So the Mermaid's due to re-open soon, anyone know who's the new owner? Just the Full Moon to go now.... Hope it opens before Wetherspoons takes its slice of the drinking action?

HeckWob, the only problem with that sentiment is, it's exactly that, a sentiment! It's not supported in practice?

Many people say they love 'proper' pubs, the sort that only serve ale and the occasional bar snack, with a roaring fire and loads of large comfy chairs, but those same people then usually only patronise pubs where they can have a meal, or even worse, they stay at home with their artificially cheap supermarket drinks and then wonder why the 'proper' pubs that they 'love' so much are not viable!

It's equivalent to all the people who 'love' local shops but do all their shopping in supermarkets; 'love' their country but always holiday abroad; 'love' their planet, as long as it doesn't mean they personally have to cut back on energy use; 'love' music or movies but then download everything for free; 'love' the NHS but then rob the taxman at every opportunity, etc. etc...

You get my drift, rant over... :o)

Fair point Cydertron, can't argue with that, just don't moan when you fancy spoiling yourself and realise there's nothing left in the 'real world' except mega-warehouses around Milton Keynes that will only sell over the net!

Steve - you should be grateful that the 2 supermarket in Wells have such a poor regard for real ale and believe that fizzy nationals/regionals will suffice, thank goodness for the Spar stocking Bath Ales... (and that little Post Office on Bath Rd)

Does the Cheddar Valley do food?

Been off here for a while, are we being plessed with a House of Sticky Tables? And who has acquired The Mermaid? Will they retain it's, er, unique attractions?

Alister : The Wine Shop in Market Street sells delicious Moor Beer!

I wish someone would sell mini kegs in town! I once saw one in a pub but it wasn't for sale. :(

We could sell them but the problem becomes one of storage, I barely have space for the business I do now and off-sales, by definition, involve a lot more stock. There's a reason that Tesco's et al all inhabit large, ugly, square warehouses on the outskirts of towns and have daily deliveries on 40' trucks!

Aside from that, I'd have to sell take-outs at the 'proper' price. Supermarkets have sold alcohol for so long at below-cost prices, supported by their other sales, that the general perception is of pubs over-charging when, in reality, it is supermarkets that are under-charging. So even if I could find the space, I couldn't meet customer expectations...

Good news that the Wells mile will soon contain 12 pubs again :) hic! Of course there's still the threat of a Wetherspoons opening making 13 - lucky for some.

Getting back on topic.....I haven't spent much time in Wells in the last month but did I dream that The Mermaid was open at some point recently? What happened?

Is that meeeeeeeeee off topic? Well I ramble on a bit I know.......... well a lot, but I think doing something like celebrate a local produce in our City pubs is very on topic, if it attracts more business. Cider is a much misunderstood, much maligned alcoholic drink and in Somerset we make the best, and yet it is not widely available.
I have been a little distracted by other concerns, but I believe the Mermaid's owners put a temporary manger in and I maybe wrong as I can't get out much but I think that all fell through. I am sure everybody is aware the application to turn the Old Bus Station into a pub was rejected. I always thought the old bus station would make a marvellous........................bus station, not very creative I know, and whoops off-topic.

I remember the Full Moon when it was so rough, the taxi drivers would not even stop outside!

Absolutely spot on KingsH, very subjective, I love the stuff, sadly as I have slowly switched to cider I have lost my taste for real ale, which as a life long ale fan is a bit upsetting. It is frustrating though that local cider isn't more available, and I stick to my point that in other countries and even many parts of this country regional drink and food is celebrated and marketed, so why not local cider?

Full Moon rough! Before my time, only been here since 81. Sadly KH I think you're right when you look at it sensibly, it's to off the beaten track for these days, and Wells is so small.

I would be sad to see the Globe be anything else but a pub, some attachment to the place, my Grandfather was landlord until he died in 1963. Back then the Order of The Buffalo met there, but guess they have migrated to the plains or been hunted to extinction. Could be a cracking pub again, but the investment needed might not appeal to someone wanting to make money quickly, which is understandable.

So KH when you getting some Hecks in !-)

Wilkins cider is my personal favourite around here. You can get that at The Wookey Hole Inn and The Hunter's Lodge if I remember correctly. Not a fan of that fizzy stuff that pretends to be cider. ;-)

Anyway. I'm more a real ale chap and go for the Merlin's or Butcombe more often than not. I do like a Gorge Best too, but not seen that in town yet.

KIngsH, well I will have to disagree about talking about it and then actually ordering the internationally well known brands, not in my case and many other cider heads, just not true. I and all of my friends do buy local produce when it's available, but good local cider isn't.

There are very successful cider pubs and pubs with cider bars doing very well, jumping on the back of ciders massive growth. The growth in cider sales has been so good it is what prompted Stella to bring out their Cidre (not my cup of tea), I read the article all about why Stella did it. Cider is in and profitable. Even the Co-Op in Chilcompton and Radstock are selling Hecks in 2 and 4 litre plastic containers, and loads of it. Hecks send their cider all over the country, but not to Wells.

Also I'm afraid you are wrong about Thatchers, they are at Sandford and Heck's are in Street, your front door to Thatchers 16.7 miles your front door to Hecks 8.2 miles and that's just one of many others I could mention and all of them considerably closer than Thatchers at Sandford, Wilkins cider at Mudgley 7.2 miles. I could go on. So all of them truly local. I have nothing against Thatchers, they do some good ciders, but not truly local and most fizzy, not how cider should be. Thatchers Heritage of course is still, but one of their weaker ones and a little lacking in flavour for me, but a very welcome product in the absence of better local ones.

