Tuesday 4 January 2022
Saturday 24 July 2021
The Tin Shed, Formby
The Tin Shed in Formby village |
It is in a former shop on Brows Lane in Formby village. It is pleasantly decorated with woodchip and wood planks on one wall, perhaps to suit the name 'shed', and with some outdoor seating to the front. We were made very welcome by Jack who runs the pub, and we found there was generally a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.Thirst things first: there are four handpumps with a changing range of real ales. When we called in, the choice was Wily Fox Dublin' Up Stout, Black Lodge Pale Ale, Wily Fox Citra Golden, and an unfined Blonde ale. Roland and I tried them all and we were happy to find they were well looked after and enjoyable.
Other drinks included Shed Head and Poretti lagers, Fiery Fox 6.5% cider and Somersby keg cider. Also available are gluten-free and alcohol-free options, plus spirits, wines and coffee. You can buy two large wines and a cheesebox for £20, but otherwise there's no food other than snacks such as crisps; however, you can take your own food in as long as you're buying the beer.
Your canine pal is welcome, there is free WiFi, and there is a TV which was on for the sport for part of our visit, but after a while was switched off.
All in all, Roland and I had a great afternoon catching up over some good beers in a great bar that is definitely a welcome addition to the Formby real ale scene.
The
Tin Shed is at 60
Brows Lane, Formby, L37 4ED, less than ten minutes' walk from Formby
Station and near the main bus routes. Their phone number is 01704
808220 and they are on Facebook and Instagram. Opening times are 2pm
to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 2pm to 9pm on Sunday.
► This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
Tuesday 29 June 2021
The Beer Den in Crossens
The recently-opened Beer Den in Crossens |
Converted from a shop, the single roomed bar is attractively decorated with a wood panel effect up to waist level and the bar in the far corner. Rick Parker and Debbie were on hand to welcome everyone through the door, and very soon there was a happy buzz of conversation among the many customers who turned out.
Both branches of the Beer Den (the first is nearer the town centre on Duke Street) are run by the Parker Brewery based in Banks. There were three handpumps serving two Parker beers, Saxon Red Ale and Viking Blonde, and a guest beer from Bury's Deeply Vale Brewery, Optimum Best Bitter. Our group found all the real ales to be in excellent condition.
Goose Eye Midway Session IPA, Lowenbrau and Camden Hells Lager were available on tap, and other drinks included the usual spirits, with some specialist gins, wine and a choice of bottled beers in the fridge.
It is good to see a micropub open in a residential area not previously served by any pubs and bars at all. Drinkers in Crossens have previously had to travel to Marshside, Churchtown or even the town centre for a sociable drink and a chat outside the home with friends and family - or even people you don't yet know, as happened to me on opening day.
The Beer Den is at 125 Rufford Road in Crossens; opening hours are:
Monday: Closed
Tues-Thurs: 4-10pm
Fri & Sat: 2-10pm
Sunday: 2-9pm
You
can find it on Facebook and the brewery's website is here.
If you get hungry after a few drinks, there is a takeaway next door.
► This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
Saturday 3 April 2021
Are COVID-19 passports the answer for pubs?
As we approach the reopening of pubs on 12 April for outside service, a late complication has been thrown into the mix with the suggestion that pubs and bars may choose to operate a COVID-19 passport policy so that customers could show that they'd had either a vaccination or a negative test. As the possibility of COVID passports has been discussed for months, I don't see why the government is raising the matter only now - so soon before reopening.
Pubs need more notice to help them plan staffing levels and how much drink to order, especially after a year of lockdowns. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has calculated that up to 87 million pints of beer - equivalent to £331m in sales - will have been thrown away in the UK as a result of COVID lockdowns.If pubs operate a passport policy, whether voluntary or mandatory, they would have to pay for a bouncer on the door to check passports before admitting people. Many pubs, smaller ones in particular, would struggle to pay for the extra staff member, especially after a year of lengthy closures interspersed with restricted trading due to COVID regulations.
The BBPA has expressed concern that passports will lead to confrontations between disappointed customers and staff. While this is distinctly possible, my view is that such incidents will be more likely if passports are voluntary because licensees will not be able to argue that they are simply enforcing the law.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: "It is crucial that visiting the pub and other parts of hospitality should not be subject to mandatory vaccination certification. It is simply unworkable, would cause conflict between staff and customers.”
