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[Monsta®]

Some may need to be worried, but i can only see this turning into good things.

Other pubs will have to up their game a little now, the usual standards just won't fly anymore.

The Wharton, in my opinion, can only benifit from this, and i can see the Blue Bell getting a little more trade as the cold sets in.

It may not bring more people to the town (although, i think it will!) but it will bring people up the west end again.

It'll be interesting to see which landlords use this to their advantage, and which just sit back and hope for the best.

how can you say that!

its like asda selling a crate of beer for 16.99 and tesco selling the same one for a tenner! where do you think people will go?

people might decend on the other pubs, but only after there tanked up!

[Malcolm Robinson]

Mr D,

The thing which gets me is no one seems to be allowing for the clientele the Red Lion will be trying to attract now. These are not the 'get wasted ASAP on a pub crawl', if that was the case there would be blearing music, alcopop offers and flashing lights all over. Look at the clientele Wetherspoons pitches at, these are not people who will have a pint or two in every pub up and down the Street as was the fashion years ago.

I think your point about how other licenced premises can change and adapt to try and maximise any potential spin off benefits is valid and exactly what they should be thinking of.

Eatery's as well need to be thinking about how they will respond.

[Mr Darn]

Mr D,

The thing which gets me is no one seems to be allowing for the clientele the Red Lion will be trying to attract now. These are not the 'get wasted ASAP on a pub crawl', if that was the case there would be blearing music, alcopop offers and flashing lights all over. Look at the clientele Wetherspoons pitches at, these are not people who will have a pint or two in every pub up and down the Street as was the fashion years ago.

just because they are trying to attract a certain type, does not mean thats what they'll get.

I've had the privilidge of working all over britain, and sampled many of Wetherspoons establesments.

In these, i never seen a crowd that would stay there all night. Most of what i observed consisted of people meeting there, in a quiet arena, catching up ofer 2-3 drinks then once the alcohol took effect, they would move on in search of entertainment. Pool and Music to be exact.

Later, they would return with the last of their money for a cheep last drink or 2, before home or the late bars.

Between the hours of 8.30 and 10 on a friday and saturday, the crowd would peter out to a handfull by 9.15, then start filling up again at 9.30. This was common all over, wherever i went, including Ashington and Whitley Bay.

Of course this is just what i've noticed, where i've been, but it seemed pretty consistant.

[crimsonwizard]

i hope they do food

Bout time we had another decent place to eat and have a beer in bedlington

if you want a good place to eat try eats and treats to go lush

[Merlin]

You work there like!

[mercuryg]

Sorry Mercuryg,

But I think the other landlords should be worried, Wetherspoons have built up a good reputation of serving good beers and food at reasonable prices, not to mention the 07:00 opening for breakfast as well as the curry clubs etc. All the talk around Bedlington is everyone can't wait for it to open, and its about time some of the other more established places had more competition.

You may have some points, but I drink in Bedlington regularly (perhaps too regularly!) in a variety of pubs, and while you're right there is interest in Wetherspoons opening, I would say that most of it is more of 'well I'll pop in and see what it's all about' than a welcoming and eager anticipation. The 7am opening is a complete red herring; as i said before that's great where you have a major bus/rail station and a regular number of people passing, with time to wait for their connection and a need for a bacon sandwich, but in bedlington at 7am you have a stream of cars heading out of town and a handful of people crammed into the bus shelter; there is no business for them at 7am, it's a needless expense and one that, as economics determine, they will soon knock on the head as they have more business sense than that. I like the idea of curry clubs and such, but again it's worth remembering that many pubs in Bedlington have tried such ventures over the years - to a t, each one has failed miserably through lack of interest.

Malcolm also raises an interesting point about the clientele, and it's one that the non-Wetherspoons initiated seem to be ignorant about; in one bar I drink in on Bedlington front street there is a regular afternoon crowd of half a dozen who are, as you say, eager for it to open. The lure of cheap beer is something that fits their needs. What they don't realise is that the language they use and the attitude that prevails will have them kicked out within a day, as Wetherspoons is known for not tolerating bad language or behaviour and proferring a 'family atmosphere'. I simply can't see where that angle of clientele is going to come from. The landlady in the bar I mention is fully expecting those few regular afternnon drinkers to flock to the Red Lion when it opens; she is also fully expecting them to be back in her place pretty quickly when they find they are not the sort of people that Wetherspoons wants.

Will I be going in? Of course I will; however, call me old fashioned, but I prefer to support the local landlords who have been providing me with good, honest enjoyable service for all these years rather than give my money to a major corporation that is interested only in a quick buck.

[Cympil]

For those people on here who don`t use FB, here are the photo`s of the inside view of Red Lion Wetherspoons, taken from their FB page.

[Monsta®]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm Shabby Sheek!

[mercuryg]

Nicely designed so that there's little room for standing at the bar, I note. Not a good move. Looks pretty, though. Bit too much like a restaurant for me.

