Yates Wine Lodge

[Aqualung]

I wonder how many people can remember these "notorious" establishments. As I recall the chain was founded by someone who was an advocate of moderate drinking as an antidote to the Victorian Gin Palaces. By the time I got to visit any of them they were the equivalent of today's roughest Spoons imaginable, frequented by older folk knocking back Docks of draught Australian White. Most of them would make today's Spoons Daytime Brigade (who mostly drink lager in my experience) look like supporters of the Temperance Movement. What I don't know and can't find any reference to is what measure was a "Dock". A large wine today is 250ml which is a third of a bottle. Surely a "Dock" couldn't have been larger than that? I don't know how strong the Australian White was but vaguely recall there being a snooker based joke where the punch line included the phrase "Bouncing Off The White".
I went to a few of them up North and in the Midlands but the only one I went to more than once was the one on London's Strand.

[london calling]

I remember going to one in Blackpool in 1970.Champagne by the glass was me and my three mates choice. Horrible stuff we thought so we tried the Guinness and champagne next which was better.

[Blackthorn]

There are still a few around, such as the one in Weston-super-Mare. According to my review of that establishment they were founded in 1884. They'd always struck me as more of a trendy young person's joint though, rather than a down market Wetherspoons. Perhaps they changed direction a bit after dropping the "wine lodge" part of the name.

I've probably only been in that one the once, but would have been in the Bristol one a few times before it closed (it became one of those help yourself, all you can eat restaurants called Flavourz, but that too has now closed and the premises are currently empty).

[Aqualung]

There are still a few around, such as the one in Weston-super-Mare. According to my review of that establishment they were founded in 1884. They'd always struck me as more of a trendy young person's joint though, rather than a down market Wetherspoons. Perhaps they changed direction a bit after dropping the "wine lodge" part of the name.

I've probably only been in that one the once, but would have been in the Bristol one a few times before it closed (it became one of those help yourself, all you can eat restaurants called Flavourz, but that too has now closed and the premises are currently empty).

I've not actually been into any of the modern Yates chain but I don't think they bear any resemblance to the Wine Lodges of old. They were more a Northern and Midland thing than southern. I have a vague recollection of a second London one in the City somewhere but finding it way too up market to be called a YWL. This memory may be a delusion. As far as I know from activity on the JDW front is that the Yates chain is part of the Stonegate empire.

[Aqualung]

I remember going to one in Blackpool in 1970.Champagne by the glass was me and my three mates choice. Horrible stuff we thought so we tried the Guinness and champagne next which was better.

This sounds even more debauched than anything I can recall!!!

[Spinko]

I remember drinking Kronenbourg Blanc in the one at the top of Leeds city centre about 10 years ago...

[hondo]

https://groceries.asda.com/product/fortified-wines/yates-original-australian-wine/39535

[Wild Rover]

In the late 60's we used to partake on a Friday night a pub crawi around about 9 pubs which was nicknamed the 'Barbara Coast' and without exception the first stop on our drunken jaunt was Blackburn's Yates's Wine lodge. I can clearly remember the large wooden barrels on the counter behind the bar where you could try a Sample or a larger dock ( l think a dock was about 2shillings and threpence) A favourite tipple round that time was a banana split which was a dock of Aussie white mixed with lemonade served in a half pint glass. You could also sample a blob that was a dock and brandy. I think I in the early days it was mainly a northern thing with the first one being in Oldham.People used to say the floors were covered in sawdust but l cannot remember this.While we were on the pub crawl in a few of the pubs the ladies of the night would be stood at the bar in a certain way that you could see the price of there wares on the sole of there shoe.

[Aqualung]

In the late 60's we used to partake on a Friday night a pub crawi around about 9 pubs which was nicknamed the 'Barbara Coast' and without exception the first stop on our drunken jaunt was Blackburn's Yates's Wine lodge. I can clearly remember the large wooden barrels on the counter behind the bar where you could try a Sample or a larger dock ( l think a dock was about 2shillings and threpence) A favourite tipple round that time was a banana split which was a dock of Aussie white mixed with lemonade served in a half pint glass. You could also sample a blob that was a dock and brandy. I think I in the early days it was mainly a northern thing with the first one being in Oldham.People used to say the floors were covered in sawdust but l cannot remember this.While we were on the pub crawl in a few of the pubs the ladies of the night would be stood at the bar in a certain way that you could see the price of there wares on the sole of there shoe.

Brilliant! That sounds more like the Yates Wine Lodge I remember from the 1970s. They certainly were mainly in the North but I seem to remember there were some in the Midlands and there was definitely one in London's Strand/. My old West London guide doesn't show it but does show the Harp as the Welsh Harp selling Bass and Charrington IPA.

http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/StMartins/BunShop.shtml

The above link shows the fate of the one in the Strand. Apparently it closed in 1981.

The Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yates's) web page describes the progress (?) from the sort of place described above to the current chain.

[london calling]

In the late 60's we used to partake on a Friday night a pub crawi around about 9 pubs which was nicknamed the 'Barbara Coast' and without exception the first stop on our drunken jaunt was Blackburn's Yates's Wine lodge. I can clearly remember the large wooden barrels on the counter behind the bar where you could try a Sample or a larger dock ( l think a dock was about 2shillings and threpence) A favourite tipple round that time was a banana split which was a dock of Aussie white mixed with lemonade served in a half pint glass. You could also sample a blob that was a dock and brandy. I think I in the early days it was mainly a northern thing with the first one being in Oldham.People used to say the floors were covered in sawdust but l cannot remember this.While we were on the pub crawl in a few of the pubs the ladies of the night would be stood at the bar in a certain way that you could see the price of there wares on the sole of there shoe.
The sawdust on the floor rings a bell with me,Ladies of the night,s shoes? Is that where the expression a bit down at the heel comes from.Or looking for a sole mate.