The Shroppie Fly

[haggis]

Having Had two very nice meals in the Shroppie Fly recently we were saying to our waitress tonight how nice it was that the pub had become good again after a chequered few years.

She told us that it is closing in February for a major refurbishment -  Bigger kitchen, new furniture, redecoration etc but the boat will be staying. 

Hope they don't lose the customers they have built up..Almost all tables were taken tonight in the dining area. 

Well worth a visit 

 

[agg221]

26 minutes ago, haggis said:

Having Had two very nice meals in the Shroppie Fly recently we were saying to our waitress tonight how nice it was that the pub had become good again after a chequered few years.

She told us that it is closing in February for a major refurbishment -  Bigger kitchen, new furniture, redecoration etc but the boat will be staying. 

Hope they don't lose the customers they have built up..Almost all tables were taken tonight in the dining area. 

Well worth a visit 

 

Yes, I was talking to the landlord about this at the end of October. One of the major changes is that they need a bigger cellar as they can't fit in enough beer - I generally regard that as a good sign!

 

The place is being run very well at the moment and the landlord lives aboard on the moorings just up from the pub, so it definitely has its priorities right. The Bridge isn't bad either, so it's just the Combermere which is currently suffering. Still, two out of three isn't bad in a place the size of Audlem.

 

Alec

[haggis]

I thought the Combermere had closed again but as all the lights were on I assumed it is open. A quick look at the menu did nothing to change my view that it is expensive for what it is. We used to like it but having eaten there just after it opened the last time I thought it was pretentious.. 

[IanD]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

I thought the Combermere had closed again but as all the lights were on I assumed it is open. A quick look at the menu did nothing to change my view that it is expensive for what it is. We used to like it but having eaten there just after it opened the last time I thought it was pretentious.. 

Last time we were there the food was rather more upmarket and expensive (and interesting?) than your typical pub grub, but we thought the quality justified the prices.

 

Others may well think this is pretentious because it's not the usual menu... 😉

[agg221]

54 minutes ago, IanD said:

Last time we were there the food was rather more upmarket and expensive (and interesting?) than your typical pub grub, but we thought the quality justified the prices.

 

Others may well think this is pretentious because it's not the usual menu... 😉

How long ago was that though Ian?

 

The longstanding landlord who offered a varied and slightly more upmarket menu than usual pub fare (which was well worth it in my opinion) retired a year or so ago. There was a replacement lined up before his retirement and it seemed to keep going with quiz nights etc, but the quality of the food was definitely not as high, although the prices remained so. I believe they lost a lot of the regular and local customer base as a consequence and local intelligence suggests it then went downhill fast and I believe they then left. It appeared closed in October but the lights being on again suggests it may have re-opened, one hopes with a return to the previous higher end of the market where it seemed to fill a popular (and profitable) niche for many years.

Alec

[Nightwatch]

Visited the Shroppie twice in the past and was seriously disappointed. So, this is good news.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Nightwatch said:

Visited the Shroppie twice in the past and was seriously disappointed. So, this is good news.

 

I don't think I've ever been into the Shroppie when it hasn't been under new management! 

 

 

[haggis]

10 hours ago, IanD said:

Last time we were there the food was rather more upmarket and expensive (and interesting?) than your typical pub grub, but we thought the quality justified the prices.

 

Others may well think this is pretentious because it's not the usual menu... 😉

We have no difficulty paying a bit more for good interesting food but when basic pub grub  dishes are given fancy names and charged over the odds I consider it pretentious.

[IanD]

57 minutes ago, haggis said:

We have no difficulty paying a bit more for good interesting food but when basic pub grub  dishes are given fancy names and charged over the odds I consider it pretentious.

I agree. When we were there in 2022 the food was both more expensive and rather better/more adventurous than standard pub grub dishes, probably the best meal out we had in the trip. Maybe this had changed when you were there?

[haggis]

25 minutes ago, IanD said:

I agree. When we were there in 2022 the food was both more expensive and rather better/more adventurous than standard pub grub dishes, probably the best meal out we had in the trip. Maybe this had changed when you were there?

That's what it used to be like and we usually ate there but it changed for the worse 

[Annie cariad]

Sooner go to the chippy and drink tinned beer after our last visit to the fly .... Still open minds starting to sound better 

[IanD]

12 minutes ago, haggis said:

That's what it used to be like and we usually ate there but it changed for the worse 

Unfortunately that's all too common with pubs nowadays due to all-too-frequent changes of management -- with a few laudable exceptions, the days when you could go back to a great pub a year or two later and expect it to still be the same are long gone... 😞

 

OTOH it sounds like the Fly might have gone the other way to the Combermere and got better, which would be great news -- especially if the new licensee sticks with it... 🙂

Edited January 4 by IanD

[Cheshire cat]

5 hours ago, Annie cariad said:

Sooner go to the chippy and drink tinned beer after our last visit to the fly .... Still open minds starting to sound better 

The owner of the Audlem chippy died suddenly last summer. No idea what the current situation is.

