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.
A few interesting facts and figures:
https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/...ubs-in-numbers
Probably wrong with the first paragraph saying nearly half of the pubs opened on super Saturday. Very few pubs in London and reports from round the country indicate few pubs have bothered to open.
Yes. Noticed that eight of the 24 pubs I saw on Saturday in London were open, but more have certainly powered up since and with longer opening hours too. Fuller's are yet to open and Young's come online on 20th. Pubs are certainly getting more full here too. I had no problem getting into the Pineapple (NW5) on Saturday, but a return on Wednesday and walking up Leighton Road, I saw the pub in the distance with a crowd outside, greater than its actual capacity, so either they were queuing to get in or everyone had come out for a fag which was unlikely, in the pouring rain!
Yesterday, the pubs were so full I gave up trying to get in.:(
Well, round our way the tally on Saturday was, out of 14 pubs in the town;
open 9
closed 5 (1 due to the lease expiring and wasn't opening in any case)
Of the other 4 one opened on Wednesday and another yesterday. I'll check out the other two in the fullness of time.
Opening hours however are not as before, some pubs are only open Wednesday - Sunday and only from 5pm even on Saturdays.
Nope. Passed it four out of the last five days and it's very full. Passed it on Thursday and saw two blokes leaving, so got my hopes up, only to find it near rammed with about five people propping up the bar! The place used to have doormen though not now and even though it's a walk-in pub (with scan/text for contact tracing), they now don't have anyone at the door to monitor capacity. So I could have walked in but there would have been nowhere to stand, let alone sit. Made do with the newly revamped (and inferior) Dartmouth Arms up the road but on my second trip here, the real ale has gone and the keg range was much diminished.
Pubs round here are definitely getting more full with each passing day...