Both
organisations have pointed to the millions spent by the sector on
ensuring a safe environment for customers and staff, and to the fact
that, when pubs could open, no surges in infections have been linked
to them.
CAMRA is opposed to vaccine passports because pubs
have suffered badly over the last twelve months and could do without
unnecessary restrictions. Furthermore, passports could prevent
younger drinkers going to pubs while they wait for the vaccine
rollout to reach their age group.
► This is word-for-word the article that I wrote for the CAMRA column in two local papers, the Southport Visiter and the Ormskirk Advertiser. The following is my own opinion which did not appear in the papers.
In relation to the idea of CV19 passports, I am frequently hearing claims, including from one member of my own CAMRA branch, that insisting on them before entry to pubs would be a form of discrimination. This use of the term 'discrimination' usually refers to prejudice in thought or action against people for irrational reasons such as skin colour, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and so on. A suggestion of discrimination is potentially a serious accusation which needs to be examined.
I am a committed equality and diversity person and in my last job, there was a time when I was simultaneously an equal opportunities trainer for my employer and an equality and diversity spokesperson for my trade union. I cannot see how any licensed premises that did refuse admission because the customer didn't have a passport would be guilty of any breach of discrimination laws, no more than if admission was refused on, say, dress code grounds. If introduced now it would, for example, certainly prevent younger drinkers from being able to enter pubs, but not because of irrational prejudice, but as a health & safety measure to try to combat a pandemic that has so far killed 2,840,000 people worldwide. Measures to combat disease are not irrational, so to insist upon them cannot be described as discrimination, even they do disadvantage certain sectors of the population.
That is my view on the principle, but there are a number of practicalities that would have to be addressed before a passport scheme could be implemented:
• The potential for confrontation when people are refused admission must not be underestimated.
• Confrontations would be more likely if the scheme were voluntary because licensees could not argue that a passport was required by law.
• Some pubs would struggle to meet the cost of an extra member of staff on the door to check passports before letting people in.
• Timing: when would be the best time to implement a passport scheme to ensure that as few people as possible were disadvantaged?
• How do we deal with those who cannot have the vaccine for genuine medical reasons? (In my view, this doesn't include a dislike of needles)
• Any new CV19 variants against which existing vaccines were inadequate would instantly make the passport scheme pointless.
• We would need adequate measures to prevent forged passports.
• Far from encouraging confidence in pub-going, the scheme may well deter some drinkers from returning to the pub.
I've not heard of any surges in infections that have been linked to pubs and bars. Indeed, every one I visited during the gaps in lockdowns was very conscientious in administering and enforcing the official guidance, so we have to question whether the cost, effort and practical difficulties involved in such a scheme would be worthwhile. Although I don't have a problem with the principle of CV19 passports, I consider that the difficulties I've referred to and the potential consequences render the idea a non-starter.
Thursday 18 March 2021
Harassment down the pub
The Old Ship today - closed down |
The staff should have stopped the verbal harassment, but as they hadn't, I decided to go and have a word with the women myself. I told them that we weren't all like those idiots and I hoped that their behaviour hadn't put them off returning, although in reality I didn't expect they'd ever come back after what had gone on. When I'd chatted to them for a few minutes, I stood up and said I'd leave them in peace and return to my own group, at which point one of them said, "Can we join you?" I was surprised but said yes. I strolled down the pub, past the table with the sexist idiots, followed by the three young women.
They sat with us until the pub closed, were very pleasant company and left with us to go to a late bar we were heading for. I've sometimes wondered how the idiots interpreted what they had witnessed: me walking over to a table, chatting to three very young women, walking back with them all in tow and finally leaving the pub with them.
Unfortunately at the late bar, the bouncer refused to admit them because of their age. In vain I argued that they were part of our group, and so I ended up apologising to the women that they weren't allowed to go in with us; they took the disappointment in their stride - perhaps it had happened before. We didn't see them again, but I hadn't expected to anyway.
It would be good to be able to say that such bad behaviour is much less likely to happen nowadays, but I really doubt there has been significant change in the intervening decades.
Sunday 21 February 2021
Hospitality: no further room for mistakes
I've been told the pandemic may have already killed off the Belvedere in Liverpool |
Thursday 11 February 2021
Pubs with no beer? You cannot be serious!
