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Conductors!
If the musicians are too busy reading the music sheet, then surely they can’t watch the conductor at the same time … unless they have independent moving eyeballs like that of a chameleon.
What’s the point really? Standing in front of an orchestra and waving a bloody stick! Wouldn’t be so bad if they were waving a lit sparkler or shaking their fists to add a touch of comedy.
Jeez …
P.S. Yes … I’ve currently got a massive bee in my bonnet.
Latest Newsnight estimate for the cost
of the mini budget is 35 billion – that’s almost a billion a day.
An extortionate squeeze
Who got things done.
We’ll just have to cough up !!My local Wetherspoons is already serving Christmas beers. In the middle of November!
Shouldn’t be allowed until Advent.
Cork, don’t get me started on B&M
Went there before Halloween to stock up on Irn Bru and they already had Christmas decorations. Absolutely hideous. However, don’t mind Spoons serving some new beers early, at least it gives a level of intrigue to their offering that is usually only reserved for a couple weeks in October where they back certain local ales. Fact they are claiming this is a Christmas themed decision is obviously objectionable but wish they would be more adventurous throughout the year.
At least some of the Christmas beers are good. Old favourite Batemans Rosey Nosey is inevitably there and it is good to see Orkney Clootie Dumpling on the list this year. And they are cheap – as little as £1.65 with a CAMRA voucher.
A worse pub going experience was when I visited the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool last week. It is a magnificent pub, possibly the best in the country from its architectural perspective. Even the men’s toilets are Grade 1 Listed! But last week I had to pay £5.05 for a pint of a fairly standard bitter.
I expect anyone from London or the South East will be thinking “So what?” But I am fairly sure that is the first time I have paid more than £5 for a pint of traditional cask beer in Liverpool.
The Philharmonic does tend to charge more than other pubs but even some of them are heading north of £4.50 now. I suppose it is a sign of the times, with pubs facing ever rising costs. I expect plenty will struggle to get through the winter. If your choice is £5 in a traditional pub or less than £2 in Wetherspoons, where are you going to go?
‘If your choice is £5 in a traditional pub or less than £2 in Wetherspoons, where are you going to go?’
The supermarket.
But seriously, a lot of pubs are absolutely finished frankly. Not so long ago I could go into a lovely pub nearby with a £20 note and get five or six pints of properly cared for beer and a packet of dry roasted. £10 each for two for a few hours whiled away after dinner, bargain. That’s now probably 50% more expensive than it was, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the landlord is making less profit on it. I’m not a pauper by any definition but with the increased cost of almost everything, it’s something I have to think about a bit more. Many people will simply have no choice but to give up going to the pub at all. That in combination with regular visitors going less frequently, the three or four pints turning into just a couple etc is going to be terminal.
Bottled beer is not quite the same but at least you know what you are getting. In Lidl, I can buy a quality bottled beer like St Austell Proper Job for something like £1.59. Even their own label beers (brewed by Shepherd Neame, I think) are perfectly OK at about £1.29.
I bought two cans of Meantime Pale Ale for just 59p each in my local Home and Bargain last week.
Aside from the cost, a problem with pubs is you never know how long the cask has been on or how clean the lines have been kept. You could be paying £5 for something in poor condition. They should replace your pint if it is off – but I find pubs are getting reluctant to do that now, given the tight margins they have. They are even getting a bit funny about topping up a pint when there is too much froth.
I am surprised so many pubs survived the lockdowns. I suspect many are barely getting by and plenty more will close soon.
From page 2 of the thread, by Marlingford:
“Stewards who only ever ‘note’ things.”
Rather appropriate after the incompetent stewards at Windsor on Monday night “noted” James Doyle’s ridiculous explanation for getting beaten when he should have won.
The Tesco adverts where the customers shout “I’ve got the power”. The person(s) who gave the go ahead for these maddening ads should be put in stocks and forcefed goat poops.
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