Red Lion Restaurant

[mercuryg]

Merc,

Not sure you can get a 'change of use' provisionally?

It's not change of use, Malcolm; since it shut it's not been used for anything else.

Mr Darn - who, in their right mind, who is in the trade would welcome another licensed premises?? You must be kidding, they want less competition, not more!

[Malcolm Robinson]

It's not change of use, Malcolm; since it shut it's not been used for anything else.

Merc,

I can see the sense in that but we are talking about planning...........

If the Lion was sold as de-licensed then it would follow it would need to be re-licensed to open up as a boozer, wouldn't that mean change of use etc....?

[Mr Darn]

Mr Darn - who, in their right mind, who is in the trade would welcome another licensed premises?? You must be kidding, they want less competition, not more!

Not at all!!

Most of the people i have spoke to who run the pubs in bedlington want it to return to the "Saturday Night" it used to be, with people traveling from the surrounding towns for a pub crawl.

A wetherspoons in that location would, in their opinion, kickstart this trend again. The only 2 that dont want it, are the Ridge Farm, and the Black Bull, for obvious reasons!

A cheep bar in that location *May* start the trends of either starting at the top and working the way down, or starting at the bottom and working your way up, so you take advantage of the cheeper drinks at either the begining of the night or the end, as you prefer.

The fact the bars in bedlington are closing one by one are leaving it a less and less attractive place for 'out of towners' to visit for a night out.

At the moment, if wetherspoons opened, you would have the crawl:

Red Lion - Wharton - Blue Bell - Movies/Community Center - Grapes - Northumberland - Barrington - Bull

(Or the other way round)

Which gets me my 8 pints i like to have on a night out. The re-addition of the Market Tavern, and perhaps a cheepie in one of the clubs gives a good choice of venues, as well as a few extra cheeky ones... Its a shame its died off as much.

I know when i have my monthly night out with the lads, Bedlington is Rarely on the list anymore, with trips to Newcastle, Morpeth or Ashington well before it on the list. And thats a shame!

[mercuryg]

Not at all!!

Most of the people i have spoke to who run the pubs in bedlington want it to return to the "Saturday Night" it used to be, with people traveling from the surrounding towns for a pub crawl.

A wetherspoons in that location would, in their opinion, kickstart this trend again.

Sorry mate, but I can't see it at all. People don;t travel to places like Bedlington for a wetherspoons, nd they never did; they came here because when the pubs closed they could hop in a taxi and go to the Palace for the rest of the night. There wouldn't be a kickstart from a cheap pub - it would simply draw custom away from the pubs that already exist, not bring more in from outside the town.

Wetherspoons is one of the problems facing the 'general' pub trade at the moment, not a bonus to it. Wetherspoons business operates by being able to buy up almost out of date stock from the breweries, and as it has such purchasing power and can take it in bulk they get a good price, hence you get a cheap pint. Along with the cut price beer in supermarkets this is what is killing the pub trade; the breweries now see pubs as property portfolios, rather than as pubs, so to speak.

The problem is not Saturday nights - the pubs turn over a fair bit on the weekends albeit, lik everywhere, nothing like they did ten years ago - but the midweek trade; there is very little to go around, and I can pretty much guarantee that 90% of people who drink in the afternoon rather than th evening would go to the wetherspoons, get their cheap beer, and go home. On Saturdays, more people wouldn't come out because of it, and if they did why go to the Grapes and pay £2.60 when you can get it in the Lion for £1.95?

Any publican in favour of a cheap pub at the Lion isn't making sense, and it's interesting that your claims of them being in favour are at direct odds with mine: the Grapes doesn't want it, the Wharton doesn't want it, and the new leaseholders of the Tavern don't want it.

[Mr Darn]

Thats not the conversations i've had. but thats the way it goes in pubs i've found.

You make a good point with the palace, and the Lion did try to fill that gap once it closed. Poorly tho. it was never a match.

[mercuryg]

Thats not the conversations i've had. but thats the way it goes in pubs i've found.

You make a good point with the palace, and the Lion did try to fill that gap once it closed. Poorly tho. it was never a match.

I'm not saying you're lying, but that not only does it seem illogical that, in a time of limited demand, publicans would be happy with a diluted supply, it is certainly at odds with the patrons of the three bars I currently drink in most of all.

The problem that Bedlington has is that it has always had an over-abundance of watering holes; we all get used to those we feel comfortable in, for whatever reason it may be. An example of the way the supply and demand sways can be seen in the current state of the Monkey; when the Tavern shut a good number of its regulars went down to the Monkey, the Tuesday night quiz switched there, the Thursday night buskers night too. Those two nights were traditionally pretty decent nights at the Tavern, and have continued to be so - albeit to a slightly lesser degree - at the Monkey. Likewise, many of those who went in the Tavern on Fridays and Saturdays have migrated there on those nights, too.

When the Tavern re-opens - which is imminently - it will immediately attract back the quiz night,, and the buskers night, and also revert to its usual friday and saturday format with bands and so on. As the new leaseholder is a Tavern regular, she's pretty much guaranteed her 'old faithful' back. The Monkey hence loses a lot of business.

Any dilution of the audience is unwanted.

[Mr Darn]

I was not suggesting for one minute that i thought you thought i was lying, just that conversations in pubs with either Barstaff or Licencees seem to sway the way the conversation is currently going rather than arguing a point they believe in.

I've seen it many times, as one group of people leaves and another arrives, their views seem to swing from left to right as nesessary.