It
is rumoured that as lockdown eases, the government may allow pubs and
bars to reopen without the 10.00 pm curfew and with no requirement to
have a substantial meal. This all sounds quite hopeful - until you
hear that they are also considering banning any alcohol sales.The fine frontage of the Crown
on Lime Street, Liverpool
The chief medical officer Chris Whitty is concerned that drinking alcohol will destroy any attempts to maintain social distancing. This is not a scientific judgment: it is simply an opinion, and it's not one that is borne out by my own experiences last summer. Every pub I went into observed all the rules and required their customers to do the same. Sometimes I forgot and more than once I was ordered by bar staff: “Oi, Neville! Go back and sanitise your hands!”
If
pubs can't serve alcohol, there is a greater danger of the virus
spreading in unsupervised conditions such as when groups of friends
gather in one house, not for a party as such, but just to have a few
drinks from supermarkets. Such behaviour will continue if reopened
pubs can sell only non-alcohol drinks: very few regular pubgoers will
return just for tea, coffee and soft drinks.
Kate Nicholls,
Chief Executive of UKHospitality, tweeted: “Reopening in name only
inflicts irreparable damage on hospitality as we saw October to
December with restrictions with little meaningful impact on health or
harm, pushing revenues as low as 20% to 30%. Unsustainable for
restaurants and pubs.”
She explained how pub and bar operators had taken meticulous measures to reopen safely last summer, and how few cases of COVID-19 infections had been caused by the industry. She emphasised that, operating under such extreme limitations, the pubs and hospitality industry did not break even.
While there is always the occasional idiot on either side of the bar who will selfishly break any rule that gets in the way, when pubs reopened last year I saw no chaotic scenes of drunken abandonment, and neither did anyone else I know. This industry's problem during the pandemic is that decisions are being made about its future by politicians who know nothing about it because they never go into pubs themselves, except for photo opportunities at election time. That simply isn't good enough.
Monday 11 January 2021
CAMRA - coping manfully with the 20th century
From Viz magazine: I have occasionally heard such sentiments - supposedly made in jest. |
I have belonged to a number of organisations, campaigns and political parties over the years and CAMRA is the only one that still uses such old-fashioned terminology. When I became a union rep in 1984, my union had scrapped gender-specific terms years earlier and - believe it or not - the world didn't implode. There are three main reasons why I feel that change is long overdue:
- Use of terms such as 'chairman' reinforces the stereotype of CAMRA as a lads' drinking club rather than a campaign to represent all real ale drinkers, an image problem that has discouraged some people, mostly but not exclusively women, from joining. Such a stereotype also has the effect of diminishing any influence we may hope to have. Viz magazine had a cartoon strip that mercilessly took the mickey out of real ale drinkers, and if we're being honest, we real ale drinkers have all met people who resembled the Viz caricatures.
- Gender-specific terms are on the decline in general, with terms such as police officer, fire fighter and seafarer increasingly becoming the norm. There are women in the acting profession who prefer the term 'actors' to 'actresses'. Some gender-specific terms have become completely obsolete, such as baxter for a female baker and brewster for a female brewer; I have seen one or two beer writers pretentiously, but pointlessly, using the latter term, but they really are swimming against the tide.
- Whether you agree or not, it is a fact that some people find such terminology irritating, or worse. For a mass membership organisation, discouraging potential supporters by using outdated language really is an own goal, one that is both wholly unnecessary and very easy to prevent.
- The use of the term 'the crown' in reference to our head of state: as far as I know, the queen has never been heard to say, "I'm not a piece of jewelry".
- The Crown Prosecution Service will take you to court in the queen's name and not on behalf of an expensive trinket, and the Netflix series 'The Crown' is not a multipart documentary about royal jewelry.
- Magistrates are routinely referred to as 'the bench', and yet you don't hear them complain, "I'm not a piece of furniture!"
A genuine commitment to equality and diversity has to include the language we employ. Clinging on to outdated terms simply reinforces stereotypical attitudes, especially among our detractors. We are foolish to give them ammunition, while at the same time discouraging people who might otherwise support us.
In CAMRA's 50th anniversary year, surely it's about time the organisation took a decisive step forward into the 1980s.
