A letter published in the Warrington Guardian
Town's pubs are disgrace
Thursday 18th June 2009
I HAVE seen two letters recently in the CAMRA newspaper, none too complimentary about Warrington pubs.
This did not surprise me. Over a few years I have witnessed or heard of the following; a couple having sex in the gents’ toilets, toilets without towels, soap or hot water, people aggressively begging for money for drink, openly stolen goods offered for sale, tasteless, fizzy beers with all the allure of a kissogram girl with bad breath, cocktails with sexually suggestive names.
These are pubs in the town centre, though I stress I consider Runcorn, Warrington and Widnes to be equal, equally bad that is.
By contrast here in south Cheshire (Crewe, Nantwich, Sandbach and not just a few villages), we have caring landlords, pubs tied to family breweries, specialist places with a range of real ales, and above all a respectable and well behaved clientele.
Years ago we had pubs tied to two large local brewers, beer efficiently delivered by electric pump into oversize glasses, and traditional pubs with public and lounge bars.
I know, and have used, nice pubs in Penketh, Golborne, Lymm, Stockton Heath and Moore.
But these can in no way compensate for the lack of drinking places for the discerning drinker in the town centre.
What do other readers think?
K RAMPLEY Elworth Sandbach
Warrington drinkers however don't seem to agree with this blanket statement slating their beloved pubs:
Don't knock town pubs
Thursday 25th June 2009
IN response to K Rampley’s letter ‘Town pubs are a disgrace’, (Guardian June 18), might I suggest that they get out more in Warrington!
It seems most of their evidence is based on hear say.
Admittedly many of the drinking establishments in Bridge Street are a disgrace, and I am surprised punters/Warrington Borough Council tolerate them. But dig a little deeper and you will find some real gems.
There are a number of high quality drinking establishments in and around the town centre that are expertly run by hardworking, knowledgeable landlords and staff. The Lower Angel, Tavern, Ring O’Bells, Albion Hotel and Porters Ale House all serve quality beer in clean and pleasant environments.
In north Cheshire we have the CAMRA national club of the year 2008 in Appleton Thorn Village Hall, and other quality venues include Paddington House Hotel, Woolston, Ferry Tavern, Penketh, Ring O’Bells, Lower Stretton, Barn Owl, Lymm, Fiddle I’th’Bag, Burtonwood, New Inn, Culcheth, Hatton Arms, Hatton. The list goes on and on.
I recently drunk LocALE (Weeetwood) at a south Cheshire pub in Higher Burwardsley and got charged £3.10 a pint for the pleasure!
I am off to one of the above high quality establishments in town where a pint costs a mere £1.80. Don’t knock it till you try it.
DONALD KERNOTT Warrington
Good pubs do exist
Thursday 2nd July 2009
IN response to K Rampley’s letter about Warrington pub, there are a number of places in the town centre for the ‘discerning drinker’, a point I made in the CAMRA newspaper What’s Brewing? two months ago in direct response to a similar letter in that publication.
Warrington town centre is not just about fizz, lights and fights but has some excellent, welcoming and well-managed pubs within walking distance of each other. The mixture of drinking establishments is actually no different to that found in any town, including those in South Cheshire.
Perhaps they should try visiting The Albion, Lower Angel, The Tavern or The Bull’s Head for starters.
SIMON BANKS Great Sankey
The Albion's response:
Our opinion is that K Rampley has lead a far to sheltered life, seldom leaving Sandbach and has based the entire letter on here-say and conjecture. We at The Albion are very much aware of what is said in the local paper, the trade press and also in the local and not so local CAMRA publications. We believe that we have identified the two letters referred to and these do point out failings in some areas of the licence trade (mainly Bridge Street (tongue-in-cheek)), but surely that isn't enough to slag off the whole of the pub trade outside of the more affluent areas (each and every one of them highlighted by name).
We would like to point out that running a town centre or city centre pub (as we have done with The Baltic Fleet, Liverpool and The Bell & Barrel, St Helens) provides a much more challenging task when it comes to keeping the clientele balance right, it's all to easy to succumb to the spending majority and let standards slip. Some pubs do go down the pan and that is indefensible but several of the pubs listed in the repost's are in fact in Warrington town centre, cited as examples of good pubs in a difficult position to maintain their standards, yet they manage it. The Albion is situated at the very edge of Orford (town centre side); Orford is in the top 10% of the most financially deprived areas in Europe yet The Albion was voted Cheshire Pub of the Year 2010 and we're celebrating our second year in the Good Beer Guide.
We're just glad that at least some people in warrington actually leave the comfort zone and actually go and try a new pub now and again instead of hiding away in their locals and listening to the vastly over-exaggerated horror stories of the dreaded town centre boozer. No doubt some are true. We've been there and seen it, the shagging, the lack of loo roll, the lack of good beer, or worst of all, the bad beer.
The trick is, take all criticism with a pinch of salt, actively ask around for a good pub to try that you may not have tried before, or not tried in many years (a hell of a lot can change within a few months), then just go ahead and try it out. Go with friends or your partner (or even someone else's) if you don't feel comfortable going alone. remember that only going and experiencing it yourself will tell you if you like it. Why base your decisions on other peoples tastes. You will find a few pubs that leave a little to be desired but at least you know then. One last thing to remember is to 'talk to the natives' they'll be able to tell you about other good pubs nearby that you may never even have heard of or thought of trying.
Here's hoping that you find yourself pleasantly surprised.