Audlem food !

[Hastings]

Summary of current situation (from an Audlem resident):

 

Bridge Inn open, good pub food every day except Tuesday, cheap beer (Marstons) and even cheaper on Tuesdays (but no food)

Lord Combermere closed, but reopening 10 October (menu here https://www.audlem.org/lib/lord-combermere-menu-F692893.pdf )

Shroppie Fly closed, Star Pubs are advertising for new licensees

Ayaans Indian Cuisine, takeaway indian food + pizzas, burgers etc. - excellent, large portions.  https://ayaansindian.co.uk/ 

Village Chippy, closed Sunday - excellent

Tearoom @ No. 11 - open daytime from Tuesday - Saturday

Old Priest House, home cooked meals, open daytime but closed Tuesday.  Believed to be changing hands at end of September.

Linden Stores, expensive but reputedly excellent meals - check website https://www.lindenstores.co.uk/ for more details and opening times

 

There's still lots of good reasons for visiting Audlem, including Audlem Mill for the biggest selection of canal books in Britain, gifts and needlework.

[Mike Hurley]

Anyone would have to be really brave to take on a pub with the economic crisis about to bite.

[MoominPapa]

40 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

Anyone would have to be really brave to take on a pub with the economic crisis about to bite.

We're planning to head from Bunbury towards Beeston today so I looked up the Shady Oak's website to see when we could go for a meal. They closed on last night until sometime in the spring.

 

I can't say I'm enjoying the Sunlit Uplands of Brexit very much.

 

MP.

[IanD]

14 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

We're planning to head from Bunbury towards Beeston today so I looked up the Shady Oak's website to see when we could go for a meal. They closed on last night until sometime in the spring.

 

I can't say I'm enjoying the Sunlit Uplands of Brexit very much.

 

MP.

I'm not convinced Brexit has been the biggest cause of pubs closing recently, Covid killed many off and energy prices are the final nail in the coffin -- but lack of staff due to Brexit is certainly another big factor... 😞

[David Mack]

18 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

We're planning to head from Bunbury towards Beeston today so I looked up the Shady Oak's website to see when we could go for a meal. They closed on last night until sometime in the spring.

 

I can't say I'm enjoying the Sunlit Uplands of Brexit very much.

 

MP.

It's a couple of years since I visited the Shady Oak, but it was very quiet then. So I am not surprised if there isn't enough business to keep them going over the winter.

[ditchcrawler]

54 minutes ago, IanD said:

I'm not convinced Brexit has been the biggest cause of pubs closing recently, Covid killed many off and energy prices are the final nail in the coffin -- but lack of staff due to Brexit is certainly another big factor... 😞

Did that many pubs rely on foreign labour, it was obvious that lots of restaurants did but I am not so sure for rural pubs maybe the bigger ones in large city's did

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Did that many pubs rely on foreign labour, it was obvious that lots of restaurants did but I am not so sure for rural pubs maybe the bigger ones in large city's did

 

Many of the rural pubs I've been in before Brexit had non-UK bar/waiting staff, and mostly from the EU -- perhaps fewer than in cities, but still a lot. Now there seem to be fewer in all cases, for those that haven't closed of course... 😞

 

This ties up with reports from many pub managers -- city and rural -- that there was an exodus of staff after Brexit and they now have a lot of trouble finding them.

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Many of the rural pubs I've been in before Brexit had non-UK bar/waiting staff, and mostly from the EU -- perhaps fewer than in cities, but still a lot. Now there seem to be fewer in all cases, for those that haven't closed of course... 😞

 

This ties up with reports from many pub managers -- city and rural -- that there was an exodus of staff after Brexit and they now have a lot of trouble finding them.

Bit like lots of things this Country has done which is now biting them buying stuff from cheap oversea supplies. Labour, Oil, Gas Electricity plus everything made in China 

[IanD]

24 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Bit like lots of things this Country has done which is now biting them buying stuff from cheap oversea supplies. Labour, Oil, Gas Electricity plus everything made in China 

Which is of course the argument in favour of protectionism/localism -- jobs for locals not foreigners, support local industries, security of supply and so on. All of which is perfectly valid.

 

But the downside is that the costs of *everything* to consumers -- including all the workers -- goes up. Not just cheap consumer goods but also food, clothes, everything you can think of.

 

So more likely to have a job -- though unemployment isn't exactly high at the moment -- but the value of your pay is lower, so is your standard of living. If you want to see what this looks like, look at Japan -- few foreign workers, imports largely kept out, almost full employment, but most things are eye-wateringly expensive as a result. Yes I've been there many times and have friends who live there, this isn't just based on reading stuff on the internet (or the Daily Wail).

 

TANSTAAFL... 😉

[Jerra]

51 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Did that many pubs rely on foreign labour, it was obvious that lots of restaurants did but I am not so sure for rural pubs maybe the bigger ones in large city's did

Many (most?) of the Lake District ones did, now they are short staffed.

42 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Bit like lots of things this Country has done which is now biting them buying stuff from cheap oversea supplies. Labour, Oil, Gas Electricity plus everything made in China 

Now let me think, there was a party with a woman PM who started to destroy our manufacturing if I remember correctly.

[tree monkey]

2 hours ago, MoominPapa said:

We're planning to head from Bunbury towards Beeston today so I looked up the Shady Oak's website to see when we could go for a meal. They closed on last night until sometime in the spring.

 

I can't say I'm enjoying the Sunlit Uplands of Brexit very much.

 

MP.

