Here are a couple of sad pictures, taken in today’s Spring sunshine, of the closed and boarded Highwayman at Rainow in the Cheshire part of the Peak District. Originally called the Blacksmith’s Arms, and locally known as “The Patch”, this was one of England’s classic inns, the interior a warren of small, low-ceilinged, thick-walled rooms warmed by real fires. Despite its isolated location, it was once busy, lively and characterful. In the late 1980s I remember it serving, amongst other fare, the now very rare pub pizzas. Recently it seems to have struggled, and the last reports were of it
falling victim to the dreaded gastropub craze.
I would be amazed if it ever reopens as a pub now, even more so if it was anything like it once was. So let us salute the passing of a once superb pub, like so many others killed by political correctness. This was probably, in its day, the best pub I ever knew that has now closed.
It is still shown as open, and looking very inviting, on
Google StreetView.
Killed by political correctness? So pubs are shutting because people use inoffensive language?
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm sure you know exactly what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, but I think you're almost certainly wrong. Other than that, a good post about what looks like it has been a great pub, and should be still.
ReplyDeletePolitical Correctness? I thought it was Tescos fault.
ReplyDeleteThe political correctness to which I refer in this case is not so much that which bans smoking in private business premises regardless of the choice of the owner, but that which teaches that driving a car after consuming a pint of bitter is the moral equivalent of child abuse.
ReplyDeleteI see your point, but I don't recall ever coming across that attitude in real life.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, it's probably another smoking ban casualty. The whole drink-driving thing has been a major force for over 20 years and this pub apparently survived it. Bring in a smoking ban and it's gone in 40 months. Coincidence?
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, it's probably not another smoking ban casualty. The beer tax escalator has been hitting beer prices increasingly badly over the last 2-3 years, and the price gap between pubs and off-sales is becoming greater all the time. Coincidence?
ReplyDelete