Tuesday 11 April 2017

Put t’wood i’th’ole

The brief flurry of warm, sunny weather over the weekend reminded me of a perennial bugbear in pubs – flinging all their doors open at the slightest sign of the sun. I commented on this back in 2004. I suppose the aim is to appear open and welcoming and, well, “sunny”, but it ignores the basic principles of thermodynamics. No amount of open doors and windows is actually going to bring the warmth of outside indoors, and, at this time of year, a bright sunny afternoon often follows a chilly night, meaning that your rooms aren’t going to start the day very warm at all.

All too often, while it might be pleasantly warm if you’re sitting outside in the sun, indoors you’re exposed to a chilly draught. Pubs should only really be doing it if the sun is genuinely cracking the flags and several days’ hot weather has led to hot, stuffy conditions inside. And staff working up a sweat behind the bar may not realise how chilly it still remains in the far corners.

At least in one pub I got the impression that the people standing at the bar pointed out to the staff that wedging the doors open at both ends of the pub produced a howling gale past their backsides, and managed to get one of them closed.

12 comments:

  1. Oh the picture of of a pub door. I was wondering what a picture of the insides of a smart phone had to do with your moan about pubs and then realised it wasn't.

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  2. I know well about that problem,
    I was with the wife during a heatwave in Lancaster in 1985 and it was very hot outside,we went into a pub that had both the front and backdoor open and there was an howling gale blowing through the pubs corridor and rooms off it,it nice to get out after drinking up quickly and back into the warm sun.

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  3. Rather that, than an overheated pub like one in Crewe recently where we had to escape outside for some fresh air...

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    Replies
    1. Well, one extreme can be just as bad as the other.

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  4. On the other hand, it does help to temporarily reduce the smell of piss and regret.

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  5. Stanley Blenkinsop12 April 2017 at 13:26

    I read this blog post immediately after having the misfortune to read this cretinous nonsense in the Guardian.It rather cheered me up for reasons I'm not quite sure about.
    www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2017/apr/11/deep-england-brexit-britain?

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  6. Customers can be guilty of this too. A couple of months ago, a group was leaving my local, but their lengthy farewell chat to their friends who weren't going was being conducted while holding the front door wide open, causing a massive icy draught to blow through the bar. After a minute or two, I went over and closed the door, at which they looked slightly put out.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, many years later one instance of this still sticks in my mind at the Chetwode Arms at Lower Whitley in Cheshire where someone did that on a bitterly frosty night :-(

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  7. More infuriating for me is pubs opening doors at closing time to make us scurry home before freezing to death in the pub.Tactically effective at getting rid of us but highly annoying.

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    1. Sadly I approve of this tactic. If it's hitting 11.15 and your still chatting and have over half a pint then it's the best method. Think of it this way, you've had your drinks the staff want to close up and have theirs haha

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    2. I have been known to close the door again when they do that.

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