Red Lion Restaurant

[Malcolm Robinson]

Monsta,

Are you old enough to actually go into such establishments?

[Monsta®]

Monsta,

Are you old enough to actually go into such establishments?

unless they've raised the drinking age to 35!

[mercuryg]

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

Used to? Have you seen the bell lately? It looks like a mistake in a varnish factory.

[Stephen Marshall]

http://econsultation.planningportal.gov.uk/econsul-client/public/ViewConsultation.do?id=6752

This is just a link to the approved plannig permition for the Red lion.

restaurant on the first floor, where the landlords flat used to be, and 3 retail units on the ground floor.

[Mr Darn]

Cant access anything usefull myself by clicking that link, it just brings up a consultation page. I guess you have to be a member?

[Stephen Marshall]

Cant access anything usefull myself by clicking that link, it just brings up a consultation page. I guess you have to be a member?

No you can see the plans to from that link. once you click the link or open it in a new tab, you then need to click on consultation documents and the top of the middle box.

[Mr Darn]

this is all i see:

is it there?

website.bmp

Edited March 18, 2010 by Mr Darn

[Malcolm Robinson]

Just put in the first 2 letters and 2 numbers of the local post code Mr D!

[Stephen Marshall]

sorry. I come up on my comp.

Just like Malcolm said, just Type in NE22

It's on page 3.

[BarLassofBedlington]

Although I don't live in Bedders anymore I'm always curious to know what is going on with the Red Lion as I worked there for about 3 years and it was my home as I used to stay there when the bosses were away. I am so disappointed that people are planning on changing it from a Pub into retail space??? I'm all for the restaurant upstairs, I think that is a fab idea but I think someone should be fighting to keep the downstairs as a pub and turn it back into a traditional pub with the quiz night on a thursday with the old spin the wheel, fridays 70's and 80's night, Saturday just a normal party night and maybe bring back the £1 a drink night on a tuesday minus the kids though. I know it's been de-licensed but it's not that hard for someone to get a license back as long as they prove that they are going to put measures in to ensure that it isn't going to be the same as before. that's what happened with the Blue Bell at one point. What it needs is a partnership of a few people, one to take on the upstairs and the other to take on downstairs and I am sure that it would work. Honestly if I had the money I would do it without a 2nd glance. What Bedlington needs is someone who is willing to put their heart and soul into something that will put the town back on the map but they can't do it single handed. The problem with the pubs is that they are all 2 faced. When I worked in the pubs all the owners/landlords/landladys said oh yes we need to do this and that and maybe we can bring some custom back to the town but people were trying and others were sitting back and letting others do the leg work. I tried to get something organised where all the pubs clubbed together and we had a weekend of live entertainment across all the pubs a couple of years ago but that went wrong because when it came to the crunch nobody wanted to risk spending money for it to fall flat on it's face but if you don't try then you don't know. I remember when we used to take 20K a week in the Red Lion and gone are those days because the owner messed the managers around then got some cow in who ran it to the ground and then he closed it, then JR took over it from Blyth and that went even more into the ground and destroyed it. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years time there's the Ridge Farm, The Wharton and the Barrington Arms left at the top end of Bedlington and that's it. It is such a shame with the Red Lion because it has been a pub for so many years and theres so much history behind the place, years ago when the pits were in Bedlington all the miners used to go there on a Friday night before they went home for the weekend and upstairs there were different coloured rooms with certain ladies of the night up there. The pub wasn't half as big then, it has since been extended but I just think that if only someone had made a proper go of it then it would still be there now.

RIP Red Lion

[Malcolm Robinson]

upstairs there were different coloured rooms with certain ladies of the night up there.

You sure they were upstairs BarLass?

[Denzel]

Restaurant? Pah.

[mercuryg]

BarLass (hello chick, long time no see!) - the problem isn't that nobody is doing anything, it's that times have changed, Bedlington has changed, and you can get a hundred cans of Stella for a tenner at Tesco's. Some geezer in the Wharton the other day was telling me how he and his mates don' go out, they just get a crate in and go to each others houses; I replied that I would rather go to the pub, at which point he declared I was in the minority. the thing is, i'm not: most would prefer to have a Friday/Saturday night out rather than sitting at home with eight cans and a block of cheese watching strictly come dancing, but they can't afford it. I'm single, with few overheads, I can just about afford it. If the Lion was to re-open as a pub it matters not how funky and attractive you make it, nobody will go in. People haven't stopped going out because the Lion shut, they were'nt going in there anyway. Yes , it's a shame given the history of the place, but it's a sign of the times. Strip away the loss leading beer at supermarkets, stop the breweries from charging inflated prices for beer, allow landlords to buy from wherever they want, and you will gradually resurrect the pubs.

PS - and bring back afternoons in the Bell watching Deal or No Deal.

Edited March 19, 2010 by mercuryg

[Monsta®]

it's a shame given the history of the place

what a dorty charv hole! with a punch ball in the corner! now thats history!

Strip away the loss leading beer at supermarkets, stop the breweries from charging inflated prices for beer, allow landlords to buy from wherever they want, and you will gradually resurrect the pubs.

doubt it even the clubs are suffering! its not just the price of beer its the smoking ban etc that doomed the pubs! as most alchies smoke, do the math stop at home and smoke your sell to death with a drink or freeze out side at an over priced pub!

[Mr Darn]

If you have a pub, where the rules say you clear away after yourself, and the landlady/lord smokes and is willing toi clean the area, should it not be up to the landlady/lord of that particular pub to say "this bar is smoking, this one is not.

That way those that like a smoke with a drink still can, and those of us that dont smoke, but dont mind being in a smokey room still can have a warm area in which to do just that?

