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 Black Country Shop |
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31st
August
2004
(upd.23/11/04) Gornal Pubs in the Last Chance Saloon (updated 23/11/04) 23/11/04: Thanks to Charles for alerting us that there is activity at last at the Good Intent after an ominous couple of months empty and boarded up. The shutters have been taken down and this morning a pub refurbishment company van is on site. We are currently trying to establish though whether or not it will reopen in the same traditional pub format as previously.
We still have our fair share of pubs here of course, but what was once a mere trickle of closures, demolitions and conversions appears to be escalating alarmingly in recent months. For some time now The Green Dragon on the corner of Jews Lane has been locked and deserted. Now we notice that The Good Intent (or 'Tent') in Ruiton has had windows and doors professionally boarded up and is advertised TO LET by Fleurets (we're not sure whether this is on behalf of its last known owners Avebury Taverns). Meanwhile down the road The Crown is once again 'under new management' and was completely customerless last Saturday afternoon when I popped in after the Gornal football match. Further, a large sign on the Waggon & Horses at the foot of Ruiton Street informs us that the current licensees are moving on. Uncertain times then, for drinkers on the once convivial Five Ways to Vale Street crawl. The demise of the Tent is particularly perplexing. Situated directly opposite a newish housing estate with seventy large-ish detached houses on it, it has an abundance of potential custom. Indeed, one or two of its licensees over the past decade have made a success of it. However, over the past couple of years it has struggled with a succession of short term tenants. Pubs, along with churches and farms, are the local landmarks that trustily appear in the same spot on maps through the centuries, providing a sense of stability and tradition in a world that in almost all other respects is a constant whirl of confused and haphazard renewal. Each one that disappears forever causes a tug of sadness to Yampy - and perhaps a tug of guilt too. Yampy lives on that estate opposite the Tent, but that modern world whirl of business and family life has too often provided the reason or excuse for not making the hundred yard trip up the road to our own 'local'. newsdesk@yampy.co.uk. Interested in local history? Why not visit www.blackcountryshop.co.uk? --> |
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