The shady oak was the pub a group (or at least the oldest looking member of our group) bought take out beer from when we were doing practice for our Duke of Edinburgh, I think we may have been 16 at the time, we got very very drunk 🥴 

[Tonka]

Problem with rural pubs is the lack of busses. The staff if they cannot drive rely on busses to get them to work. If they do not drive then they need someone else to drive them to and from work. 

[Tony1]

 

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Bit like lots of things this Country has done which is now biting them buying stuff from cheap oversea supplies. Labour, Oil, Gas Electricity plus everything made in China 

 

Cheap EU labour did have some very positive effects- e.g. the very difficult and nasty farming jobs were done using EU labour, and we had cheap prices for many UK produced foods for many years. Our farms were very competitive, at least within the EU marketplace. 

(Obviously they can't compete on price with huge industrial farms in the US and Australia, which is why I believe many of them will go out of business within 5-10 years.)  

I don't have data for this, but personally think the reason we employed so many EU workers was not just economical, but also because we simply don't have enough young people in the UK anymore to fill all the jobs in the economy.

My impression is that although we have a high population density, it is an increasingly ageing population, with a trend of fewer young people each year to start on careers and replace the ones retiring. 

The EU labour was filling that gap, and as a by product it was bringing a youngish workforce into the country who were contributing to the economy.

In my view, the start of the benefits culture- where entire streets and villages of people were claiming benefits, and when it became normalised and socially acceptable to live on benefits- was back in the 80s, when they were all thrown out of the mines, steelworks, car plants etc as a result of the policies of Thatcher's government. 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Tony1

[IanD]

20 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Problem with rural pubs is the lack of busses. The staff if they cannot drive rely on busses to get them to work. If they do not drive then they need someone else to drive them to and from work. 

True, but no different for local or foreign workers.

 

Also Audlem isn't a lone pub in the middle of nowhere, there's a fair bit of housing in the village. Whether pub workers can afford any of it (to rent) is another matter entirely... 😞

[Tonka]

14 minutes ago, IanD said:

True, but no different for local or foreign workers.

 

Also Audlem isn't a lone pub in the middle of nowhere, there's a fair bit of housing in the village. Whether pub workers can afford any of it (to rent) is another matter entirely... 😞

So where do the foreign workers live when over here

[IanD]

9 minutes ago, Tonka said:

So where do the foreign workers live when over here

The same place the local workers do, in rented accommodation. If it exists locally, and they can afford it, which is another problem -- but nothing to do with them being foreign or not.

 

Unless the local workers still live with mum and dad, obviously... 😉

 

Getting rid of all the EU workers on the basis that they were taking accommodation from locals doesn't seem to have worked either, since Brexit house prices and rents have continued to rise and they're now even harder to afford than 5 years ago. The basic problem here is a broken UK housing policy, not EU workers.

 

Also note there are now more non-EU foreign workers in the UK than before Brexit -- but hey, but at least Phil can console himself with the thought that they're not from that hated cancer called the EU...

 

Oh dear, this is turning into another Brexit thread again, just like all the others. I wonder why that is?

Edited September 26, 2022 by IanD

[Tony1]

24 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Getting rid of all the EU workers on the basis that they were taking accommodation from locals doesn't seem to have worked either, s

 

 

Have you not heard? It's all those nasty transgender people taking our jobs and our houses now.

Next week it'll be the woke teachers again. Then the railway unions. Then Megan Markle will probably be due some hate.

It's getting hard to keep up with who we're supposed to be angry with. 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Tony1

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Have you not heard? It's all those nasty transgender people taking our jobs and our houses now.

Next week it'll be the woke teachers again. Then the railway unions. Then Megan Markle will probably be due some hate.

It's getting hard to keep up with who we're supposed to be angry with. 

 

According to the Daily Wail and the like, shouldn't we be angry with *everyone* who isn't the same as us?

Edited September 26, 2022 by IanD

[Tonka]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

According to the Daily Wail and the like, shouldn't we be angry with *everyone* who isn't the same as us?

That means we are angry with you non boat owners

[IanD]

Just now, Tonka said:

That means we are angry with you non boat owners

Will be fixing that soon then... 😉

[Tony1]

17 minutes ago, IanD said:

According to the Daily Wail and the like, shouldn't we be angry with *everyone* who isn't the same as us?

 

Inspirational thinking, my dear fellow. Much simpler.

Its very confusing to redirect my hatred onto a different target every week as my beloved Daily Mail would have me do.

I think it would be much less confusing to hate everyone at once. Everyone who isn't me, that is.

All of you non-Tony's are a bit suspect, when it comes down to it.  

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Tony1

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

Have you not heard? It's all those nasty transgender people taking our jobs and our houses now.

Next week it'll be the woke teachers again. Then the railway unions. Then Megan Markle will probably be due some hate.

It's getting hard to keep up with who we're supposed to be angry with. 

 

I dont think this thread was showing hate or anger to anyone until you raised it

[Tony1]

42 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I dont think this thread was showing hate or anger to anyone until you raised it

 

There is a very great difference between expressing hate to someone, and discussing hate as a subject matter.

I was doing the latter.  

What you appear to be showing by this response is anger, or at the very least passive aggression.

Pot and kettle. 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

There is a very great difference between expressing hate to someone, and discussing hate as a subject matter.

I was doing the latter.  

What you appear to be showing by this response is anger, or at the very least passive aggression.

Pot and kettle. 

 

 

As anyone who knows me will tell you I am a very angry and aggressive person,

[haggis]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

As anyone who knows me will tell you I am a very angry and aggressive person,

NOT !