[Monsta®]

Most of the people i have spoke to who run the pubs in bedlington want it to return to the "Saturday Night" it used to be, with people traveling from the surrounding towns for a pub crawl.

doubt it! people would start at wetherspoons and not leave! just like in ashington!

why would bedlington be a better place with a load of drunk people wondering up and down the front street? leave that for morpeth and the big market!

[Mr Darn]

doubt it! people would start at wetherspoons and not leave! just like in ashington!

Totally disagree.

There may be a small few who do, but when i've been in there theres always been a steady turnover.

You speaking from experience?

[Monsta®]

when i've been in there theres always been a steady turnover.

where they not just running to escape you! :lol:

[Malcolm Robinson]

I've seen it many times, as one group of people leaves and another arrives, their views seem to swing from left to right as nesessary.

It's called being a publican!

[Malcolm Robinson]

According to the Bedlington Forum meeting last night there are 2 schemes now with planning and whichever one the owner goes with, work should start July. Shops and offices or shops and restaurant.

Not a whisper of Wetherspoons!

[Monsta®]

According to the Bedlington Forum meeting last night there are 2 schemes now with planning and whichever one the owner goes with, work should start July. Shops and offices or shops and restaurant.

Not a whisper of Wetherspoons!

[mercuryg]

According to the Bedlington Forum meeting last night there are 2 schemes now with planning and whichever one the owner goes with, work should start July. Shops and offices or shops and restaurant.

Not a whisper of Wetherspoons!

That figures. I had heard, malcolm, that it had been relicensed, but I guess you are better versed in these things than me! I also wondered how that could be so when there was nobody in it, but hey.

The original plan was for shops and offices - would suit me, I need an office. Now, if they could just open a little bit of the bar, too.....

[Mr Darn]

where they not just running to escape you! :lol:

I now understand why parents smack children.

It's called being a publican!

Yup! it most certainly is.

I can honestly say i've done the same in my days behind a bar. it does all depend on the barperson though. I've seen others that argue the opposite end of the argument just for the argument! :D

[doglover]

Look, the pubs have got to sort thereselves out. Who in their right mind is going to come out of their nice comfortable warm cosy homes to sit in a cold un inviting atmosphere with scruffy toilets and floors and over inflated prices. There isn't many pubs apart from wine bars that the younger ones frequent only at weekends. There are no pubs that are nice enough where you can just congregate to either have a chat or a laugh. Also is there anywhere with entertainment other than karaoke in the pubs around bedlington. Of course the clubs but I mean pubs.

[mercuryg]

Look, the pubs have got to sort thereselves out. Who in their right mind is going to come out of their nice comfortable warm cosy homes to sit in a cold un inviting atmosphere with scruffy toilets and floors and over inflated prices. There isn't many pubs apart from wine bars that the younger ones frequent only at weekends. There are no pubs that are nice enough where you can just congregate to either have a chat or a laugh. Also is there anywhere with entertainment other than karaoke in the pubs around bedlington. Of course the clubs but I mean pubs.

When were you last in a pub in Bedlington?

I disagree that there are no pubs where you can 'congregate .....etc' - I, and many others, frequently do so in the Sun, the Grapes, the Tavern. What is it you want from a pub?

As for the inflated prices, this is a problem, but not one that the pubs can do much about. These are businesses, after all, not charities, and the problems with a tied house - that is one owned by and dictated from a brewery (every pub in Bedlington bar the Northumberland Arms) - the publican is held to set rent from the brewery as well as being contractually bound to buy their on tap beer from the brewery, and nobody else. This means that they have no leeway on prices - to make a profit they must charge the prices that are set by the supplier, there is no freedom of choice.

Also, where are these wine bars??

[doglover]

I did'nt mean wine bars in bedlington I meant wine bars in general pay attention please and yes I do go to pubs and I still stand by my opinion even if it isn't yours but I do understand about the pubs being tied but some pubs you can smell the toilets when you enter.

[mercuryg]

I did'nt mean wine bars in bedlington I meant wine bars in general pay attention please and yes I do go to pubs and I still stand by my opinion even if it isn't yours but I do understand about the pubs being tied but some pubs you can smell the toilets when you enter.

Oh, I agree with regard to the toilet situation, and think that's something that the publicans concerned need to attend to, but to state there is nowhere you can hang out and chat is simply not true. There are a number of pubs in Bedlington where I - and many others - are made to feel very welcome indeed, and I can't say in truth that i've found any to be anything less than welcoming of late.

As for the issue of tied pubs, it's not just 'some' it's all bar one. There is only one free house in Bedlington, and the rest are hampered - very much - by the brewery tariffs. Having worked in the trade I know how difficult it is to make a decent profit - for that read living - from the prices charged by the likes of Punch Taverns and so on, and am well aware that what I pay for apint is not far over what the publicans pay for it. There is nothing they can do.

I may be in a minority, but I view pubs not as a luxury, but as essential to a community. They are, or should be, the social hub of a town like hours.

[sian_bedlington]

Well the taverns re-opening thats a start :-D

[Andy Millne]

Well the taverns re-opening thats a start :-D

Details please. Is it open now?

[mercuryg]

Details please. Is it open now?

It's undergoing a redecoration phase at the moment, I believe. The current landlady of the Barrington (Monkey) has taken it on, and it should be openin soon.

[Monsta®]

It's undergoing a redecoration phase at the moment, I believe. The current landlady of the Barrington (Monkey) has taken it on, and it should be openin soon.

will they be using bleach to get rid of the toilet smell?

[mercuryg]

will they be using bleach to get rid of the toilet smell?

It will smell of paint.

[Monsta®]

It will smell of paint.

mmm the smell of paint and pi..... will it look like a changing rooms disaster like the bell used to?