[Monsta®]

Nicely designed so that there's little room for standing at the bar, I note. Not a good move. Looks pretty, though. Bit too much like a restaurant for me.

good point i can imagine friday saturday nights, the amount of drunk people stubbling over those ill placed tables and chairs!

[mercuryg]

good point i can imagine friday saturday nights, the amount of drunk people stubbling over those ill placed tables and chairs!

Someone told me yesterday that there is a no standing at the bar policy in wetherspoons bars. Apparently they want you to sit in a little enclosed booth or at a table. That's me going somewhere else, then.

[Mr Darn]

The policy is in place, but rarely enforced in my experience.

[mercuryg]

The policy is in place, but rarely enforced in my experience.

I think that, with that little space between the bar and the tables, it is automatically enforced, Mr Darn. This from someone who even moves bar stools away from the bar because they get in the bloody way!

Edited November 9, 2010 by mercuryg

[Merlin]

I wouldn't like to be sitting at those tables if the place was even only half full, can you imagine the hassle of people keep bumping into the backs of the chairs trying to get to the bar! Or even trying to get to the bar and squeezing through the tables and chairs. It's not even open yet and some 'drunk' has already left his coat behind!

[tomtom]

The photographs make the pub look great - the type of place that my family and I look forward to drinking in. At long last we are going to have somewhere nice to sit instead of having to travel out of Bedlington for our enjoyment. Every Wetherspoon pub I have visited up and down the country has been very welcoming and to agree with Mercuryg tends to attract a certain type of discerning customer.

[mercuryg]

The photographs make the pub look great - the type of place that my family and I look forward to drinking in. At long last we are going to have somewhere nice to sit instead of having to travel out of Bedlington for our enjoyment. Every Wetherspoon pub I have visited up and down the country has been very welcoming and to agree with Mercuryg tends to attract a certain type of discerning customer.

It is an inviting place for the family, without a doubt, and for that it should be commended. The problem there lies in the fact it is not families that keep pubs alive, it's people who go out to drink.

As for 'discerning' customers, those that I know are planning to make it their new watering hole are all people who I'll be quite happy not to have to meet, and not the type for a family oriented bar. I mean, would YOU want to drink with mr Darn??????!!!!!!

[Hillbilly]

Well ladies and gents... I guess time will tell after the crack the seal on Tuesday.

While we are all entitled to our views, I'd just like to make the observation that Wetherspoons is a VERY successful business and I am sure they have some very clever people who have spent a long time deliberating over this investment, which must have been significant.

They must be convinced the demographics work and they must be confident that the numbers stack up otherwise lets face it, I am sure there are 1000 other run down pubs across the land that they could have pumped their cash into.

I say good look to them and if the place ends up as a family type pub/ bar... so be it!

I for one will be sampling their grub and beer my earliest possible convenience!

[Claire]

Well ladies and gents... I guess time will tell after the crack the seal on Tuesday.

While we are all entitled to our views, I'd just like to make the observation that Wetherspoons is a VERY successful business and I am sure they have some very clever people who have spent a long time deliberating over this investment, which must have been significant.

They must be convinced the demographics work and they must be confident that the numbers stack up otherwise lets face it, I am sure there are 1000 other run down pubs across the land that they could have pumped their cash into.

I say good look to them and if the place ends up as a family type pub/ bar... so be it!

I for one will be sampling their grub and beer my earliest possible convenience!

Well said. They'll have my custom

[Merlin]

Well ladies and gents... I guess time will tell after the crack the seal on Tuesday. While we are all entitled to our views, I'd just like to make the observation that Wetherspoons is a VERY successful business and I am sure they have some very clever people who have spent a long time deliberating over this investment, which must have been significant. They must be convinced the demographics work and they must be confident that the numbers stack up otherwise lets face it, I am sure there are 1000 other run down pubs across the land that they could have pumped their cash into.I say good look to them and if the place ends up as a family type pub/ bar... so be it! I for one will be sampling their grub and beer my earliest possible convenience!

I am sure they have some very clever people who have spent a long time deliberating over this investment, which must have been significant.

Hillbilly, they are so very clever and they must have deliberated a long time with Bedlington in their thoughts, they must have really done their home work on Bedlington, I mean they invited that MP bloke to open the place. And you will never believe this, but I was yukked off their facebook page for telling them so,and for pointing them in the direction of a few FACTS about said Muppet. There were also quite a few others had posts removed for telling them the same thing, hard to believe that eh! So yes I agree that they are very clever people. On saying that everyone is allowed one mistake, I hope this is the last one they make. Good luck to them and their up coming adventure!

[Mr Darn]

I mean, would YOU want to drink with mr Darn??????!!!!!!

(".)

Capital M please!!!

[mercuryg]

I am sure they have some very clever people who have spent a long time deliberating over this investment, which must have been significant.

They must be convinced the demographics work and they must be confident that the numbers stack up otherwise lets face it, I am sure there are 1000 other run down pubs across the land that they could have pumped their cash into.

