No more Folly!

[Doorman]

I was shocked to hear that the Folly by Napton bottom lock, formerly the Folly Pie Pub, closed its doors a few weeks ago. I'm even more surprised that as far as I'm aware this has not been mentioned on the various canal fora.

New people took it over a little while ago (2009?), replacing the landlord who had reopened it and had run it for a number of years. It staged a well-supported Folk, Beer and Boats weekend in August and shut shortly thereafter. Perhaps the new people were not quite right for the pub.

So if, like us, you plan to visit it in the course of a cruise, think again. I am uncertain if the Folly Shop has closed too. I do hope that new blood can be found to revitalise it.

 

 

We too, lament the closure of such pubs. But, as another member has rightly indicated, if the landlords/owners fail to maintain standards, whether hygiene or otherwise, then unfortunately, they get what they deserve! In today's cut throat business world, it's a case of 'do or die'. So many businesses fail to recognise this simple maxim.

 

As an aside, we ventured into a Toby Inn at Festival Park in Stoke yesterday. Nestling alongside the marina, this corporate hostelry, with it's automated style of service, enjoys good business through simple practice. They offer a week day carvery for £5.25p.

 

The ale isn't spectacular, but for that price, the food is excellent value. Needless to say, the place is very well patronized. Another example of commercial evolution is Wetherspoon's. Typical cheap and cheerful venues and although populated mostly by wrinklies like us, they provide an affordable venue for a drink and a chat.

 

It would be a sorry day if the likes of The Swan at Fradley Junction was ever to close, we would drink there all day if it meant survival for the place

 

Mike (hic)

Edited October 2, 2010 by Doorman

[Hairy-Neil]

I have not been to The Folly for 2 years but when I was last there it sold over priced pies and the beer was very hit and miss. It does rely on the canal as it is quite a distance from Napton.

 

What beats me is why do pubs with an iregular customer base even try to keep three real ales sweet. One well kept ale would be better than a choice of three vinegars. It will be a long while before I return to the Folly for an evening tie up.

 

I had a similar experience in the Napton Bridge, some 10 years ago and have yet to return. I've also been in the Kings Head and had an excellent meal and ale but as that's 31 years ago it might have changed.

Edited October 2, 2010 by Hairy-Neil

[Doorman]

I proved acquired right of access and, whilst researching for the fight, discovered that I had retained the right to graze my livestock, on the car park.

 

 

 

 

Were you implored to provide disabled spaces, for any lame livestock though?

[carlt]

 

 

Were you implored to provide disabled spaces, for any lame livestock though?

No, but, if refused the right to walk across a car park, to a 300 year old cottage, that has acquired rights of access then pointing out that you also have the right to insist that the tarmac is removed and grass reinstated, so that your livestock can graze, is quite a persuader, to work out a compromise.

 

There was also had the right to hold a monthly market, on the green and the travelling smithy exercised those rights by setting up, on a regular basis, so the locals can get their horses' hooves fettled.

[RLWP]

In the mid 1970s when I started visiting pubs I was paying around 30p a pint. I was taking home £15/week at the time. Since then, beer prices have increased tenfold, but wages.....

 

Are you on less than £150 a week now?

 

Or is that your point

 

Richard

[Hairy-Neil]

 

 

It would be a sorry day if the likes of The Swan at Fradley Junction was ever to close, we would drink there all day if it meant survival for the place

 

Mike (hic)

 

It was my father's local 60 years ago when stationed at the nearby RAF Lichfield.

 

I was in there in august. The landlord drinks the ale himself and won't knowingly serve a dodgy pint. Whilst there, he'd had a run on and had to change the barrel of 'Pedigree'. Once on, he wasn't happy that it was ready to serve, so it remained off.

[Doorman]

What beats me is why do pubs with an iregular customer base even try to keep three real ales sweet. One well kept ale would be better than a choice of three vinegars. It will be a long while before I return to the Folly for an evening tie up.

 

I had a similar experience in the Napton Bridge, some 10 years ago and have yet to return. I've also been in the Kings Head and had an excellent meal and ale but as that's 31 years ago it might have changed.

 

Someone once asked where the King's Head was. A curt reply returned, about 3 foot from his **se!

Edited October 2, 2010 by Doorman

[Josher]

It is sad when a pub closes (but use it or loose it applies!) but some people put more effort in than others - for instance:

 

Horton pub landlords plan general store 7:00am Saturday 2nd October 2010 This is Wiltshire

 

"The landlords of the Bridge Inn at Horton are planning to open a general store to serve the three surrounding villages. Adrian and Nikki Softley have applied through their landlords Wadworth & Co for permission to convert part of an outbuilding at the canalside pub into a retail outlet selling basics to both villagers and boaters. Mr Softley said: “It will be a little village store selling tea, coffee, milk, cereals and other prepacked food to the three villages around us – Coate, Horton and Bishops Cannings – as well as passing trade on the road and canal. “We are already selling Calor gas and coal, which are important to the boaters on the canal, and we will continue doing that when the shop opens.” Mr and Mrs Softley are looking to open the shop early in the New Year."

