tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post2202788000933665088..comments2024-03-29T08:01:51.705+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Decline of the all-purpose pubCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-80093467433107748112014-01-19T23:16:51.699+00:002014-01-19T23:16:51.699+00:00Depends which way you go out of town, Swann Hill i...Depends which way you go out of town, Swann Hill is quite smart, the pubs down Belle Vue are alright, and Abbey Foregate has some middle class bars etc.<br /><br />I'm sure stockport wouldn't be very different from the various rougher areas of Nottingham I have lived in.pyonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-44046841081075649682014-01-19T22:52:52.600+00:002014-01-19T22:52:52.600+00:00The area around Mill Road in Cambridge does indeed...The area around Mill Road in Cambridge does indeed have a good mix of diners and drinkers (Cambridge Blue and Devonshire for example), but that's a small part of Cambridgeshire and I recognise Curmudgeon's description in many pubs around me. The Davenport does indeed have a wonderfully inclusive atmosphere.Martin, Cambridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68460934386986086802014-01-19T22:31:36.953+00:002014-01-19T22:31:36.953+00:00Cambridge is home to one of the world's top un...Cambridge is home to one of the world's top universities and has a large number of well-paid professionals.<br /><br />Shrewsbury is a very nice historic town, but you won't find middle-class pubs in its inner suburbs.<br /><br />Please make a trip to Stockport, pyo, and I, Cookie and Mr Clarke will show you around and teach you a few home truths about pubs.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61788886757954568672014-01-19T20:32:38.835+00:002014-01-19T20:32:38.835+00:00Its a small, typically English, very middle class ...Its a small, typically English, very middle class city. Its probably quite representative of other similar cities or large towns like Oxford, Bath, Harrogate, York, Shrewsbury, Chester, Guildford, Norwich etc etc etc.pyonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-14131386603857731002014-01-19T15:19:32.978+00:002014-01-19T15:19:32.978+00:00May well be more of a northern thing - I've no...May well be more of a northern thing - I've noticed before that the general approach to serving food varies quite considerably across the country. <br /><br />It's certainly very evident in Cheshire and Lancashire. The Brunning & Price chain, although much lauded for their commitment to local microbreweries, are not really places that anyone would feel at home just having a casual drink.<br /><br />I've said to pyo before, though, that Cambridge is remarkably untypical of the pub scene across most of the country.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-55563436433705911532014-01-19T13:48:14.826+00:002014-01-19T13:48:14.826+00:00Agree with Pyo and Stono. I can't think of a p...Agree with Pyo and Stono. I can't think of a pub in rural East Anglia that doesn't cater for the drinker and diner (some do it better than others). I'd go as far to say there has been a renaissance in the 'all-purpose pub'. The most gastro of gastro pubs put on beer festivals and have stalls at the bar and the smallest traditional drinkers pub offers a simple menu. Even this place, that has only 2 tables in the entire pub does basic cooked food http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=145 Scarecrownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-43474032906682402522014-01-19T12:37:34.842+00:002014-01-19T12:37:34.842+00:00agree with pyo it must be a more northern thing, a...agree with pyo it must be a more northern thing, as most the pubs around Suffolk Ive been to still very much offer the mix of food and beer and mingle quite happily. I only know one or two pubs that tried the food led approach, and they closed because there werent enough people going for the food.Stonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02656315721111561414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-66680534440653370012014-01-19T11:39:25.332+00:002014-01-19T11:39:25.332+00:00This must be a Northern thing, almost all the real...This must be a Northern thing, almost all the real ale pubs on the Cambridge backstreets offer a decent bar menu and the mix between drinkers and diners is typically 50:50. <br /><br />I can only think of a couple of pubs in the entire of Cambridge that don't do food at all; conversely I don't know many pub restaurants where drinkers would feel out of place either.pyonoreply@blogger.com