mercuryg

a date in my diary. Thanks Malcolm.

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??

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.....

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.

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.

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!

As far as i'm aware the Lion was put back up for sale having been relicensed - at least provisionally - after the original plans fell through. I doubt, however, that Wetherspoons are in the least bit interested in it.

Monsta, of course plant life - and animal life - thrives, and then fails to, in response to climactic changes - it always has; that it happens is by no means concrete proof - or anywhere near it - that man is primarily responsible for changes in the climate. As for the bees there is absolute confusion as to why they are suffering at the moment, and pesticides are just one idea to be put forward. And yes, we have been responsible for massive deforestation - that is something nobody can possibly deny. Again, however, this does not point to man being responsible in the main for change in the climate. You'll note that even the IPCC has been forced to admit that the world has NOT been warming over the past ten to fifteen years; their argument is - and will be - that ten to fifteen years is a drop in the ocean, a pinprick in time. They're right, just as basing calculations of doom on an 'average world temperature' was always, and still is, a major mistake that can only lead to problems such as those we are seeing now with interpretation of data. The average temperature across the globe differs so much from place to place - for many a reason - that to take an average results in no indication of the actual state of things - it can't, as the temperature in Siberia skews the figures just as much as that in the heat of the Kalahari! Of course we have been influential on the gases existing in our atmosphere - we're here, we are going to be - but to cite CO2, man made CO2, as the biggest problem facing the world is to tread on very dodgy ground indeed, as we are already seeing. The fact is that the earth is not warming, it has suffered prolonged warm periods in the past when we were'nt even around to be accused of causing it, and it will go on fluctuating for ever more. The Global Warming lobby is a money wasting farce that has little bearing in fact.

I do, but until the full routine's been processed it's best not to say. I don't think it's anyone you know Mr Darn.

Good questions all. Poncey wine bar in bedlington? No chance, wouldn't work - there'd only be Monsta in it! There are large capacity breweries willing to supply, and at much better prices than the tied house versions. On a positive note - and again this is one for Monsta - the Market Tavern has been given a new lease of life and will be opening under new management in the not too distant future. That's one saved from becoming a poncey wine bar or a block of flats.

They have indeed, and it's becoming even worse. When you consider that Punch Taverns - which owns the Tavern (currently shut) the Grapes, and I think the Monkey plus a couple at the station - owes billions of pounds at the moment there is little chance of anyone getting a deal that makes it worthwhile for them to run a pub as a Punch tied house. The problem is exaggerated by the fact that Punch is unwilling to sell the buildings outright in some cases as their entire borrowing capacity is based up valuing the pubs as a proerty portfolio. Without the noose around the neck that is brewery rents and beer prices a public house is actually quite a decent business proposition; with it it's commercial suicide.

Nice one Monsta. Funnily enough, that's about as relevant to knowing all about climate change as the qualifications that the boss of the IPCC holds. He's a railway engineer.

Where's yours??????

They can. The very fact that everything they claim is based upon 'models' should give you a clue - man made global warmin is a theory that is being presented as fact. Alarm bells should begin to ring when you consider how much of the earths atmosphere is made up CO2. Many people will tell you it's less than one percent, which in itself sounds pretty light, but when you look at the true figure and find out that it's actually 0.038% of the atmosphere that is co2 questions have to be asked. The level of water vapour in the atmosphere is far greater - from natural causes - and is know to have a similar effect. Furthermore, contrary to claims the world has not been warming by any significant degree in the last twenty years; add into that that an 'average world temperature' is a quite ludicrous basis on which to propose the sort of inter-governmental agreements that are costing us a fortune now and things get even more cloudy. Yes, we have polluted the earth by using fossil fuels, but the presence of a determined and competetive race such as humans was always going to result in pollution. yes we can cut it down, but co2 is not the cause of climate change. Also, Venus is not the earth - the two are not even comparable; what happens there is completely different to what happens here.

Depends at what point they live; colder for some, warmer for others. 3G - the 'gentle climbdown' actually began a few years ago - the phenomenon has been widely labelled 'climate change' for a some time now, rather than 'global warming'.

What, now you reckon it's tesco's that keeps Bedlington 'alive'? have you been in? It's like a morgue, only a damn sight more expensive! My only thought, if - well, when - it goes is with those who make a living working there.

This was the same everywhere though, 3g, and has nothing to do with 'getting it wrong'; people simply didn't travel 'out of town' to the hypermarkets we have now because they didn't exist. I think Tesco's is an absolute abomination that has served only to destroy the spirit of the twon in more ways than one: Bedlington needs the likes of !*!@# Hat more than it does Tesco's.