 

The village store at Burland (four or five bridges up the Llangollen from Hurleston) re-opened two weeks ago and it is great - Sunday papers, meat from the Great Tasting Meat Company etc. We will 'shop local' now to support them rather than stopping at a supermarket on route to the moorings.

[twbm]

Speaking as the owner of a bar:

 

The attitide to drink drive has changed over the past fifteen or so years, with younger drivers being (in my experience) far more inclined to heed the rules than some of us who were around when breathalysers were newish. Truth is country pubs that depended on people visiting by car have been hit by this, hence their demise. Drop in trade leads to a hike in prices in an attempt to pay the bills. If you can develop a reputation for good food then people will still travel, but the only good advertising is word of mouth so if you haven't got sufficient capital behind you to weather the first three or four years, you won't make it. Boat trade is all well and good in Summer, but canal visitors won't drive back half way across the country from their home town for a meal no matter how good it is.

 

Large managed pub chains have the same buying power as supermarkets and tell the breweries how much they are prepared to pay, small independents pay what the brewery demands. Accordingly our local 'spoons sells some beers for less than we would pay wholesale. We can't compete on price.

 

Tenants in pubs are at the mercy of their pubcos, who buy at the same reduced prices then put huge markups on their products giving the tenants no choice of supplier. Any hard work to significantly increase trade is rewarded by an increase in rent.

 

We don't sell real ales: If you don't sell it within a week to ten days it goes off and has to be ditched. Some real ale drinkers have a tendency to buy a half of Scruttocks Old Dirigible and spend half an hour talking about it. Keg beers last for a month, ciders for a year. Lager and Keg bitter drinkers buy a drink, drink it, then buy another.

 

If we want our traditional pubs to survive we have to use them, and use them regularly. They are not a subsidised social service.

[Athy]

I really think that if Scruttocks' Old Dirigible does not exist, it should be created staright away. Oh, and I'll drink a pint of it, probably two.

[RLWP]

Speaking as the owner of a bar:

<snip>

If you can develop a reputation for good food then people will still travel, but the only good advertising is word of mouth<snip>

 

That's a really helpful view of how it is on the other side of the bar.

 

The sentence that I've quoted above is exactly why the Folly (note, not the Folly Pie that it used to be) failed. I had heard of it as a good pub. I called in, once, ages ago towards the end of lunchtime to eat. They didn't have much on and weren't interested in serving us.

 

We went a bit further down the cut to the next pub (The Bridge?) where we were very welcome even though they had just finished serving lunch and opened the kitchen just to serve us.

 

Since then I've heard several stories about how the Folly isn't the pub that it used to be, so I've never been back.

 

Word of mouth is very powerful, and unfortunately works both ways

 

Richard

[PiRSqwared]

Speaking as the owner of a bar:

 

Snip

 

 

Some real ale drinkers have a tendency to buy a half of Scruttocks Old Dirigible and spend half an hour talking about it

 

Ah yes an excellent brew, although the 11% ABV loosens the tongue of many a boring person!!

 

Do these people have beards and wear poorly coordinated knitwear? My experience of real ale drinkers is that most of their beer talk is deciding whose round it is (in a responsible, drinkaware fashion of course ). One of my favourite pubs, the Wenlock Arms, near the Wenlock Basin on the RC, is a reknowned real ale pub. Very little glass nursing goes on there I can assure you, and it is very well patronised by the locals

 

Ian

Edited October 2, 2010 by PiRSqwared

[Athy]

What the Folly does have in its favour is its absolutely excellent position, scenic, plenty of nearby mooring, sanny station right opposite, so I hope that someone else can resurrect it - though it sounds as if the owner must be realistic in his rent demands.

[Hairy-Neil]

I really think that if Scruttocks' Old Dirigible does not exist, it should be created staright away. Oh, and I'll drink a pint of it, probably two.

 

So would I IF it was well kept. If it was presented with the typical attitude of twmb I would only risk a half as I've been sold crap too often. Serve me a good pint and I'll drink it all night. Offer me rubbish and I'll move on somewhere better and tell the world what a scoundrel you are.....

 

If real ale is such a poor seller, how is it that Wetherspoons* can offer up to a dozen guest beers? A pub in Gainsborough (8 Jolly Brewers) I visited last week sold little else but real ale and was the busiest pub I've been in on a monday night for ages.

 

*Not that I'm a fan of Wetherspoons I might add, I only use them occasionally out of desperation. They are the slippery slope to the end of pubs as we know them. The village shop, wayside petrol station et al went the same way....

[cotswoldsman]

 

*Not that I'm a fan of Wetherspoons I might add, I only use them occasionally out of desperation. They are the slippery slope to the end of pubs as we know them. The village shop, wayside petrol station et al went the same way....

