidise their booze?

Falstaff & other pub news

I went to the Falstaff last night as there was a CAMRA committee meeting there; I'm not on the committee, but they are open to all members. However, my first sight was a group of women for a night out from my old workplace. It was nice to say hello and have a quick chat.

The beers were Deuchars IPA, George Wright Mild and George Wright Cheeky Pheasant. I went for the Cheeky Pheasant, a 4.7% premium ale which for me has a good balance between the malt taste and the hoppy bitterness. I enjoyed this so much, that (as I usually do with a beer I particularly like), I stayed on it all evening. Other drinkers confirmed that the other cask beers were in good condition too.

I picked up the following bits of pub news at the meeting:

= The Oast House, 12-14 Stanley Street, is serving real ale again, probably Theakston's.

= Leo's Bar, 46-50 Nevill Street, is also serving real ale again, Black Sheep.

= The Eureka, 78 Halsall Lane, Ormskirk, is serving beers at £2 per pint on Wednesdays.

= The Heaton's Bridge, 2 Heaton Bridge Rd, Scarisbrick, is serving 2 guest beers: Black Sheep's Golden Sheep, and Boddington's cask.

The last two are long-established real ale outlets.

Falstaff ~ Meet the Brewer

Adrian Davies of the Falstaff in King Street is not afraid of the extravagant initiative to draw in customers, such as his demonstration down Lord Street as part of his Campaign for Real Chips. Another example, as the Southport Drinker has reported, is the theatre he will be putting on in the pub on 9th May; click on Theatre at the Falstaff.

On Thursday 14th May, he will hosting a Meet The Brewer event in the pub with Edward Theakston of Theakston's brewery, who will talk about Theakston's and the pub trade and will answer questions from the audience. He will be staying on for the regular Thursday night pub quiz. Whatever your views of Theakston's beers, this free event is likely to be interesting; it begins at 5.30 p.m.