Forget money, credit unions, vouchers, etc - what Bedlington needs is Naked Girls.

sir lickyarse Whay, for suggesting we should support local businesses? As someone who has spent the last year striving to become self employed - in truth I had little option - but in a less public way than the proprietors of Accolade, I know how the early stages are difficult. I also know how local support helps. You don't eat out - Monsta - and don't want to pay the prices, fair enough, but that doesn't mean Bedlington should be without a quality place to eat. It also doesn't mean it's going to fail - not everyone, after all, is like you. I eat there once a month or so - I do as Cympil says, too, and cook myself - and each time I get exemplary service and superb food, and all on my doorstep. What's not to like about that?

so you're talking 2.60 a pint, or maybe a bit more, in bedlington. Do you pay more in Morpeth, because its a 'classier' place? No? of course you don't, so why the 'but this is Bedlington, not bla bla bla....' attitude?? But you are. You're implying, directly, that there's no room for a quality eaterie in this downtrodden town, and that nobody would possibly pay the prices they ask because its 'just bedlington front street'. You don't know how wrong you are, do you? We should be wishing them luck, not taking bets on when they go out of business.

Not at all; i'm willing to pay for good food. What do you drink, and where do you buy your chips? let's look at this in all seriousness: I drink Smith's, Boddie's, that sort of stuff and expect to pay £2.50 a pint these days; I guess if I drink in the club I would pay a few pennies less. That's ten quid before you get your chips. Go to Moby's - tell me, honestly, how much is a portion of chips? Come on, really, how much? I didn't look when I was last in there, but you have to be talking a few pennies shy of a quid at teh least. For a couple of potato's, chopped and fried. Have you stopped to think about that for a moment? how much does a potato cost? Let's say you go to Verdi's - how much is a Pizza? It's all about what you want to spend, and on what. Your attitude that 'it's Bedlington so it's expensive' is the sort of !*!@# that keeps the town how it is - a run down !*!@# that has little to offer. It shouldn;t matter where it is, good food has a price, as does everything. Do I expect to pay more for my beer in teh hallowed halls of swanky Morpeth, or the town, as you clearly expect to pay more for your food in thsoe areas? No, do I !*!@# , so why should teh same apply to food? If you think £20 for a three course meal of that quality is expensive I dread to think what you believe is cheap. Here's a comparison - have a carvery and a pudding at the ridge and you're paying what - a tenner, eleven quid maybe? Have a main course and a pudding at Accolade and you pay £15. I know - without even hesitating - which is the better value; so do you. Really? Why? Are you party to how well they're doing? I'll tell you what - walk past on any Friday or Saturday evening, at any time, and count the heads in there - actually, it's probably easier for you to count the empty seats. The place is thriving, it's a massive hit. Just because you won't eat there doesn't mean it's not going to be successful. It's a pleasure for this town to have a good, quality restaurant serving good food. Incidentally, do you eat indian food? Try that restauarant on the front street, and find a three course in there for less than £20. really Monsta, you need to wake up a bit; there are people in this town - and in teh surroinding areas - willign to travel for a quality meal.

Here we go with that old defeatist attitude again (and, incidentally, if you think you'd get a starter for a fiver at any of those two venues you must be joking - you wouldn't get a slice of bread); why shouldn't Bedlington have a quality restaurant, serving great food (and it is great, really)? Are you of the opinion that 'as this is Bedlington Front Street' we should be limited to kebabs and takeaways? Furthermore, how much is a Pizza at Best Bite these days? How much is a kebab at Moby's? Compare what you pay there, and what you get, with what you pay and get at Accolade and you have to be a fool to realise you're being robbed at four quid for a doner! Rather than dissing a place that charges what are - if you know what you're on about - very sensible prices indeed for excellent food, and rather than pouring scorn on a local couple who are attempting to make somethinf of themselves and move away from this 'but its only Bedlington' attitude, we should be championing a successful (very successful, in fact) and award winning business (best small restauarant in the north) that might just inspire others to open something that is not a hairdressers once in a while. If you're willing to pay more than ten quid for four pints, I can't see why anyone should turn up their nose at the same price for the best meal you'll find in the locality.

I'll second that - quality chef, quality service, quality food. Would recommend it without a moments hesitation.

We covered this ages ago. The few traders who are left aren't interested in moving to the front for reasons discussed before, mainly concerning the inability to take their vehicles on site.

Aside from the location problems I am afraid I have to agree with the 'reviewer'. A few years ago the Ridge was second to none - great food, really - but these days I am often disappointed. Veg is poorly cooked, meat from the carvery is Ok - but then that's a carvery for you - and the rest is so so. The Three Horseshoes is much better, the Swan too.