 

I don't disagree with you when it comes to Wetherspoons but there beer is always good and the price is fantastic. Last Saturday I went to the rugby in Bath with my mate and we started with a couple of beers in one pub £3.50 a pint and a couple of others about the same price £3 and after the game we went to Wetherspoons £1.95 a pint!! Then we had a burger and a pint £3.99 and the burger was ok!!

[Athy]

Come on, after that number of pints anything would have tasted OK!

[cotswoldsman]

Come on, after that number of pints anything would have tasted OK!

 

[twbm]

Neil,

 

Not sure my attitide is typical: we don't sell real ale because we can't afford to ditch it once it has got past its best, so rather than risk serving a bad pint, we just don't sell it. I think that makes us the good guys in a backhanded sort of way.

 

As regards 'spoons: if I could get a nine gallon keg of Scruttocks for about £30, and be sure to sell a third of it for £2 a pint whilst it was in fettle, I'd do it, notwithstanding the low GP on £48 return less ullage - it would be worth a go to see if the trade developed. We, however, would pay at least £80 for the same barrel, so even at £3.50 a pint we'd make nothing if you allow for three or four pints being lost when we clean the pipes. I would sell it in bottles, but to make it worth the shelf space we have to charge £3.60 a go, which is just embarrassing.

 

Sorry about the indirect men with beards inference - I like a pint of proper beer myself but the trade has to be there to make it worth stocking.

 

Trevor W.

 

Edited to add: My recommendation for a canlside pub that gets it all about right is the Two Boats at Long Itchington. Very good real ale and huge portions of very good food.

Edited October 2, 2010 by twbm

[ditchcrawler]

What beats me is why do pubs with an iregular customer base even try to keep three real ales sweet. One well kept ale would be better than a choice of three vinegars. It will be a long while before I return to the Folly for an evening tie up.

 

I had a similar experience in the Napton Bridge, some 10 years ago and have yet to return. I've also been in the Kings Head and had an excellent meal and ale but as that's 31 years ago it might have changed.

Thats a bit hard, the b

Bridge has had 3 Landlords since then and the Folly when/if it reopens will have had two yet you are still relying on what happened with the former management. If every one took this attitude businesses could never improve under new management.

[cotswoldsman]

 

Trevor W.

 

Edited to add: My recommendation for a canlside pub that gets it all about right is the Two Boats at Long Itchington. Very good real ale and huge portions of very good food.

 

have to agree there they have a very good local trade in a small town with about 5 pubs, food is what I said earlier simple but very good and priced belowe £10 for something like half chicken (good sized chicken) and chips £8

[Hairy-Neil]

Thats a bit hard, the b

Bridge has had 3 Landlords since then and the Folly when/if it reopens will have had two yet you are still relying on what happened with the former management. If every one took this attitude businesses could never improve under new management.

 

I stopped at the Napton Bridge last time I passed through Napton (10 years ago). This time I gave the Folly a chance.....

 

And considering that I was boating with the chairman and an ex chairman of Chester and South Clwyd Branch of CAMRA at the time I think I did rather well to get them in the Folly in the first place.....

[Hairy-Neil]

 

 

Sorry about the indirect men with beards inference - I like a pint of proper beer myself but the trade has to be there to make it worth stocking.

 

 

 

I don't have a problem with the truth....

 

A catch 22 situation as you'll never have a trade if you don't stock it.

[PiRSqwared]

I don't have a problem with the truth....

 

A catch 22 situation as you'll never have a trade if you don't stock it.

 

So true...free word of mouth promotion doesnae come cheap!

 

Ian

[Morat]

What the Folly does have in its favour is its absolutely excellent position, scenic, plenty of nearby mooring, sanny station right opposite, so I hope that someone else can resurrect it - though it sounds as if the owner must be realistic in his rent demands.

 

It is really beautiful, that's for sure. Sadly we've been there twice and been disappointed both times. The second time was in April this year for Sunday lunch. We'd seen the "under new ownership" signs but we were given raw vegetables, packet gravy and very dull beer. Hey ho.

 

I'd really love that pub to be taken over by someone who can make a success of it, because I'd love to sit outside it watching the boats and drinking good beer.

[Doorman]

Ah yes an excellent brew, although the 11% ABV loosens the tongue of many a boring person!!

 

Do these people have beards and wear poorly coordinated knitwear? My experience of real ale drinkers is that most of their beer talk is deciding whose round it is (in a responsible, drinkaware fashion of course ). One of my favourite pubs, the Wenlock Arms, near the Wenlock Basin on the RC, is a reknowned real ale pub. Very little glass nursing goes on there I can assure you, and it is very well patronised by the locals

 

Ian

 

 

They had a real ale beer festival on at The Shroppie Fly recently, they sold all of their stocks within three days. I helped them out, just in case it went off!