A Greater Manchester pub which closed its doors last month for a major refurbishment has reopened. The Sparking Clog pub in Bury has undergone a huge makeover with over £400,000 spent on the upgrade. The much-loved community pub in Radcliffe was temporarily closed for just under a month for the six-figure makeover. It has now introduced a unique “Two Door Pub” concept, as well as a refreshed bar area and a dedicated family lounge.Located in the heart of Radcliffe, The Sparking Clog's new design divides the pub into two distinct areas: a 'vibrant' locals' bar and a 'warm, welcoming' family lounge. A central partition creates these separate spaces. The new bar area is complete with 4K big-screen TVs, TNT, and Sky Sports for guests to enjoy all the latest fixtures.
General Manager of The Sparking Cog, Gary Hanmer, said: “We can’t wait to show our wonderful guests the result of our refurbishment. “With the inclusion of new TV’s and sports channels, we hope our customers join us to enjoy this year's big summer of sports. We can’t wait to have our loyal customers back!” The Sparking Clog remains a dog-friendly locals pub, and also boats a beer garden, giving guests the option to drink and dine inside or alfresco.
All well and good but, hang on a minute, isn’t this “unique concept” simply reverting back to how pubs used to be a couple of generations ago? Back in the 1960s, most pubs had, at the very least , two separate bars, a public bar with plainer furnishings and a more down-to-earth atmosphere, where drinkers in working clothes would be served, and a more comfortable, sedate and genteel lounge. Back in those days, the beer was usually a bit cheaper in the public bar as well.
However, over the years, brewers steadily knocked their pubs through into a single room. This was in tune with the spirit of the age, being seen as more modern, inclusive and egalitarian. It also made supervision of the pub easier and, at a time when public bar prices were regulated by law, allowed the pub to charge the higher lounge prices throughout. It’s now relatively uncommon to find a pub with completely separate “sides” and, even where they do, the old price differential has disappeared.
The problem with this, though, was that it effectively turned the pub into a monoculture. It may have erased old-school class divisions, but it failed to recognise that customers might have different expectations of a pub, and want to pursue different activities. Very often, the old public/lounge split moved from one single pub to defining different pubs in an area.
I recall seeing a similar story a while back, about how pubs were moving back towards a more compartmentalised approach to cater for different customer needs. In particular it needs to be recognised that TV sport, while it undoubtedly attracts customers, results in a distinctively boisterous, male-dominated atmosphere that may deter many people. My local pub, while it retains a traditional layout, suffers from having giant screens in every room. It remains to be seen, though, how widely this concept will spread.
Looking back to the debate before the introduction of the dreaded smoking ban in 2007, one option that was mooted was banning smoking in any areas of pubs where children were admitted. This could well have led to a set-up very much like this, with a robust, boisterous, adults-only public bar and a sanitised, smoke-free, family-friendly lounge.
However, I can’t help thinking that this concept still fails to cater for a significant sub-section of pubgoers, those who are just looking for a quiet pint, a comfortable seat and a chat well away from both TV sport and screaming children.
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My immediate reaction consisted of five words, four of which were "You are" and "kidding me"! What goes around comes around, indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt looks and sounds absolutely ghastly.
ReplyDeleteThe past had more distinct social classes. The present more graduated social classes and some degree of class mobility. Class presently being less economically anchored and more firmly anchored in formal education. This should allow people to believe the new split is not a class distinction like the past but a more egalitarian answer to the differing needs of different customer segments. But we know the people who wish to pay more for the same product to get away from other types of people and we know who and what both sets of people are.
ReplyDeleteWhere it can be executed well, I think it's a good idea, and I enjoy pubs that have divided areas, whether formal or not. I think it works particularly well in pubs that do food, but still want to retain a strong 'locals vibe', where people feel comfortable just having a pint.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem I think is it only really works where there's enough custom to create a vibrant atmosphere in both rooms... nobody wants to sit alone if the fun sounds to be coming from next door.
It's increasingly difficult for pubs to make money on old codgers having a quiet pint, so it's perhaps difficult to cater for all tastes. The best a lot of pubs can do there is to try and create cosy corners with small tables.
My local manages the football issue by having a mix of tv and no tv centred tables, and will only have the volume on for big games, involving England (rugby as well) or the local team. Seems to work well and creates a good atmosphere at key games, but avoids driving those away who don't want to be bothered with it every night of the week.
Pubs really should cater for non sport fans. I actually like sport but I go to the pub to chat with mates, so all these sport pubs are off bounds for me. Hospitality is in a very tight spot though, owners have to find strategies that keep them in business. Different kinds of pub cater to different types of people. Hopefully Radcliffe has alternatives? Somewhere to drink a nice pint of Brightside cask in peace.
ReplyDeleteSports pubs? Hold my beer, in my local people watch game shows in the afternoon, they seem mesmerised.
DeleteA few years ago (pre-"covid") I called in at a pub local to where I work, on my way home, about tea-time, for a quick one, and the biggest room in the pub had a TV showing "Pointless". There were quite a few punters in and all were completely involved in the game, shouting answers at the screen. It was fun, such a good atmosphere, and I made a point of going back there whenever I could. All gone now.
DeleteI've seen Greene King do this a couple of times in recent years. Their Kings Horse was built a couple of miles from me ten years ago as a typical one room family dining pub with a carvery but a few years ago about a third of it became a separate Sports Bar, not that it can have worked as recently the whole building was gutted and reopened as a one room keg only Hickory's restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI can get the logic of operating at a scale but still attempting to differentiate customers. That family diners and old codgers don’t mix. That sports fans and quiet or chatting groups of drinkers don’t mix. But rather than separate venues, catering for them under one offer Wetherspoons scale venue without having to be a Wetherspoons type everyman pub. Supply at scale but operate as if you were separate venues in separated areas.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of having the same products in two bars with two prices for either a smart middle class or more price conscious working class doesn’t cut it. The world has changed. The administrative middle class is much economically diminished. The skilled tradesman working class economically prosperous as is the skilled or accredited middled class (lawyers, doctors, accountants, IT specialists). The unskilled working class now a precariat of unsecure low dignity work. The economic circumstances across classes make price a less effective method of stratifying the rooms in your venue. Product differentiation, décor, “values”, likely is a better stratifier. Much of which negates the scale advantage of a single venue.
The middle class are now catered for by having a different product set of obscure beer, craft gin and the like. There are no economies of scale unless the product supply is basically the same across the rooms. So, the CAMRA room might as well be a separate micropub with a family pub across the road and a sports pub further along.
Wetherspoon's don't in general show sport, though, so there's a significant aspect in which they are not "everyman" pubs.
Deletethey do if it's free to air or a national event.
Deletethe world cup in spoons is quite a fun thing
Whichever way you spin it standing at a bar supping pints while diners/families/kids are tucking into pub grub nearby is never satisfactory.
ReplyDeleteI like a bar where White Van Man and his workers can talk bollocks over a few drinks after work. Sometimes there's a bit of effing and jeffing but generally it's not rough. Good publicans don't mind sweeping up the welly mud after they've gone - where there's muck there's brass,etc.
If it means converting pubs back into what they used to be I'm all for that.