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07-10-2021, 00:53
Visit The Bring on the Beer site (https://bringotbeer.blogspot.com/2021/10/pubtober-snifter-cask-newydd.html)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7F6jfJWYD3o/YUjWyPljrDI/AAAAAAAABnU/TEK5YCwpWt0cn0pHjt610Q4RlZ8pkbCOgCLcBGAsYHQ/w602-h229/image_2021-09-20_194526.png (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7F6jfJWYD3o/YUjWyPljrDI/AAAAAAAABnU/TEK5YCwpWt0cn0pHjt610Q4RlZ8pkbCOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s589/image_2021-09-20_194526.png)
I'm not sure this is entirely accurate, but I'll take the compliment.
Receiving this tweet however did make me realise that, as a born-and-Braces-Bread Newportonian, I have been a bit remiss and am a wee bit guilty of inadvertendly but lazily doing my home town/city/county a bit of a disservice.
Whereas others make a hearty and reasonable effort to represent their locale's locals - such as Boak & Bailey with Bristol or BeerManchester with...er...Manchester - I haven't built up my own borough as much as I could have; although there are various reasons (https://bringotbeer.blogspot.com/2021/07/statement.html) for that.
This laxity came sharply into my focus last week, when a tweet by a beer commentator who shall remain nameless basically, and in my opinion clumsily and ignorantly, suggested that Tiny Rebel's well-documented horrendous and inappropriate behaviour over the past two years was a product of their environment.
I - possibly overzealously - interpreted that to mean that the lads/chav culture TR exuded and were apparently seeking to appeal to was indicative of Newport as a whole and how we behave.
Needless to say I took umbrage at this suggestion.
There seems to be a perception from some in the outside world - long held due to various circumstances - that Newport is a feral runt of a city inhabited by barely functioning neanderthals. How true that is can only be decided by sociologists and economists, but it seems my little city has an image problem despite not being atypical by any British city caught in the crossfire between dying industries, recession and an aging population.
I'm not saying Newport is a paradise, far from it. Love it or loathe it however, it's my home, and however small and insignificant my platform and presence is, I am an overt and visible representative of it, and also a product of its environment.
I'd like to think I didn't turn out like the oafs at Tiny Rebel, and neither did many of the folk I meet in pubs in Newport on a weekly basis. The conversation can range from Love Island to Lindisfarne, from canal boats to cannabis legislation.
Perhaps we are guilty of one thing - looking in the wrong direction. Many feel Newport's best stories are found in the past, in its history. The Chartists. Tramp poet W.H.Davies. A major international trading port and provider of steel to the world. Joe Cocker working as a gravedigger. The discovery of a medieval vessel older than the Mary Rose. Kurt Cobain proposing to Courtney Love.
And while all of these are great things to have tucked in your back pocket, Newport needs a future. But it won't get it if old ideas aren't shrugged off. It won't get it if stereotypes are perpetuated. It won't get it if lies are believed, or misinterpretations are treated as fact.
So, this is my invitation for you to come and see us. Trains run to our station direct from London, Bristol, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Derby and beyond. We won't mind if you treat us as a stop-off on your way to Cardiff or if you just use us as a less-expensive doss-house for a weekend romp round Bristol.
You don't have to drink Tiny Rebel beer or visit their bars if you don't want to. They don't define us as a city, or as a people. You can come to one of the many pubs - many of which I will feature in Pubtober - which serve and offer other things. Just pop in. We'll keep a seat for you.
And, as always, the rule is first pint's on us.
More... (https://bringotbeer.blogspot.com/2021/10/pubtober-snifter-cask-newydd.html)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7F6jfJWYD3o/YUjWyPljrDI/AAAAAAAABnU/TEK5YCwpWt0cn0pHjt610Q4RlZ8pkbCOgCLcBGAsYHQ/w602-h229/image_2021-09-20_194526.png (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7F6jfJWYD3o/YUjWyPljrDI/AAAAAAAABnU/TEK5YCwpWt0cn0pHjt610Q4RlZ8pkbCOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s589/image_2021-09-20_194526.png)
I'm not sure this is entirely accurate, but I'll take the compliment.
Receiving this tweet however did make me realise that, as a born-and-Braces-Bread Newportonian, I have been a bit remiss and am a wee bit guilty of inadvertendly but lazily doing my home town/city/county a bit of a disservice.
Whereas others make a hearty and reasonable effort to represent their locale's locals - such as Boak & Bailey with Bristol or BeerManchester with...er...Manchester - I haven't built up my own borough as much as I could have; although there are various reasons (https://bringotbeer.blogspot.com/2021/07/statement.html) for that.
This laxity came sharply into my focus last week, when a tweet by a beer commentator who shall remain nameless basically, and in my opinion clumsily and ignorantly, suggested that Tiny Rebel's well-documented horrendous and inappropriate behaviour over the past two years was a product of their environment.
I - possibly overzealously - interpreted that to mean that the lads/chav culture TR exuded and were apparently seeking to appeal to was indicative of Newport as a whole and how we behave.
Needless to say I took umbrage at this suggestion.
There seems to be a perception from some in the outside world - long held due to various circumstances - that Newport is a feral runt of a city inhabited by barely functioning neanderthals. How true that is can only be decided by sociologists and economists, but it seems my little city has an image problem despite not being atypical by any British city caught in the crossfire between dying industries, recession and an aging population.
I'm not saying Newport is a paradise, far from it. Love it or loathe it however, it's my home, and however small and insignificant my platform and presence is, I am an overt and visible representative of it, and also a product of its environment.
I'd like to think I didn't turn out like the oafs at Tiny Rebel, and neither did many of the folk I meet in pubs in Newport on a weekly basis. The conversation can range from Love Island to Lindisfarne, from canal boats to cannabis legislation.
Perhaps we are guilty of one thing - looking in the wrong direction. Many feel Newport's best stories are found in the past, in its history. The Chartists. Tramp poet W.H.Davies. A major international trading port and provider of steel to the world. Joe Cocker working as a gravedigger. The discovery of a medieval vessel older than the Mary Rose. Kurt Cobain proposing to Courtney Love.
And while all of these are great things to have tucked in your back pocket, Newport needs a future. But it won't get it if old ideas aren't shrugged off. It won't get it if stereotypes are perpetuated. It won't get it if lies are believed, or misinterpretations are treated as fact.
So, this is my invitation for you to come and see us. Trains run to our station direct from London, Bristol, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Derby and beyond. We won't mind if you treat us as a stop-off on your way to Cardiff or if you just use us as a less-expensive doss-house for a weekend romp round Bristol.
You don't have to drink Tiny Rebel beer or visit their bars if you don't want to. They don't define us as a city, or as a people. You can come to one of the many pubs - many of which I will feature in Pubtober - which serve and offer other things. Just pop in. We'll keep a seat for you.
And, as always, the rule is first pint's on us.
More... (https://bringotbeer.blogspot.com/2021/10/pubtober-snifter-cask-newydd.html)