I'm all for not forcing people to work in smokey conditions, but if the person responsible for these people are willing to do it themselves, then why not?

i'm sure, if you said £2.50 a pint in a non-smoking room, but £2.75 for one in the smokers end (to cover extra cleaning/ decoration) you may find people opting for the more expensive pint!

i know a good friend of mine does exactly that... stays in because he cant have a smoke with his pint. I'm regularly over his, in a smoke filled room, drinking beer and on the X-Box now for just that reason, and i dont smoke!

So who exactly is this regulation saving again?

[Malcolm Robinson]

As far as I can see the Gov are being typically hypercritical as per. They should have had the maracas to make tobacco into a class A drug and ban its use, if they really want to go down this road. Talk about mixed messages. Course the 8 odd billion a year income they get while spending 1.7 billion on smoking related health treatment might have something to do with it?

[Monsta®]

As far as I can see the Gov are being typically hypercritical as per. They should have had the maracas to make tobacco into a class A drug and ban its use, if they really want to go down this road. Talk about mixed messages. Course the 8 odd billion a year income they get while spending 1.7 billion on smoking related health treatment might have something to do with it?

even if they did ban tabacco people would still smoke, the only difference is the criminals would be cashing in not the goverment.

[mercuryg]

what a dorty charv hole! with a punch ball in the corner! now thats history!

Why am I not surprised that your sense of history goes back no more than five years?

doubt it even the clubs are suffering! its not just the price of beer its the smoking ban etc that doomed the pubs! as most alchies smoke, do the math stop at home and smoke your sell to death with a drink or freeze out side at an over priced pub!

Of course the clubs are suffering, as the price of beer in the supermarkets is cheaper - by far - than even they can muster. The smoking ban has, indeed, had an effect, but the downturn in people visiting pubs was eveident long before that. After all, more people - by a very wide margin - don't smoke than do.

[Monsta®]

Why am I not surprised that your sense of history goes back no more than five years?

Of course the clubs are suffering, as the price of beer in the supermarkets is cheaper - by far - than even they can muster. The smoking ban has, indeed, had an effect, but the downturn in people visiting pubs was eveident long before that. After all, more people - by a very wide margin - don't smoke than do.

thing is the people who don't smoke stay in cos there friends that do smoke don't want to go out and stand about in the lashing rain smoking! then the pubs become empty and every one else doesn't bother!

it was more than five years! it became a chav hole as soon as the palace shut! and it got its late licence! it was even stinking long before that, i can remember playing pool there on there uneven sticky board!

[Monsta®]

and another thing why do pubs need punch bags? are they trying to encourage violence?

[Pete]

Of course the clubs are suffering, as the price of beer in the supermarkets is cheaper - by far - than even they can muster. The smoking ban has, indeed, had an effect, but the downturn in people visiting pubs was eveident long before that. After all, more people - by a very wide margin - don't smoke than do.

I have never found any pleasure in sitting in home drinking a can of beer regardless of the cheap supermarket prices. I used to go to my local workingmen's club because I enjoyed the crack and could have a smoke with my pint, that stoped for me when this government brought in the smoking ban.

The only time I visit a pub or workingmen's club is when I visit Bedlington and have a drink with old friends other than that Gordon can shove his no smoking ban up his jacksee cos I will not be going back to pubs or clubs until there are ashtrays on the table and I can light up. Sorry for the rant but I know I am not on my own with this one.

[mercuryg]

I have never found any pleasure in sitting in home drinking a can of beer regardless of the cheap supermarket prices. I used to go to my local workingmen's club because I enjoyed the crack and could have a smoke with my pint, that stoped for me when this government brought in the smoking ban.

The only time I visit a pub or workingmen's club is when I visit Bedlington and have a drink with old friends other than that Gordon can shove his no smoking ban up his jacksee cos I will not be going back to pubs or clubs until there are ashtrays on the table and I can light up. Sorry for the rant but I know I am not on my own with this one.

Pete,

Understand your reticence entirely, but to be fair your boycott of pubs and clubs is not going to change the governmebts mind, and isn't helping the publicans, either. I was - and remain - utterly disgusted by the smoking ban, and i'm a non smoker, and while the ban is a contributory factor in teh decline of the pub, it is not the sole reason why people are not frequenting them. The major problem is the price of a pint, and the cheap booze in the supermarkets.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Merc,

I understand your points and the fact you want pubs to continue to be the hearts of their communities but I think there are issues other than those you have mentioned to consider. The gov had said they are going to change the terms landlords operate under in tied pubs to enable them to source more of their products at better prices. Will this change what we see happening in the declining pub trade? Probably not.

We have seen people become more insular in their personal lives for some time which seems strange as we are a gregarious animal by nature. Why has this happened, probably in an effort to maintain the illusion of middle class lifestyles where material possessions are what measures us as people. Personal debt piles have to be serviced and living costs have to be met which leaves little by way of disposable incomes to spend on nights out at the pub. That is probably going to get worse as interest rates rise! Factor in your point about pub products being too expensive and we can see the obvious effects.

Pubs are businesses in the first instance and have to operate within the confines of their sector averages. If they don't service what their punters want, be that price, decor, entertainment or whatever they loose out and all at a time of greater need in other areas of personal expenditure. Perm in the attack they face off the likes of supermarkets (super-aggressive-marketers) who have targeted their market and it looks like 'time is called gentlemen!' They are slap bang in the middle of a pernicious pincher movement economically.

There will be business models which survive this onslaught but there will be much less of them and we will end up having a pint in characterless plastic effigies where individuality is non existent!

[Mr Darn]

Who else can see a future where tobacco and alcohol are completly outlawed?

[Monsta®]

Who else can see a future where tobacco and alcohol are completly outlawed?

it wouldn't be the end of the world!