Monday
Aug232010
Pubs need smokers - new poster
Monday, August 23, 2010 
Thanks to Dan Donovan for this new ad which will appear in this week's Morning Advertiser. It is also available as a campaign poster.
Feel free to download the image to your own blog or website with a link to the Save Our Pubs & Clubs website.
You can download an A4 poster or an A3 poster by clicking on the links. You might like to send a copy to your MP or take one along to your local pub.
Reader Comments (7)
Like it!
Sorry to hijack the thread, but can anyone suggest a food-serving pub or restaurant within a few minutes' walk of London Bridge station where there are smoking seats outside? I've been looking and looking on different websites and keep drawing a blank.
The George Inn on Borough high Street. Out of the station, turn left, down Borough High St. a bit and you'll see the Courtyard on your left.
Historical. The Naval posts from Portsmouth used to stay there when summoned by, or reporting to, the Admiralty.
The rest used to be good but are now pretty rubbish.
As Frank rightly says Rose, The george, in George Inn Yard, Southwark, has an outside seating area and is well worth a visit. It also features in a book I am writing, part of which is the following:
Today, George Inn Yard is alive and well, and attracting almost as many customers to the famous Inn as it did in Shakespeare’s day, although they now consist mainly of tourists, who come more for the beer, food, and the experience, than for the plays, which sadly, are no longer performed there. Walking from Borough High Street, which is in Southwark, into this cobbled courtyard, is like stepping back in time. The George Inn hits you, with its magnificent galleries, and an abundance of oak beams and leaden lattice windows everywhere. The ground floor is divided into several connecting bars, the bar, which is now known, as the ‘Old Bar’ was originally the waiting room, for coachmen and their passengers. The ‘Middle Bar’ was originally the coffee room, which was a regular haunt of Charles Dickens. The bedchambers were in the galleried part, above the main entrances, and are now home to the restaurant.
The courtyard itself, where Shakespeare would have performed his plays, is now used as an outdoor seating area for the pub. The only thing to mar this dream of those far off days, is the modern office building, which lies to the left, but one can always sit with one’s back to this monstrosity, and view London’s only surviving galleried inn. The original George where Shakespeare performed in was burnt down in 1676 but was immediately rebuilt, using its original design. It remained unchanged for over two hundred years, when it was partly demolished by the Great Northern Railway, to be used as a goods office, warehousing, and depot. They pulled down two of its sides, leaving just the south side standing, which is what we see today when we enter the yard from Borough High Street. The inn was eventually presented to the National Trust in 1937, so it is safe to say that no more changes will be made in the foreseeable future.
Charles Dickens used the Middle Bar of the George quite frequently, as he spent a good deal of his time in Southwark, where he lived for a period, and which was also home to the Marshalsea Prison, where his father was imprisoned in 1824. The Middle Bar of the George was the Coffee Room, where Dickens would often meet friends and discuss politics and literature. Dickens featured the George in ‘Little Dorrit’, where Maggy tells young Tip he has to go to the George to write a begging letter.
Borough High Street was once the route between Canterbury, England's major centre of pilgrimage, and London Bridge, which was the only bridge to get in and out of London at this time. London Bridge had gates that were locked each night at a certain time, when the curfew bell was rung. This meant that any travellers arriving after this time had to find accommodation for the night in Southwark, before continuing on their way the following morning.
Records taken in 1619 show that the population of Southwark consisted of more innkeepers than any other trade. This in turn, meant that Southwark at this particular time was richer in historic inns and taverns than any other part of London. As well as the George, there was also the White Hart, the Queen's Head, the King's Head, the Bell, the Catherine Wheel, and probably the most famous of them all, The Tabard, which was almost next door to the George and used by Chaucer at the start of his pilgrimage, and in his book, ‘The Canterbury Tales’. The Tabard was pulled down in 1874 to make way for modern developments.
The inns of Southwark might well have flourished, but not so the theatre inns, for in 1594 the City of London started regulating the various inns activities, which they said attracted the wrong type of clientele, including thieves, vagabonds and loose women. This led to the development and licensing of the covered Playhouses and open Amphitheatres, which in turn led to the ultimate replacement of the Inns as venues for Elizabethan plays and theatres.
Most of old Southwark’s galleried inns are long gone, in their place are now shops and commercial premises, leaving what remains of the George Inn a lasting testament to the history of this fascinating borough.
Excellent. I shall take copies to all the pubs in my area.
I can't upload the banner to my blog....:-( It says unrecognizable format. Any ideas as to why this might be happening? Thanks-
Even the BBC are reporting the truth, that the smoking ban is ruining the pub trade.
Colin Davis Rhondda Landlord admits ""In my opinion, it all comes from the smoking ban [introduced in Wales in 2007]. We really noticed a huge difference. Our customers just stopped coming.
He says ""People in the valleys don't want a gastro pub - they want somewhere they can come and have a drink, a smoke and chat."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11087891
Why can't the hospitality industry pull together and fight the legislation, they are clearly losing out on many millions of pounds.
Thanks, all, for the lovely pub info above.
When next I've saved enough for a smokefree train trip up to Waterloo (and to think that London used to be known as 'The Smoke'), I'll pay these establishments a visit.
They may not survive too long in the 'Bladerunner' future being planned for us.
Lives 'saved' by the ban ?
I wonder how many have been ruined by it...................................