I didn't work that hard either.
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Devonshire Cat has just announced it won't be reopening.
"...We will update here, as and when the situation changes."
Considering that 90% of their custom comes from students (and their parents), it would be crazy to reopen in July/August. They'll need to know that face-to-face teaching at the university is definitely going to happen again before they reopen, I reckon.
(It was my third most visited pub this year, and I was going there on 20 March too, but they closed early for some reason.)
Read their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/devcat/ sadly it's nowhere near as optimistic. :mad:
It won't be owned by Abbeydale anyway.
More bad news for those of us based in the north. According to various sources on a Yorkshire pubs Facebook page I dip into, several venues owned by Market Town Taverns will not be reopening after the lockdown has eased. Brigantes (York) we already know about, but further casualties are:
East of Arcadia (Meanwood, Leeds).
Veritas (Leeds).
Town Street Tavern (Horsforth, Leeds).
Horse & Farrier (Otley).
Not sure what will happen in the long term, but in the short term, these are quality bars that will be sorely missed.
That's bad news. Andy.
I always visit Arcadia when I go to watch the Leeds Rhinos - that won't be happening again any day now, either - but East of Arcadia didn't strike me as a particularly attractive pub, and it's up against a lot of diverse competition in Meanwood. Not to mention the size of the building must make it very expensive to run. It could well have been borderline profitable (like the Dev Cat, above), and this situation has been the final nail in the coffin (sorry about the cliche).
I'd heard about the Horse & Farrier via Otley pub club and of course Brigates, the Leed's ones are very bad news. I think all the Yorkshire MTTs are leased premises (except perhaps the Mitre in Knaresborough) so depending on the freeholder's attitudes we may not have seen the last of MTT closures. Don't know the status of the Liverpool trio which include two of the best pubs in Liverpool.
I've just read that Arcadia will reopen, but it's going to be a few weeks down the line. Amazingly, it's nine years since I reviewed EOA. The Meanwood beer scene has come on leaps and bounds since then. It's probably my least favourite of the four - I commented at the time it had a strange cruise ship ambience, but the beer was good.
Will miss Veritas in particular. Usually called if I was north of the Headrow.