Tuesday 22 December 2020
Pub closures – an ongoing misfortune
The closed down Old Ship |
First is the Old Ship on Eastbank Street, Southport. I discovered this pub at a time when I was helping run a folk song club that had become homeless. A friend who worked at the brewery (Tetley Walker) arranged for us to use the function room which became our club's home for several years. I began to go there at other times and made many friends there.
The manager Charlie Oliver was popular and was known for his well-kept Walkers ales. Bikers liked the pub, which had a great rock juke box. I remember Meatloaf was blasting out with “I'll do anything for love but I won't do that”. One biker at the bar asked, “What won't he do for love?” His mate replied, “Lose weight.”
On another occasion, a young man was being obnoxious. When Charlie politely asked him to leave, he began to argue, at which five bikers simply stood up. He then decided discretion was the better part of valour and hurriedly left.
The Falstaff after its last short-lived refurbishment |
Regrettably
both of these pubs
have been closed and boarded up for some time, two of the 13,600 pubs
that have closed in the UK since 2000. People walking past them now just see boarded up buildings, and most will be unaware that they used to be thriving community pubs, focal points for people to meet, have a few drinks and enjoy each other's company.
I'm sure most pubgoers realise that pub closures will accelerate as a result of the current pandemic. Our towns and cities will have more boarded up pubs to be sold for change of use or redevelopment. The government seems intent on doing the bare minimum to help - what's been offered has been wholly inadequate - and indeed seems to be opting for tier restrictions that are doing more harm than good. I'm not convinced that this is entirely due to their habitual incompetence - I suspect that there may be a hidden agenda, as I wrote here in September - but either way, the vaccine rollout will come too late to save thousands of pub from closure.
Thursday 10 December 2020
Support pubs for the long-term good
Many pubs were already struggling pre-CV19 such as Southport's Old Ship |
I, and many others, have explained the social value of pubs both before and during the pandemic, but there are also good pragmatic reasons for supporting the hospitality industry through the current problems. The licensees of most pubs are tenants running their own individual businesses in premises rented from a pub company; the days of pub managers employed by the brewery are largely in the past. If a licensee goes bankrupt, the pub's owners can advertise for another tenant, or they may decide to sell the building for redevelopment. Nowadays, a pub on a prime site can be worth much more to the owners closed and sold than open and operating, and if that happens, the business and the employment it provides is lost permanently.
It's consequently very worrying that we are in danger of losing many of our treasured locals because of the pandemic restrictions. If whole swathes of the hospitality industry do disappear permanently, the rise in long-term unemployment will be considerable. Unemployment doesn't come cheap.
In this situation, it makes more sense to help those businesses and jobs survive now and preserve as much of the hospitality industry's infrastructure as possible rather than having to pay for a huge increase in unemployment benefits for many years to come. Now is the time for our government to take the long view, but what's on offer at present is no more than crocodile tears and sympathy. Unfortunately, as we have a clueless government that believes to be 'oven ready' means taking a year or more to achieve absolutely nothing, I'm not optimistic.
► Many pubs were already struggling even before the pandemic, such as my one-time local, the Old Ship in Southport town centre, which had already closed when the pandemic struck.
Saturday 5 December 2020
Monday 23 November 2020
Roscoe Head, classic Liverpool pub, saved
The Roscoe Head in Liverpool is one of only five pubs to have been in every issue of the CAMRA
Good Beer Guide, and the only one in the North. Opened in 1870, this unspoilt pub consists of a main bar, two small rooms and a tiny snug. As there is no jukebox or fruit machine, conversation, good beer and a warm welcome are what you get.
Despite its obvious attractions and the success of the business, this pub has been at risk for many years with the owners charging inflated prices for supplying a limited choice of drinks, unreasonable rent, and plans to redevelop the site. The licensee, Carol Ross who took over the running of the pub in 1997 from her mother, has campaigned for many years for a fair deal for pub licensees in general, and for the Roscoe Head in particular.
All her exhausting and stressful hard work has finally paid off: the pub's owners have just agreed to sell her the freehold. This classic pub is a popular destination across Merseyside, not just for real ale drinkers, but for anyone who likes to enjoy a drink with friends in a relaxed, friendly and welcoming environment. This sale ensures that the Roscoe Head will provide just that for generations to come.
Carol had a special word for the pub's supporters: ”I want to say a very special big thank you to all my Roscoe Head family of supporters who have continued to fight this battle with me for over 10 years.”
