Shroppie Fly

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Oh dear, that’s put an end to that then for now.

Unless I walk down from Adderley,I think that’s the nearest winding hole.

[wandering snail]

20 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Oh dear, that’s put an end to that then for now.

Unless I walk down from Adderley,I think that’s the nearest winding hole.

Stoppage at Goldstone too from the 3rd Jan.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Oh dear oh dear

 

I’ll have to look at stoppages, ain’t looked for awhile, and see where I can go over the coming months. 
 

[ditchcrawler]

20 hours ago, Hastings said:

Thanks, Glenn, for your good wishes, and all the best to you for the future.  I perhaps understand why you don't seem to get further north on the Shroppie than the Anchor, but you really ought to try to get to the Shroppie Fly now, which now has all the makings of being a very good canal pub now!  Peter

Her indoors is still cross stitching the kit she bought

[BEngo]

'Er in our indoors is just cross!

 

[Annie cariad]

Still cannot understand why people get on a high horse about this pub it's not a real iconic boating boozer but an old warehouse morphed into a boating pub . Rock all is authentic if it suits who cares . Never had a decent pint in its life 

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, Annie cariad said:

Still cannot understand why people get on a high horse about this pub it's not a real iconic boating boozer but an old warehouse morphed into a boating pub . Rock all is authentic if it suits who cares . Never had a decent pint in its life 

 

People get aerated over it because it is in such a good location to be a boaty pub but never seems to get past first base before the pubco rinses the tenant so mercilessly they go bankrupt. 

 

Besides it used to have the back end of a butty for the bar which made it famous amongst non-boaters as well. I heard a LL about five back ripped it but I dunno if this is true, not having bin in for about five years

 

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, Annie cariad said:

Still cannot understand why people get on a high horse about this pub it's not a real iconic boating boozer but an old warehouse morphed into a boating pub . Rock all is authentic if it suits who cares . Never had a decent pint in its life 

I think it's not so much what it was as the location and what it looks like it ought to be. Sadly, for me, it has always failed to deliver, particularly as you say in terms of a decent pint. 

 

I keep calling in when it reopens hoping for a transformation, only to be disappointed. I'll be hoping for the best for the new landlord though and will give it a go, but stoppages mean not before March... and hands change pretty quickly there.

[MtB]

12 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I think it's not so much what it was as the location and what it looks like it ought to be. Sadly, for me, it has always failed to deliver, particularly as you say in terms of a decent pint.

 

This sums the place up for me too. I don't think I've ever been in there when its not been a new landlord, not quite got fully organised yet. 

 

Also because of where it is and what it looks like, there is a particularly long and never-ending queue of potential new tenants for the pubco to prey on. 

 

 

[Hastings]

13 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Besides it used to have the back end of a butty for the bar

 

Still there, unaltered.

 

Also, contrary to poular opinion, there isn't really a quick succession of landlords at the Shroppie Fly.  In the last 9 years, since in was renovated in late 2013, two have been there for 3-4 years each.  Admittedly there have been two or three short-term temporary people, and a six month period of closure.  But it's not as bad as suggested!

[dmr]

I went in there many years ago and thought it was quite a good pub, it had the bar made out of a boat and some ok beer, but we did here that the young lads on the pool table could cause a bit of trouble.

The next time we went in it had been "blandified" and was empty so we have not been back since.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

The next time we went in it had been "blandified" and was empty so we have not been back since.

 

That's curious. I heard the boat bar had been removed, maybe it was you that told me! But Hastings says its back in again....

 

 

[dmr]

1 minute ago, MtB said:

 

That's curious. I heard the boat bar had been removed, maybe it was you that told me! But Hastings says its back in again....

 

 

Yes, I said it was a long time ago that we went in and saw the boat.   On the second visit I can't remember if the boat was there or not but the interior was sort of standard bland eatery type style. I think on the first visit it had bookcases with canal books and stuff like that and felt a bit more pub/bar like, but this was probably 10 years ago.

[MtB]

I too have a recollection of going in expecting to see the boat bar about six or seven years ago.

 

And there it was, gone.

 

But this might have been just a dream, like most of my life nowadays...

 

 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

15 minutes ago, dmr said:

Yes, I said it was a long time ago that we went in and saw the boat.   On the second visit I can't remember if the boat was there or not but the interior was sort of standard bland eatery type style. I think on the first visit it had bookcases with canal books and stuff like that and felt a bit more pub/bar like, but this was probably 10 years ago.

I think it was 10 year ago I first went in and I’m sure I remember the boat bar being there.