To compare Gaymers or Blackthorn with any of the real ciders available on our doorstep is like comparing Lambrini to Chateau Lafite Rothschild, i.e. in different classes, and a bogus comparison.
Most bottled ciders have been pasteurised (some have preservatives) and lack the depth and body of flavour that draught real cider has.

The point I made about investment in pubs not giving a quick enough return is reference to just that. Property and businesses that people buy into is often to make money quickly, they aren't interested in the long term, they have money sitting in the bank and want to earn more interest than the banks offer, so as is often the case they look to property. So my comment stands. I am under no illusion about the commitment and effort it takes to make a success out of a pub, I have worked in a pub and a club. Hopefully someone who is in it for the long run will buy The Globe and open it as a pub.
As far as sentiment into action I am both sentimental and a man of action, I drink in local pubs and am very sentimental about them. I don't often drink in Wells any more as it doesn't cater for me, the first pub that does gets my custom.

Times are hard as we all know and many people are drinking at home. So I would have thought anything to tempt people in would help, and maybe real local cider, on draught or out of a big box thing, (can't remember the name but they keep well, I know I had one for a month in summer un-chilled too, was great from start to end) is just the thing.

Just as an aside and to draw attention to it, has anybody here read about the toxic waste dump planned that could contaminate Chew Valley Lake, where our drinking water comes from. There are details in another posting.

KingsH,

I do appreciate your openness and preparedness to have a sensible discussion and of course would bow to your experience and familiarity with the licensing trade.
However !-) I have to strongly disagree with the last postings opening statement. It is your belief that I am making a classic mistake. I believe the contrary, that is I am not. I am basing it not just on a few mates and myself, I really am not that daft, I am basing it on the success real cider has been in many, many places. There is also a vibrant market for "real" things of all sorts, and for local produce, not just in Wells but in villages, towns and cities all over this land. Many places have successfully marketed local produce, and traders and their customers have benefited from that, it's good for all. I also base it on reading factual reports about cider's continuing popularity and growth in sales. So whilst I have a vested interest in that I love the stuff, I am not so naive as to not consider the business side of things. So local cider scores on two points, it is a successful drink and it's local produce.
Real cider around the immediate locality seems to be in the same position as real ale was some years a go, in that is it was all fizzy keg beer and very little real ale, now there are very few pubs that haven't got a real ale, and the big guys in brewing jumped on that bad wagon pretty smartish too. Much of that success of real ale was NOT down to hugely expensive advertising campaigns, it was many reasons as I am sure you know. I was a member of CAMRA many years ago and they played a big part in real ales success and guess what they are starting to promote and campaign on now?
http://tinyurl.com/2x7nvv

Yep, and if they are as successful as they were with real ale way hay!!!

Obviously licensees and the real ale brewers played a huge part (as did punters) in real ales success, but I never saw a razzmataz advertising campaign for Butcome or any of the many, many others I could mention, and yet it succeeded. The product did the talking. There are of course Real cider campaign groups, but they are in their infancy compared to real ale groups, but watch this space as they say, well not this particular one, but you know what I mean.

As for enjoying warm cider, bit of an assumption there, but I didn't explain why the large poly bin or whatever it is called spent the summer outside, it was in the shade in the coolest part I could find, and for an evening I decanted to a sealed container that went in the fridge. Most cider drinkers I know like it at cellar temp as real ale should be enjoyed (12-14 C (54-57 F) , not warm and not so cold you can't taste it, but you know that. I was trying to make the point that it kept well and will keep if treated with the same care as a real ale, nothing more to it. As for serving from a keg, I am not sure about Hecks but will of course find out, but a certain pub chain have the "poly bins" in fridges, and maybe you can't cater for that (not as you assumed out of warm plastic containers), would be a pity as, as I have said before, I like your establishment (I am the guy with the ginger wig and wearing lippy, sat on the bar stool), it is a warm and inviting place, with a nice mixture of facilities and old, just as I like a pub to look. Some of the music however..............but then I have impeccable taste in that too !!! So no classic mistakes!!!

Sadly you are right about the Globe, but you never know, there is always hope.

Glad you saw the post about Stowey Quarry and sorry to hijack this post, but I think our drinking water somewhat important and am trying to spread the word in Wells, the more signatures on the electronic petition the better, and bombard the planners with e mails, the louder we shout the more likely they will change their daft minds...people power.

PS Hecks is served in pubs all around Wells, just not in it.

Jacqui - a good idea but I don't need anything free, I'm more than happy to buy a cask and start getting some good local ciders on in place of the guest ales. Or would even consider replacing the Thatcher's Heritage with changing guest ciders, as sales of that have dropped off since we stocked the Gold. The problem has never been one of will, only of supply, because cider has traditionally (especially in Somerset) been sold in pins and poly-containers (or bottles), so there's been no incentive for the smaller cider producers to invest in the considerable expense of casks/kegs?

Heckwob - the Camra argument is a whole different discussion, not condensible into the 3500 or so characters we get on here :o)

Oh, and regarding the Full Moon, I've just had confirmation this morning (100% reliable) that it is indeed being fully refurbished and re-opened as a pub by the owner, who has (or had) a pub in WSM. Due to open late this year. I really hope they make me eat my words, as I'd hate to see them fail with so much effort being put in so, if the new owners are reading this, good luck!

Just don't get rid of Merlins!!! :-P