mercuryg

I thought we knew the (lease) was up for sale??

Well said, couldn't agree more.

Right - that's the attitude! We're all for it! So what are you doing about it? Oh, wait, you're waiting for someone else to do it for you, aren't you? That's the problem these days - we have it all too easy, and people - like you, like me, ordinary, everyday people - get this attitude of 'they're all the same, it's not worth voting'. And then what are we left with? Something, someone, who somebody else voted for, who we complain about, who we want rid of. Tough - we didn't vote, we let this happen. Get off your !*!@# , stop waiting for others to do what needs to be done, and vote; it starts like this - if you don't like the way things are right now, you need to vote AGAINST the party in power. Get it? The revolution isn't going to happen thanks to somebody else.

But how is it a con? It's got a better potential return rate than the National Lottery. Is that a con? You're very bitter for some reason, merlin!

Not sure that it was in the deli but rather in the flat above the Post Office, which had quite clearly had it's door smashed in.

Somebody has swallowed a copy of The Communist Manifesto, me thinks.

That came in the middle of the cold spell when the dray couldn't get here. It was the same at the Tavern at that exact time. I'm pretty certain that all Punch bars are metered with a direct link to the headquarters - like I said, i've seen it elsewhere but haven't been into the cellar at the Wharton.

really? Now that is weird because it's my understanding that all Punch houses are electronically metered with a direct usage count going to headquarters to begin with; it can't be bypassed. Never been in the cellar in the Wharton, but that's what I understand. It would be difficult, also, to buy the beers that the bar sells from 'elsewhere' without 'elsewhere' letting Punch know, as the supplier of John Smiths, carling etc would be the same one Punch used. I doubt this happened, to be honest. From what i've heard, she's simply not making a living.

Bar lass, The memories are still with me; did anyone ever win anything with those bets? And did we succeed in hiding from the Blind Man? Anyhow, back to the point.... You are correct in slating the government but alcohol is a luxury and, as such, will always be taxed to the hilt. The direct problem lies with the fact that it is nigh on impossible to make a decent living these days from a tied house, as the likes of Punch Taverns are hanging on to a property portfolio, not a chain of pubs. We have to remember that Punch, and many others who own a great number of pubs, is not a brewery; the brewery's - and there are many - supply their products in a free market, yet Punch insists that their tenants pay THEM the price that THEY set. I know of a manager in a free house who is paying a lot less for the same products than in a tied house, and benefiting from the result (the prices, while not considerably lower, are notably discounted but the fact remains that the ability to make a living is actually realistic.) Pubs are not charities, after all, but businesses, yet something needs to be done to rejuvenate interest. Having said that, I was in the Grapes yesterday for a couple of hours and considering it was Wednesday afternoon there was a fair deal of trade going on. Perhaps we should have regular bedlington.co.uk meets in local bars; i'm sure Monsta would be the first at the bar to get a round in.

I thought it was his wife who took on the lease; he certainly didn't own it.

I've thought long and hard about this and have made the difficult decision to go on strike myself from tomorrow demanding better pay. I have told myself that I will not return to work until I pay me more money, and i'm off to the pub to form a picket line which I will not permit myself from crossing.

The limited company is a common practice by those who take on tied houses to ensure they are not going to lose their houses should the venture go under. The lease is held - for the time agreed - by said company, but the premises are owned throughout by the brewery (or in this case, if Mr Darn is right, Punch Taverns), as are the fixtures and fittings. I'm not sure Claire is right in saying the current landlady is a stop gap, as I believe she bought the lease at the going rate from Punch. Curiously, it is not listed on the Punch website as either a lease for sale or a business transfer.

You fancy it, Mr Darn???? As far as I know it's a tied house, so it is unlikely to be up for sale as such but looking for someone to take on the lease. Who owns it, because I don't think - unusually - it's Punch Taverns!

Surely once you've created it you can store it on the system.

Haven't we had a conversation about your flippany complacency before, Monsta? Allowing the government to outlaw things that people have considered as 'guilty pleasures' for decades, if not centuries, is allowin the first step towards them controlling what we can and can't do to a greater degree. It should be my choice - even as a non smoker - whether i want to drink in a smoke filled bar or not, just as it should be my choice whether I want to drink, or smoke, as each is perfectly legal. You're right, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would be another step on the way to eroding yet more of our enjoyable civil liberties. You will stop accepting it when they move on to things that affect you.

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.

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.

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.

Had to laugh at this; checked out mam's address and there she is getting out of the car! She's been googled!

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

It will smell of paint.

People who want to get up with a geetar and sing a song. It's what some people find enjoyable. I dare say you could turn up and rant!

You'd have had a hard job to make it, as it was at the Black Bull. The buskers night at the Tavern used to be worth a visit and was well attended; gemma - who is running the one at the Bull - seemed to have a good crowd in last night although I couldn't stay. If you like a bit of live music they are generally a good laugh.

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.

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.