From then til about 3 year ago I visited the pub regular and never saw the pub with out the boat bar. 

I also think after 10 years you’ll find it looking a little dated now, and a far cry from the modern gutted and revamped pubs we now get.
 

I think it was New Year’s Eve 2016 that I had a very good evening in there.

And I think it was under temporary management at the time. 

 

But for me it’s generally felt a hit and miss kind of place.

Mostly a disappointment. Quite and lifeless. 
But I will persevere and visit again, live in hope and all that.
It’s a big pub in a small village to try and fill in the winter.

I’ve wondered whether it’s big enough to give up some space for a small chandlery.

 

I tended to use the Bridge, you always knew what you were going to get in the Bridge when Gary ran it 🤪

 

 

[Sea Dog]

Closely related enough to get info from readers in the know re Audlem and not be entirely off topic I hope: what's the latest situation with the Lord Combermere?

[haggis]

21 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Closely related enough to get info from readers in the know re Audlem and not be entirely off topic I hope: what's the latest situation with the Lord Combermere?

We were there just after it reopened and I can't say I was very impressed. We used to like eating there but on the last visit we found it a bit pricey and trying but failing to be upmarket. It had just reopened though somit may have settled down again 

[IanD]

19 minutes ago, haggis said:

We were there just after it reopened and I can't say I was very impressed. We used to like eating there but on the last visit we found it a bit pricey and trying but failing to be upmarket. It had just reopened though somit may have settled down again 

That's a shame -- with the previous owners (we ate there several times over the years, the last one in May 2022 before it changed hands) it was a bit pricey but justified by the quality of the food (and beer). It was full and the Bridge and Shroppie were both empty, which might be a clue as to their relative merits at the time...

Edited December 17, 2022 by IanD

[junior]

Maybe the Lord Combermere's loss could be the Shroppie Flys gain.

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, Hastings said:

Still there, unaltered.

 

Also, contrary to poular opinion, there isn't really a quick succession of landlords at the Shroppie Fly.  In the last 9 years, since in was renovated in late 2013, two have been there for 3-4 years each.  Admittedly there have been two or three short-term temporary people, and a six month period of closure.  But it's not as bad as suggested!

Didn't one of them get into a fight with a trading boat moored nearby

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, junior said:

Maybe the Lord Combermere's loss could be the Shroppie Flys gain.

Isn't that the nub of the issue? Audlem is really too small a village to support three pubs in the current economic climate?

Edited December 17, 2022 by David Mack

[IanD]

38 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Isn't that the nub of the issue? Audlem is really too small a village to support three pubs in the current economic climate?

I don't think it's just the current economic climate, it's the fact that pub sales -- especially wet sales -- have been dropping for many years due to a combination of many factors including increasing costs, drink-driving laws, cheap supermarket booze, money-grubbing pubcos.

 

It's harder than ever before for wet-led pubs to stay viable, or three pubs in a village the size of Audlem. Don't forget that the Shroppie might look nice and be convenient for boaters -- not many customers! -- but from everyone else's point of view -- a lot more customers! -- it's on the outskirts of Audlem and the Combermere is in the middle...

[cuthound]

5 hours ago, MtB said:

 

That's curious. I heard the boat bar had been removed, maybe it was you that told me! But Hastings says its back in again....

 

 

 

Probably taken out for blacking... 😂🤣

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

I don't think it's just the current economic climate, it's the fact that pub sales -- especially wet sales -- have been dropping for many years due to a combination of many factors including increasing costs, drink-driving laws, cheap supermarket booze, money-grubbing pubcos.

 

It's harder than ever before for wet-led pubs to stay viable, or three pubs in a village the size of Audlem. Don't forget that the Shroppie might look nice and be convenient for boaters -- not many customers! -- but from everyone else's point of view -- a lot more customers! -- it's on the outskirts of Audlem and the Combermere is in the middle...

I'd agree those are all factors which affect the pubs' viability.

The Fly benefits from its canalside location in terms of passing boats and walkers, but has the disadvantage of not being visible from the road. Indeed you even have to go past the Bridge to get to it.  So it is always going to struggle to attract the casual passing drinker/diner.

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I'd agree those are all factors which affect the pubs' viability.

The Fly benefits from its canalside location in terms of passing boats and walkers, but has the disadvantage of not being visible from the road. Indeed you even have to go past the Bridge to get to it.  So it is always going to struggle to attract the casual passing drinker/diner.

 

It's the sort of place people seek out once it gets a good reputation spreading by word of mouth. If a visit remains a mediocre, run-of-the-mill experience people will not spread the word about. Or maybe they will, which does the damage.