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Thread: PONSONBY ARMS in Llangollen????????????????

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    Question PONSONBY ARMS in Llangollen????????????????

    Does anyone have any info on why this great little pub keeps changing hands so often?

    lt looks like a great place with (alledgedly) 4 letting rooms & a 'biker following as well
    as it's in a very touristy location.

    Mick

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    This Space For Hire aleandhearty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Britmick View Post
    Does anyone have any info on why this great little pub keeps changing hands so often?

    lt looks like a great place with (alledgedly) 4 letting rooms & a 'biker following as well
    as it's in a very touristy location.

    Mick
    As soon as I read Alan Hurdle's review, on the main site, I muttered pubco. As it turns out, The Ponsonby Arms is a Scottish & Newcastle pub, in turn owned by Heineken. They seem to be getting quite a reputation for restrictive practice, the flavour of which you can get on Tandleman's blog:

    http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.co...t-of-view.html

    Of course there may be other contributory factors, but I'd bet my mortgage it's part of the problem.
    'And where he supped the past lived still. And where he sipped the glass brimmed full' John Barleycorn, Carol Ann Duffy.

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    Pub researcher (unpaid) rpadam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Britmick View Post
    Does anyone have any info on why this great little pub keeps changing hands so often?

    lt looks like a great place with (alledgedly) 4 letting rooms & a 'biker following as well
    as it's in a very touristy location.

    Mick
    It's up again for somebody else to give it a go...

    http://www.snpubs.co.uk/pub/50612-po...re-north-wales

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    Pussy Galore No 1 Oggwyn Trench's Avatar
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    Its the wrong side of the bridge , or more accuratley the wrong way over the wrong side of the bridge , noboby goes that way , only bored van drivers wasting time
    Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !

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    So ur saying it's maybe the 'owners' who r turning the screws abit too much on the landlord of the pub?
    Why don't they see that tenants r leaving a bit too often for it to be just a delinquent landlord, & maybe that
    the guy can't even make ends meet to pay his own bills!?!?
    Do these companies ever just sell apub to get rid of it, becasue as with this pub, they have got to be losing money,
    especially when it's left empty when the tenant packs his bags & leaves.....OR, are they making money just by getting the
    "fixtures & fittings deposit" & keeping it?????

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    This Space For Hire AlanH's Avatar
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    The Ponsonby has had several different problems and gone through a few changes. The last but one landlord did not seem to bothered about opening or serving people. On one busy bank holiday he got fed up with the crowds and decided to close. Not the ideal way to win customers!!
    With the last landlord, I had better hopes for the place. It was open all day, had a board outside offering food all day and was repainted a more striking colour outside. The beer was not so good with the cask beer hardly ever on, especially in the week, until it stopped completely. As trade dwindled he left.
    The present landlord has put the Real Ale back on, but as he has arrived at the end of the tourist season into a pub that has been closed for a while and (as Oggwyn Trench pointed out) is at the edge of the town, custom is hard to build up. On a couple of weekday evenings I had been the only customer until two old ladies came in for a pot of tea to break their journey from Barmouth to Crewe!
    As it is the first pub most people see as they enter the town, I told the landlord he will have think of something to attract their attention to make them come back. I hope he finds it!
    Last edited by AlanH; 18-12-2011 at 20:29. Reason: spelling

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    Pussy Galore No 1 Oggwyn Trench's Avatar
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    To clarify my point (note to self , dont post when you have been in the pub all day) the main bulk of pubs and hotels are south of the bridge , any tourists crossing the bridge north usually turn left and head for the showground or up further on to the Horseshoe pass , very few turn right unless on there way home , Llangollen has got a lot of pubs for the size of the town so maybe its not that suprising that one or two are struggling .

    Note to Alan H , the pub by the traffic lights , just up from the Bull appears to have reopened (was it the Smithfield) it has a large sign BAR but nothing else to identify it , any idea ?
    Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !

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    This Space For Hire AlanH's Avatar
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    I have been watching progress of "The Smithfield". The large 'Bar' sign appeared a few weeks ago but progress has been slow. The nature of the sign with reversed 'B' and circled 'A' suggests to me, a young persons late night venue with not much chance of decent beer but I hope I am wrong.

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    Alan, the 'present' landlord must be leaving, as the pub in question is 'up-for-grabs' again!
    l am seriously thinking about applying for it, but what l need to find out is if it's a viable concern?
    & obviously Winter is not going to balance the books, but anyone with their head screwed on
    should be able to attract tourists (wrong side or not!) on such a busy area by the trainstation,
    across from the bridge, & just below the canal!...........................shouldn't they?

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    Pussy Galore No 1 Oggwyn Trench's Avatar
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    Be very carefull , Pubcos are complete Bast**ds , they will charge you around 50% more for your beer(if your lucky , it may be more) than a freehouse pays , then if you work hard and increase trade they will then happily double your rent Read the small print carefully , they will charge you for everything , if its got a kitchen they may even charge a seperate rent on it
    Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !

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