Speckled Hen

I was watching Look North last night and they were suggesting that heritage steam railways were under threat because of the price of coal.

I'm flabbergasted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-22687093

So.. Trillions of creatures that died billions of years ago are criushed over time to produce crude oil. Folks spend £millions searching for it and then build £billion rigs to drill for it and extract it. They build £billion pipelines for thousands of miles and pump it to £billion terminals where it is loaded into tankers that each cost £hundreds of millions. It is transported thousands of miles where it is off loaded in £billion terminals and transferred to £billion refineries where it is made into fuel. This is then loaded into tankers and delivered around the country and sold at £1.33 litre.

 

Someone else takes a handful of barley and a few hops. Mixes it with gallons of tap water ferments it for a few days and sell this liquid which is 95% tap water at £5.50/litre.

 

Folks will drive miles to save a penny on a litre of petrol but are happy to pop into a pub and pay £1/litre more for the same beer in the pub across the road.

 

Discuss..

Interestingly the £1.33 litre of petrol includes around £0.58p duty.

The £3.30 pint of Carling around £0.39p

Making your own beer is a lot easier than making your own petrol

True. And the 2 generally taste pretty similar.

if you have a problem in your area with mcdonalds litter, then you need to phone the local restaurant. they have a patrol area which they will follow several times a day. they are obliged to go and clean up an area if someone phones up to complain about excess mcds litter. in general the people in the local area are their customers so they want to keep them happy, you never know they may include that area in their usual trash walk.

McDonalds are pretty good in this respect, even if their food isn't.

They certainly donate litter bins to councils to be put around local streets and do provide litter pickers or even fund litter clearing or litter wardens (on the spot fines) by the council themselves.

It all boils down to the general public who couldn't care less about their city streets and chuck litter where they feel like it before moaning about the state of the area.

Burton on Trent I believe!

That's interesting. The last I heard was it was contracted out to Everards in Narborough.

does anyone know whats happening with old stones brewery building,bottom of rutland road,looks in a terrible state.

In that case where does all the Stones beer on sale come from?

I dont think you can still buy milk stout........because ........its now not actually called that i believe, because it does not contain milk......anyone know otherwise.?

I know otherwise.

http://www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk/product.php?xProd=17&xSec=9

The Campaign for Real Ale is 40 years old. The nature of brewing in the UK has changed out of all recognition in that time. All region's major breweries have closed and now we have more than a dozen small craft brewers brewing beers that are widely available in local pubs and with reputations and awards that are the envy of most of the country.

Celebrate by having a pint of locally brewed real ale at a local pub. Better still have several.

I agree with BritPat. Until China starts to let it's currency float to what it should be on the world money market, stop selling it's products dirt cheap on the back of it's underpaid, semi-slave work force then it's exports should be subject to tariffs

If you don't like the Chinese buy from India Sri Lanka, Vietnam or Indonesia. All have lower wage costs than China.

The UK is the 6th / 7th largest manufacturing nation on the planet. That's not so bad is it?

 

However, when if comes to government debt it's not so great.

Ignoring the debt, according to the IMF Britain has the biggest budget deficit of any country in the G20.

Europe Canada USA Australia and New Zealand should exclude everyone else from their markets (Tariffs).

Fine if you don't mind paying an extra couple of grand for inferior goods just so a load of lazy sods can get artificially high wages.

To be honest I'm quite happy to buy the goods I choose to buy in what is supposed to be an open market. But if you prefer to buy western goods you are equally free to do so.

If indeed the urn does not make the trip to be presented to the winning captain before coming back to MCC, then fair enough. I thought it may have but I wasnt certain.

 

You seem to have got yourself very flustered about this, are you always this argumentative?

 

Anyways....if it helps, I was wrong you were right. The Ashes are ALREADY home!!

Hey. Lets forget about it. There's more to life.

I was a member at Yorkshire in the late 1960s and have dinned out with Ray Illingworth and Fred trueman in the past. I've followed cricket for quite a while.

The lads are doing OK...:cool:

Are you really that stupid or just pretending?

 

Do you understand basic rhetoric such as metophors? I am fully aware that the urn is kept at the MCC as previously stated.

 

Are you are a cricket fan? I hope so, there seems to be few of us that comment on this thread. I hope you join in soon.

 

Oh, and happy new year!

 

:rolleyes:

No mate you've got the stupidity angle totally covered all by yourself.

Yes I understand rhetoric and metaphors, but when someone states " Having said that Im sure the urn makes the trip to be presented?? In which case, they willbe coming back home!", that is neither, it is just plain ignorance of the facts.

So you carry on rolling your eyes if you like. Perhaps the reason that few post on the thread is because they encounter idiots like you..

Clearly. We know were they are kept..

 

The comment was metophorical. Having said that Im sure the urn makes the trip to be presented?? In which case, they willbe coming back home!