CAMRA Liverpool & Districts branch announced: “We were just as surprised as everyone else but this is absolutely tremendous news and of great significance. Carol has managed to prise this CAMRA award winning pub from her Pubco owner New River Retail who are renowned for converting pubs into retail and residential units.”Carol at the front of a demonstration
in support of the Roscoe Head in 2015
With our unique heritage of British locals in even more danger than usual because of the pandemic, such good news makes an encouraging change.
The
Roscoe Head is on Roscoe Street, Liverpool L1 2SX, less than 10
minutes' walk from Central Station, just around the corner from
Liverpool's iconic Bombed Out Church. Do pay it a visit when you can.
Website.
► This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
Saturday 14 November 2020
New micropub for Southport
Some
good news for a change! Parker Brewery has just been given planning
permission to convert a former shop at 125 Rufford Road, Southport,
into a new micropub. The brewery already runs the popular Beer Den
which opened just over two years ago on Duke Street, Southport. Work
has only just begun on the new pub, and it will be run in a similar
way to its older sibling serving
local cask ales, wines, fizz, spirits and coffee.The first Beer Den
Parker Brewery is in Banks, just north of Southport, and it produces both traditional and modern ales in casks and bottles. The new Beer Den (as it will also be called) will sell the brewery's real ales alongside local guest ales. This micropub will be a welcome development in Crossens, a beer desert at present, with thirsty drinkers currently having to trek either to the Shrimper or to the pubs in Churchtown. I'll let you know the opening date when it becomes available.
► This is taken from an article that I wrote for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser.
Thursday 29 October 2020
Mass pub extinction imminent
It is bad news that the pubs in Lancashire and Merseyside have been forcibly closed, even though similar businesses like restaurants are allowed to stay open. This is despite the fact that pub licensees have done everything asked of them to make their venues COVID-secure. It feels as though pubs are being made a scapegoat for the pandemic.
In my last job, some colleagues used to be amazed that I would go out at weekends into Southport town centre or, on occasion, into Liverpool. 'You'd never catch me doing that,' they'd say. They seemed to think the town centre at weekends was like something out of an old Wild West movie. I wasted my breath stating that I always felt safe and rarely saw any trouble much beyond an occasional argument.
I feel that such misconceptions have made pubs and bars easy targets for government measures that are intended more to make a point to the populace than to control the virus. The leader of Pendle council said as much to the government official with whom he was discussing Tier 3 restrictions: the official agreed.
In other words, it looks as though pubs have been closed to teach us a lesson: CAMRA and other organisations have asked for the evidence that pubs are the cause of spreading the infection, but to date have received no reply.
CAMRA Chief Executive Tom Stainer said: “Even if pubs serving food can stay open, the restrictions will see an even bigger reduction in footfall and trade, making businesses unviable. The Government urgently needs to increase the financial support available to all pubs to help them pay staff wages, meet fixed costs and to make up for lost business.
“We also need a long-term support package for the beer and pubs industry covering not just the period of the Tier 3 restrictions, but also the weeks and months that follow as pubs and breweries try to get back on their feet.
“This
is a real sink or swim moment for local pubs and the breweries that
serve them – without proper support, we risk thousands of local businesses that are now under
additional restrictions not surviving beyond Christmas.”
► This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
Monday 19 October 2020
Tracks Of My Tiers
The Tier 3 restrictions that have been imposed upon Merseyside and Lancashire mean that drink-based pubs have now been closed for a second time this year, while food pubs can sell you drinks but only when you are having a meal. Some pubs are now offering takeaway and delivery services. Local CAMRA members have been telling me which pubs and breweries in our area that are doing this.
The Grasshopper, 70 Sandon Road, Southport. Delivery every day of real ales, ciders and wine. Order via Facebook. Tel: 01704 569794.
The Tap & Bottles, 19A Cambridge Walks, Southport, are doing beer deliveries. Order via Facebook. Tel: 01704 544322.
The Beer Den 65/67 Duke Street, Southport. Takeaways on Thursday to Saturday, plus deliveries. See their Facebook page. Tel: 01704 329007.
The Parker Brewery, Unit 3, Gravel Lane, Banks, Southport say “anyone interested in takeaways or deliveries, get in touch”. Tel: 01704 620718.
