Market Tavern

[doglover]

We had a drink in the Market Tavern the other night and a very nice pint it was. I really was quite impressed with the pub as whoever owns it has really tried and thought about the punters to encourage them in. There are comfortable seats and pleasant cosy decor but the only complaint I have are the toilets which are painted brown and really could have done with a total overhaul, but all in all as I say they are trying to encourage people in so I hope they can get some support from the locals as we are losing our pubs as we speak. For instance the Bank Top is finished the Landlord and Landlady are leaving and as far as I know there is no one to replace them. What a shame the breweries are killing off the decent tenants.

[Brian Cross]

The last time i was in the Bank Top it was areal *hit hole couldn't wait to get out ........so i can understand it closing..

[Merlin]

some years ago I lost at pool in a championship final held at the Bank Top. Never been back since! Though at the time it seemed a very nice pub. As for the Market Tavern, haven't had the chance to go in yet to see the difference made by the new tenants.

[doglover]

hello Brian, You are probably a younger generation person so I can understand what your saying regarding the decor of the Bank Top but me being of the older sort I was talking about the beer which pubs usually sell. It was a free house and sold some nice ale.

[Merlin]

Doglover(That name brings some conutations to mind,never mind that's for later) you have a valid point there, in my day you went to pubs because of the quality of the beer! You always had the crack with the lads 'Ya not drinking at such an such the beers lifting'.

You would even put up with bad attitude from the landlord/lady for a cracking pint.

Two examples of such:-

The Shaky(The Shakespeare Tavern, GuidePost) A !*!@# hole but the beer and crack was second to none!

The Queens Head(GuidePost) Nelly Oliver formerly of The Blue Bell( Bedlington) THE most obnoxious landlady in the history of landladies but you still went there because she could keep beer on par if not better than The Shaky!

Nowadays it's not the beer but which pub is in vogue at that minute. In my opinion no landlord/lady gives a damn about the quality of their beer and are more concerned with being the IN place!

I can tell some stories about my run in's with Nellie, and an especially good one when Bill her husband was alive and Landlord. Happy memories

[mercuryg]

We had a drink in the Market Tavern the other night and a very nice pint it was. I really was quite impressed with the pub as whoever owns it has really tried and thought about the punters to encourage them in. .....

Good to see some positive comments about local pubs, as these are places that should be supported by us all. The Tavern is still owned by Punch Taverns, as it has been for many years, and it is they who have put some effort into upgrading the facilities, although it is mainly cosmetic. The licensee is the same lady who has the Monkey, believe it or not.

Punch have always intended for the Tavern to become very much food orientated; the last tenants resisted this on the grounds that there was not enough sustainable custom. Anyone with any sense can see they were right - there isn't enough sustainable custom. Punch's area manager has insisted for years that the plavce was not capitalising enough on the 'trade from Tesco's' without noticing that the majority of people who shop at Tesco's park their cars out the back, fill the trolley, load the car and go home. If Punch continues with its insistence that the Tavern become a full on food bar it will not last long.

Having said that, I went in for Sunday dinner last week and it was very good indeed; quite how long they can afford to keep it on is another matter.

[Brian Cross]

hello Brian, You are probably a younger generation person so I can understand what your saying regarding the decor of the Bank Top but me being of the older sort I was talking about the beer which pubs usually sell. It was a free house and sold some nice ale.

Hi Doglover Believe me i am not of the younger generation but the atmosphere in the bank top was bad ........

[doglover]

Hello Merlin About the conotations of my name I just can't decipher what you could possibly mean. Please enlighten me. Hello Brian I do get the message regarding the Bank Top as not liking the atmosphere but when I went I deliberately chose the nights when it wasn't so rowdy and have certainly heard some good patter and good atmosphere. but never mind it looks like this will be no more. It just seems a shame that we are losing so many pubs.

[Denzel]

I gather The Market Tavern feature up-and-coming troubadours at the weekend, where hip-kids like Hamburger Pimp hang out, plimsolls tapping away to the beat.

[threegee]

Things looking rather bleak for Punch Taverns!

http://online.wsj.co...303-712110.html

The downgrades raise concerns over Punch's creditworthiness as a bond issuer and make access to new funding more difficult, at least in the short term, even as it seeks to dramatically restructure its heavy debt load ahead of an internal review on March 22. Punch declined to comment on the downgrades or their implications.

Chief Executive Ian Dyson took on a "comprehensive review" of the group's operating performance, capital structure and strategy when he joined last September.

Punch, one of the U.K.'s largest pub groups, is under intense pressure from investors to cut its debt liabilities of more than GBP3 billion. That debt grew chiefly as a result of acquisitions made over three years ago--before the credit crisis set in--including the GBP2.7 billion purchase of Spirit Group.

Punch, which is also set to release a trading update March 10, announced fiscal-year losses of GBP160 million in October, hit by a GBP218 million writedown on the value of its pub estate, and said it had earmarked 1,300 leased pubs for sale to raise cash. Punch's leased division, Punch Partnerships, comprises the bulk of the company's estate with 5,967 pubs nationwide, while the managed division, Punch Pub Company, totals 803 pubs.

Its shares have plummeted more than 95% since May 2007 when they stood at a 10-year high of 1398 pence. At 1638 GMT Thursday, Punch Taverns shares were up 1.5%, or 1 penny, at 67 pence, valuing the company at GBP431 million.

[Brian Cross]

Hello Merlin About the conotations of my name I just can't decipher what you could possibly mean. Please enlighten me. Hello Brian I do get the message regarding the Bank Top as not liking the atmosphere but when I went I deliberately chose the nights when it wasn't so rowdy and have certainly heard some good patter and good atmosphere. but never mind it looks like this will be no more. It just seems a shame that we are losing so many pubs.

My cousin Albert Gibbon had the bank top a long time ago it was a good pub then and we all had some good times .

[P.A.W.S.]

When wor bairn ran the Bank Top, customer numbers rose and the atmosphere was good. Sadly, every time they began to make some profit, the brewery upped the rent and refused to support any refurbishment. Since they left, it ain't been the same.