Now it’s local…..
Driving around our Island, you can’t help but notice the number of pubs that are boarded up or at best short of customers.
Earlier in 2008 we were told that those who didn’t like smokey old bars would flock to them when smoking was banned, that appears not to have been the case and the increasing economic pressures have made it impossible for the likes of The Wishing Well, The Colwell Bay and the Plough and Barleycorn to survive – and while driving around in the evenings there are many more which seem to close after about 9.30pm. This might not seem like much at first glance but it takes on a degree of importance in very rural areas with few or no other gathering places.
Take Newchurch Parish as an example; odd and very old covenants on the land mean that only one pub is allowed in the area (corrections welcome!), and I now hear that even this is under threat from an over-zealous brewery who want a rent increase of some 50%!
The pub in the spotlight here is The Pointer Inn in Newchurch itself; yes, the one which has just won an award for the Island Dining Pub of the Year for the second year running. The Pointer is the very best of breed providing a real public bar for those looking for a drink and a seperate, busy restaurant for those in need of a quality meal. Balancing the two needs is not easy (yes, I do have pub experience, both sides of the bar) and Nathan and staff do an excellent job which deserves our full support. It’s a real shame that Messrs Gale and Co seem intent on making life impossible for them by demanding such an increase.
I’m really not sure what difference my small voice can make but I’ll try. Publicity can only help and I again draw your attention to what may be the last event at the pub – Public Star Gazing, 25th Jan 2009.
Please support your local if you can as, in the words of Joni Mitchell, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone..”
In this case “support” doesn’t mean spending loads of cash, it does though mean making a fuss! we have a community in Newchurch and surrounding areas, and it makes no sense for us to lose something valuable. Please join me in protesting about this unfairness, sign petitions, write to the brewery, complain to your councillors…. whatever! I love my local and I’d like to see you in there too!
Filed under: Home, Isle of Wight, Politics, Scams