 

The licencees of the Combermere moved on to face new challenges. Their replacements would have been facing a massive task to match their predecessors and satisfy the pub group owners. According to the locals the licencees were lacking in interpersonal skills and the plub closed again fairly quickly. The current licencees have only been going since November 2023.

 

Interestingly the pub is owned by the Nomad pub company (based in Torquay) and their accounts are overdue at HMRC.

[IanD]

39 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

The owner of the Audlem chippy died suddenly last summer. No idea what the current situation is.

 

The licencees of the Combermere moved on to face new challenges. Their replacements would have been facing a massive task to match their predecessors and satisfy the pub group owners. According to the locals the licencees were lacking in interpersonal skills and the plub closed again fairly quickly. The current licencees have only been going since November 2023.

 

Interestingly the pub is owned by the Nomad pub company (based in Torquay) and their accounts are overdue at HMRC.

 

Both times we were there several years apart (with the original licensees) the pub was full up and both the Shroppie Fly and the Bridge were almost empty, because the Combermere had by far the best food and beer in the village -- a bit pricey but worth it.

 

They were obviously a hard act to follow, hence the change in fortunes of the Audlem pubs -- and good luck to the new licensees at the Shroppie Fly, it could be a great canalside pub again 🙂

 

Let's hope the same fate as the Combermere doesn't befall the Greyhound at Sutton Stop now the longstanding (and excellent) licensees there have left... 😞

Edited January 4 by IanD

[Creaking Gate]

On 03/01/2024 at 20:44, agg221 said:

 

 

The place is being run very well at the moment and the landlord lives aboard on the moorings just up from the pub, so it definitely has its priorities right. The Bridge isn't bad either, so it's just the Combermere which is currently suffering. Still, two out of three isn't bad in a place the size of Audlem.

 

Alec

Priorities right; paying no council tax you mean.... Given its being run so well they should probably pay their way.

 

[Laurie Booth]

On 04/01/2024 at 16:17, Cheshire cat said:

The owner of the Audlem chippy died suddenly last summer. No idea what the current situation is.

 

.

THE VILLAGE CHIPPY, Audlem - Restaurant Reviews & Photos - Tripadvisor

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Creaking Gate said:

Priorities right; paying no council tax you mean.... Given its being run so well they should probably pay their way.

 

Sour grapes? I suppose that the business rates on the pub are considerably more than a domestic band "A" rate on a narrow boat.

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Sour grapes? I suppose that the business rates on the pub are considerably more than a domestic band "A" rate on a narrow boat.

some narrowboats are £200,000 so must be in a higher band then A

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

some narrowboats are £200,000 so must be in a higher band then A

Can you explain why this would be so please?

[Tonka]

18 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Can you explain why this would be so please?

because council tax bands are related to value of 

so all flats are not band A

[Tracy D'arth]

If I lived in a Rolls Royce car, what band would it be in?

4 minutes ago, Tonka said:

because council tax bands are related to value of 

so all flats are not band A

 

3 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

If I lived in a Rolls Royce car, what band would it be in?

 

www  livingonaboat.co.uk

 

Quote.

Any tax liability occurs not with regard to the boat itself, but the mooring the vessel occupies. If planning permission for permanent residential use has been secured on a mooring then it can be levied for council tax, but who actually pays the tax depends on whether you have exclusive occupancy of the mooring or not. If the mooring is yours alone then by rights you should be footing the bill. Many live-aboards mistakenly believe – or want to believe – that by living on a boat they must be tax exempt and avoid raising the issue with their local council. Whether they are eventually taken to task for their oversight depends on the conscientiousness of their local authority, which can vary significantly in this matter.

 

Given that the tax liability relates to the mooring, the council tax you pay is levied on the value of the mooring rather than that of the boat. Most residential boat moorings are consequently in council tax band A, the lowest band. There are some instances in which a permanent boat mooring is liable for council tax levied on the value of the mooring together with the value of the boat, but never exclusively on the value of the boat. These usually apply to purpose-built houseboats or any boats that are moored with a “sufficient degree of permanence as to be enjoyed with the mooring”.

 

End quote.

 

 

I think you may be incorrect

 

 

 

 

[Tonka]

5 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

If I lived in a Rolls Royce car, what band would it be in?

 

the rolling stones

[Tracy D'arth]

A good site for liveaboards or wannabes,    https://www.livingonaboat.co.uk/paying-taxes-if-you-live-boat.html

[Tonka]

If I remember correctly, the Shroppie Fly had a weired layout and the stairs that went upto the living accommodation was in the middle of one of the lounge areas

[haggis]

2 minutes ago, Tonka said:

If I remember correctly, the Shroppie Fly had a weired layout and the stairs that went upto the living accommodation was in the middle of one of the lounge areas

No there are stairs at the side (against a wall to your left)  of the first room you go into from the front door and I think they go up to living accommodation.