The Rock the Boat Brewery, 6 Little Crosby Village. L23 4TS are doing takeaways. Tel: 07727 959356.
The Dog & Gun, 233 Long Lane Aughton, L39 5BU. Takeaway real ale, cider and food. Tel: 01695 421999
The Beer Station, 3 Victoria Buildings, Victoria Road, Formby, have said they intend to instal two extra fridges for bottled beer takeaway. Tel: 01704 807450.
The Cricketers, 24 Chapel Street, Ormskirk, is doing a food and drink takeaway service. Tel: 01695 571123
Cheshire Lines, King Street, Southport, say, “Sunday delivery service so get your roast & cask orders in by messaging us, calling 07787 406 504 or phoning 01704 807710 on Sunday”.
I've tried to ensure these details are correct. If any other local pubs and breweries are doing deliveries or takeaways, tell the local branch of CAMRA via the contact details on the CAMRA Southport & West Lancs website for inclusion in a future column in the local papers.
► You can order on-line from other beer businesses using CAMRA's Brew2You website which aims to support pubs and breweries through these difficult times. This site connects you with local businesses selling great beer, and perhaps other drinks too. Your money will be paid in full to the businesses concerned, with only 5% admin fee to cover costs, thereby making this service completely free to the businesses using it.
► This is adapted from an article that I wrote for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.
Monday 12 October 2020
Death by a thousand cuts
My own experience as a regular pubgoer is that pubs are taking their responsibilities for the health and safety of their staff and customers very seriously: they have to because they do not want their businesses to be closed down. The restrictions currently in place have significantly changed the experience of going to the pub, and have also reduced the numbers of people they can take in.
Most pubs are small, individual businesses that are not supported by the pub company that owns the building. Unlike in the past when most pubs were run by breweries who had a salaried manager on site, nowadays the pub is a stand-alone business with the licensee renting the premises from the owning company. The success or failure of these businesses rests entirely upon the licensee. If a pub fails, the owning company simply has a valuable piece of property to sell for redevelopment, while the licensee loses everything.
One pub landlady told me a few days ago that she is slowly going bankrupt during the current restrictions; another enforced pub closure will only speed up that process. Hospitality accounts for a huge amount of employment in our economy, and pubs provide a valuable antidote to isolation, especially nowadays when the number of single-occupied households is at its highest ever.
Closing pubs is an easy fix for a government that wishes to show that it is 'doing something'. It is not enough to do something: it is essential to do the right thing, especially when thousands of small businesses and jobs are at stake.
Monday 28 September 2020
10pm pub closure - stupidity or hidden agenda?
The shape of things to come? |
Like most places, Southport where I live has a range of establishments where you can buy alcohol for consumption on the premises, such as pubs, bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants and micropubs. Their closing times are correspondingly varied from 10.00 p.m. to well after midnight. As a result, the times when people are leaving are automatically staggered over several hours.
Now we have the situation that all venues have to stop serving at 9.30 p.m. and be closed by 10.00 p.m. My first thought was that throwing everyone out on the streets at precisely the same time when previously they would have left in dribs and drabs over several hours was the height of uninformed stupidity, and if anything is likely to spread the virus. I heard on the news earlier today that Greene King have made a similar point, suggesting that many drinkers head straight for supermarkets to buy supplies to continue drinking at home with their friends, which would also help spread the virus.
But then I began to wonder whether it is stupidity, or is there another motive at work here? If this particular restriction does cause an upsurge, I am certain that the government will blame the pubs and not their own rules. They will then have the perfect excuse to close pubs down altogether. The question is: why would they want to do that?
I have long held the view that the Establishment in this country, supported by much of the media, does not like ordinary people gathering in large numbers. This has applied throughout history: for example, Peterloo, Chartists, suffragettes, the general strike, the miners' strike all led to vicious overreactions and clampdowns by the state. It is noticeable that certain sections of the Establishment and the media will always condemn any collective action such as a strike, regardless of the cause and how peacefully it is conducted - ordinary people acting together is anathema to them. I have been going on demonstrations since the 1970s, and I have never seen any trouble. However, you might have a couple of dozen hotheads on a demonstration of hundreds of thousands, and guess who the attention will invariably be focussed on?