I agree, they have made a considerable investment and I am not knocking that at all; The Red Lion is a local icon that should be open, and should be a pub, but I just don't see where the Wetherspoons 'type' of customer is going to come from. I also have to say that doesn't point to much of their 'research' being 'clever' at all, but to the opportunity to buy a valuable building at a good price. Wetherspoons, like many other pub chains, treats pubs not as places where people go to spend money but, more to the point, as concrete assets; what they now have is a building that, with new fixtures and fittings and a complete make over, holds a much higher market value than it did six months ago. Furthermore, an open pub is worth more than a closed one. If the trade doesn't come they won't continue to waste money on paying staff, and nor will they sit back and say 'well we put x hundred thousand into this so we can't stop now' they will, like any good business, cut their losses and sell up. They do it all the time, at many of the 1000 other run down pubs they have pumped their money into.

At one local establishment last night I talked to a group of younger lads, all good drinkers, who were on about the impending opening of the bar; they all, to a man, said they would be going in for a look, but were unlikely to stay or make it a regular place because they come out, in the week, to play pool, and at the weekend they want something that is not, and I quote, geared towards 'old gadgies'. I give the place a year, at best.

[tomtom]

What a sad person you must be Mercuryg - can't you be a little more positive about the future success of The Red Lion. I really find your comments about 'old gadgies' frequenting the place somewhat offensive and I'm sure that lots of other folk will be agrieved.

[Malcolm Robinson]

I think the Red Lion will be a success, might have to quantify that and say an eventual success. I think Wetherspoons have deep enough pockets to get through what is going to be very hard times over the next few years and they may even face a rationalisation of their core costs, in other word staffing costs, but I think they are tilting at one of the most resilient markets within their sector.

I firmly believe that it will impact onto other establishments and even just considering the wider economic picture locally that would happen with or without an upgraded Red Lion. That has been happening for the last few years anyway, putting a piranha into the goldfish bowel will result in disappearing goldfish!

[mercuryg]

What a sad person you must be Mercuryg - can't you be a little more positive about the future success of The Red Lion. I really find your comments about 'old gadgies' frequenting the place somewhat offensive and I'm sure that lots of other folk will be agrieved.

I'm far from sad, but I am someone who likes a pub to be a pub. I respect Wetherspoons for making a go at it with the Lion as, as I've made quite clear, it should be a pub, and it was being left to rot. I have no problem with the concept of the 'family oriented pub' but don't see why I should come on here and declare it will b a massive success when that's not what I believe; as I've made quite clear, I simply don't see where the business is coming from. I've also said that I will be going in, because my views are based on market forces, the way pubs are in the town at the moment and my experience of other Wetherspoons establishments. I cannot understand the attitude of people saying 'They've got my custom' or vice versa without actually having tried it, that makes no sense.

I doubt 'other folk' will be aggrieved at the comment about 'old gadgies' because, as I clearly pointed out, it was a quote from a younger 'gadgie' among a group who I happened to be talking to last night; personally, I don't think the place will be full of 'old gadgies', but that's clearly the opinion of many of a generation younger than me. These lads, by the way, used to drink in the Lion years ago, when I did, and we had many a good night in there. Clearly, they are accepting that it's not really going to be to their taste. so what hope is there for the Lion?

I may be wrong; many people on here believe that a Wetherspoons is 'what the town needs'. I may find that it is packed every day. I doubt it. People won't start coming out in the evenings again just because there's a Wetherspoons in town. Nobody other than those who already do will begin drinking in teh day, and most of those frequent the clubs and will not go to Wetherspoons. There is no passing trade, and no waiting trade - this isn't Ashington, with it's bus terminus, or Newcastle. So where is all the business coming from?

I'm sorry that me not being all positive is not to your liking, but there is also one other aspect of all this that I find difficult to accept. I drink in a selection of pubs on the front street that are run by landlords and landladies who have, for many years, provided me with great service and are trying to keep their head above water. They pay high rents, high prices, and now along comes a company that can afford a failure looking to play the lead in the market. What happened to supporting local businesses? Are all the people on here who are gagging to go to Wetherspoons regular pub-goers, like me (really, if you drink in Bedlington, you will know me)? Or are they just being enticed by the prospect of a new kid in town? I suspect the latter, and that most will go in for a lookie, and then head down to Tesco's for 15 cans of lager at a bargain price.

[Merlin]

Well said Merc!

I was talking to an old mate in Asda last night who frequents Wetherspoons in Ashington his run down of the week went something like this:

Monday (His words not mine) Drunkards day because that is the day they reduce the beer prices!

Tuesday Steak club

Wednesday normal day

Thursday Curry club, a selection of 11 curries

Fri, Sat money making days

Sun Sunday lunch

He says all meals are made to order and the cost is about £4.99 which includes a pint. Also that he got gammon steak 2 eggs an' chips £2.99. Needless to say he loves the place!

I will be one of those who goes for a 'lookie',but I get the feeling that it will not be a pub that I could sit in all night!

Forgot to add he says they have a panic button under the counter to summon police if things get out of hand or the old gadgies kick off

Edited November 12, 2010 by Merlin