Excitement reigns in the Townmouse household with the news that Doctor’s Village is about to regain its village pub! According to the local paper, the community run shop initiative has failed so they decided to turn the premises into a pub instead, the former pub having long been turned into a private home. This is definitely swimming against the tide because if there’s been one real disappointment about rural life in these parts it’s been the lack of decent pubs. No self-respecting English village would consider itself complete without a pub, long after the shop, school, bus stop, phone box and even bench have disappeared, but Scottish pubs don’t seem to be quite the centre of rural life in the way English ones are and unless they’re on Big A Road, they struggle to survive. It’s a shame because having a local pub to head for adds almost as much pleasure to a bike ride as having a decent cafe, another thing we’re sadly lacking in round here now I come to think of it.
So we wish the new venture well and look forward to checking out our almost local boozer, although I suspect it won’t be for a while yet. Doctor’s Village is technically closer to us than Papershop village but the reason why I didn’t get my paper there when there was a shop is that it’s at the very top of a particularly steep and endless hill which makes going to the doctor quite interesting (I’ve learned to arrive a good 15 minutes before my appointments if I’m going by bike to get my blood pressure back down to a normal range). Good for working up a thirst – and great for getting swiftly home – but maybe not in the pitch dark on a dodgy potholed road. If you’ve drunk enough to think that that’s a good idea, then you’re probably too drunk to be on a bike at all. We’ll save that one for the long summer evenings, I think. Always assuming the pub’s still going by then.
Ah lovely, I hope the place is a success. I too have pondered the hill/pub thing. Is it better to have a climb before of after refreshment? I think you have the better option. We have our local at the bottom of a steep footpath. So steep there is a handrail all the way, so you can pull yourself up.. when it’s icey. It even has a tendency to sway after some extended sessions down there, so much so, it has been referred to as the Hanging Bridge of the Berg..
The problem with having the pub at the bottom of the hill is it’s always going to be too tempting to have another rather than tackle the climb home…
I’ve always found the Brompton to be the perfect bike for the pub. No need to bother with a lock (just fold it up & tuck it under your table), and it’s also the best way to determine if you’re too drunk to ride home:
If you can unfold it, you’re fine to ride. If you can’t unfold it, you’re probably better off walking.
I like it, a bike with a built in drunkometer…