Yes, it was tatty in places, but going through the door was like entering a timewarp back into the 1950s. It even still had wrought iron bar fittings – you don’t seen many of those around nowadays. Until fairly recently, it was one of the last Robinson’s pubs in Stockport to serve Mild and Best Bitter into oversize glasses using electric metered pumps. Licensee Dave Walker was one of the longest-serving in the Robinson’s estate, and had taken over the tenancy from his father.
Not surprisingly, the clientele tended towards the more mature end of the spectrum. It could be busy at lunchtimes, but was often quiet in the evenings. It was the epitome of what Cooking Lager would dismiss as “dumpy old men’s pubs”, and all the better for it.
We will not see its like again.
'dumpy old men’s pubs'.
ReplyDeletePerfect. In my many years and miles of travelling thats what I search for. I can happily spend all afernoon or evening with several newspapers numerous pints and some even have the added bonus of a covered plate with filled rolls on the bar which is the maximum a pub should serve. Add to that the old men who can actually speak sense, no posing and no ankle biters.
I am now old but I've loved these pubs since I first entered the bars aged 18ish!
Like Anon, I too have a soft spot for these traditional wet-led establishments which were far more common when I started drinking 25 years ago. However, its not entirely surprising to see them disappearing , the problem with those "Dumpy Old Men" is that they inconveniently keep dying off, and if the next generation of "old men" is used to, and demand, something different, then it won't be a suprise if the bulk of these pubs will die with the current generation - tastes and attitudes change, though I suspect there will always be small niche market. Sad, of course, but it's human nature for the older generation to be depressed by the choices of those who follow them.
ReplyDeleteWho knows in thirty years time, a future Pub Curmudegeon, will be bewailing the closure of yet another Gastro-Pub, as its converted into a retro 70s pub with rolls in clingfilm and electric pumps...
Well, most of the old traditional pubs we cherish now were regarded in much the same light thirty years ago, although there were a lot more of them then.
ReplyDeleteIt probably takes about fifty years before the architecture of any particular era is appreciated. By then, the people who once dismissed it as newfangled rubbish will be very elderly or dead. We think much more of 1930s pub refits now than we did in the late 70s.
It's only now that people are coming to recognise the pub interiors of the 1950s, which are now extremely rare indeed.
I shed a tear on your behalf. Dumpy old mens pubs should exist for as long there are are scruffy old men that want to booze in them.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm saying you are a scruffy old man.
Very sad news. I've had many a good drink in the Tiviot, and Stockport will be that bit poorer for its loss.
ReplyDeleteGood news now - thanks to investment by Robinsons the future of the pub has been secured.
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw that and was going to add a comment. As you say, good news - it's a real classic of its kind.
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