What does all this have to do with pubs? Every day, in every town and city, thousands will go out for a drink in an environment that involves alcohol, and this spontaneous gathering of ordinary people is unwelcome in certain quarters, because it cannot easily be controlled. The fact that the vast majority of pub-goers are simply socialising and enjoying themselves is irrelevant to the mindset that I am describing.
What other evidence is there for hostility to pubs?
- Beer tax in the UK is among the highest in Europe.
- Business rates are set at unrealistically high levels.
- There isn't much protection for tenants of predatory pub-owning companies. The minimal safeguards that do exist were grudgingly granted after the strenuous representations by pubcos resulted in the dilution of the measures to near worthlessness.
- Alcohol in supermarkets is a fraction of the price of that in pubs.
- 'Trouble' involving pubs is always given disproportionate prominence in the media.
Concerning the last bullet point: pre-CV19, I'd go out for a pint between four and seven times per week, rarely less, and it is quite literally decades since I have seen anything worse than the occasional argument. However, the repeated drip-drip reporting of pubs as dangerous places can put people off going to them. In my last job, some of my colleagues were amazed that I went into town every weekend: "You wouldn't catch me doing that!" is the kind of thing I tended to hear, and my argument that I never saw any trouble was disregarded.
This CV19 measure looks likely to cause precisely what we are told it is intended to prevent. If pubs are blamed for an upsurge and are consequently completely closed down again, many will never reopen. I believe that some people in the Establishment would welcome that; in their eyes, the more people supping supermarket drink at home rather than gathered in groups, the better. Some politicians like to be seen in a pub quaffing a pint, usually with a big head*, to show that they are 'men of the people', and they usually are men. This is all just for show. If after CV19 we have lost whole swathes of our pubs, bars and clubs, some will be mentally punching the air and shouting, "Result!"
I also believe that, if they could get away with it, they'd have everyone watching sports, football especially, on subscription channels at home rather than in stadia.
Would they deliberately provoke an upsurge by this 10.00 p.m. rule? I wouldn't put it past a government that wanted the virus to sweep through the population, regardless of the number of casualties, to achieve the unproved aim of herd immunity. There was a report in the press, later denied, that an unidentified individual (although I can guess who) in a government meeting about the virus said it wouldn't matter very much if old people in care homes died of the virus, and it is a fact that for several months those homes received almost no help despite high mortality rates. So yes, I do believe they are callous enough to provoke an upsurge, blame it on pubs and close them down again.
Even if you disagree with my opinion, this point remains: because this measure is seriously flawed, either they are stupid, or they have an agenda which, if you reject my speculation, is what?
I'd just finished writing this post when I noticed in the news today: Covid: Manchester mayor calls for 'urgent review' of 10pm closures
* I mean the pint rather than the politician.
Monday 7 September 2020
CAMRA Southport & West Lancs awards 2020
West Lancs
• Pub of the Year is Tap Room No 12 (formerly the Hop Inn Bier Shoppe) at 12 Burscough Steet in Ormskirk. Formerly a shop, it was converted into a single-roomed bar, and the wooden panels and genuine pub furniture successfully recreate the atmosphere of a traditional pub room. There's a choice of real ale, as you'd expect, but they can also sell you 20+ gins as well as craft and continental beers.
• Cider Pub of the Year is the Court Leet on Wheatsheaf Walk, just off Burscough Street in Ormskirk. This JD Wetherspoons pub is much more modern than the customary house style of the pub group with large windows and a bright and airy interior. The pub is on two levels with an open air balcony on the first floor overlooking the Ormskirk skyline.
North Merseyside
• Pub of the Year is the Guest House, Union Street, Southport. The impressive exterior is half timbered, and inside the walls are wood-panelled. It is mostly unaltered with three separate rooms, a drinking area around the bar and an outdoor drinking area to the rear. It regularly sells up to 11 real ales.
• Cider Pub of the Year is the Grasshopper, Sandon Road, Hillside. In addition to a good selection of real ales, this two-roomed micropub has the widest choice of ciders in the area. There are tables to the front where you can sit and enjoy the sunshine – when we get any.
Club of the Year
Formby Golf Club in Cricket Path, Formby. This club has recently been celebrating the return to playing cricket after the lockdown. With a comfortable club house serving real ale, what better way to enjoy what has been described as the King of Sports?
► This is one of a series of articles that I write for the CAMRA column in our local papers, the Southport Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser. Older articles on local pubs are here.