 

Anways, interesting input to thread. Nice one

Well actually the urn never leaves Lords so you can roll your eyes as often as you like. But I'm happy to increase your knowledge.

Yes mate they stay at the MCC. I was just making a metaphorical point, to which the previous poster didnt seem to understand.

You would have convinced more people had you not shared the previous ignorance.

They're coming home, they're coming home, they're coming, the ashes are coming home!!!!!!!

No they aren't seeing as how they never left.

Yes, I recall the stories of the bodies being left in the cellars, I also recall the foundations going down for the Marples, and came to the conclusion that all the quick lime that had been poured down there had done it's job.

I suspect the point is that a 500kg bomb going off in an crowded underground cellar isn't going to be pretty. Particularly as a fire followed. The building was 7 stories high and collapsed into the cellar. The services obviously did what they could and then tipped quick lime onto the rubble to prevent disease.

I am sure there are no complete bodies down there. Indeed it is probable that no complete bodies were removed either. But undoubtably there will be human remains buried, just like there always will at Ground Zero.

The famous pub in Fitzalan square was actually named the Market Street Wine Vaults, but later changed its name to London Mart, but to everyone in Sheffield it was known as the Marples after a landlord of the late Victorian era.

About 600 fatalities resulted from air raids on Sheffield, very nearly all of them due to two major attacks in the December of 1940. It was during the first of these (overnight on 12th-13th) that the city centre was worst hit.

At least 70 people were killed by a single bomb that night, as they sheltered in the cellars of the Marples hotel in Fitzalan Square thinking that it was a safe place to be.

It is a sad quirk of fate that the original pub actually stood on the opposite side of Fitzalan Square. Had it not been moved, as many lives may not have been lost.

What makes you think I care what you said?

 

The Spanish and French interpreted the rules on anti-smoking EU legislation and allow smoking in certain circumstances. It's only the UK that has decided to impose a blanket ban.

 

Are you in favour of a blanket ban on alcohol too?

I see you don't care what you post either. This is a list of countries that have imposed smoking bans. If you want to miss quote that is up to you. It is only yourself that you are fooling.

Albania

Andorra

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Bahrain

Belgium

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Bulgaria

Canada

Chile

China

Colombia

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Ecuador

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Guernsey

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Isle of Man

Israel

Italy

Japan

Jersey

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Madagascar

Malta

Malaysia

Mexico

Monaco

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Netherlands

New Zealand

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Palestinian Authority

Paraguay

Pakistan

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Serbia

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

United Nations

United States

Uruguay

Vatican City

Vietnam

Zambia

Indeed. Now's the time to abandon the stupid enforcement of the unenforceable law (or make it more like the Spanish and French have interpreted it and allow smoking in certain establishments).

 

 

 

I see you have had to resort to quoting people out of context to try to back up your ridiculous claims.

What I actually said was....

It is very silly to allow this to go on. Fines of £2500 can be imposed for allowing smoking, but more seriously those fined have usually lost the tenancy for bringing the pubco's name into disrepute. The smokers themselves usually get away with a £50 on the spot fine.

The law is totally enforcable and almost universally obeyed. There are very few cases of people smoking in business premises, public houses or restaurants. Where this has occured heavy fines have been imposed and one landlord sent to prison. The only place where to law is regularly being flouted is people smoking in doorways. It only requires someone to report this and an enforcement team will take action, and if the business owner doesn't take steps to prevent the law from being broken on the spot fines will be imposed.

It is very silly to allow this to go on. Fines of £2500 can be imposed for allowing smoking, but more seriously those fined have usually lost the tenancy for bringing the pubco's name into disrepute. The smokers themselves usually get away with a £50 on the spot fine.

I think they do it as a warning that it is a naff pub that sells no real ale.

Man Utd may not be liked nor may Fergie, but everybody respects Fergie.

To the extent that he can park his car anywhere in the country in the certain knowledge that no one will vandalise it, and he is able to walk around outside the Emirates Stadium signing autographs.

Most pubs, unfotunatly are owned by pub co's. Such as Enterprise, Punch Taverns etc. The pubs are generally tied in to buying their drinks (bottles, casks, kegs, soft drinks & spirits) from the company. In our experience at double the price they are available from other wholesalers. This means to make any money the prices are more expensive.

 

If you manage to contend with that, as soon as your sales start to increase, the rent prices are hiked up. It's a never ending battle.

 

Eventually when you have put in tens of thousands of pounds of your own money to keep the pub open the enevitable happens and you go under.

 

Then the whole cycle starts again with some other unlucky soul picking up where you left off and generally going the same way. The pub co's make a nice sum from this cycle as they sell the fixtures and fittings eveytime the pub re-opens.

 

Good luck to anyone giving it ago. Freehold pubs are the way to go if you

want to get into the business but you'll still need loads of money and lots of determination.

 

This is the reason the prices are higher in your local than wetherspoons.

 

Now on to the fact you had a pint of john smiths........

I too am trying to get my mind around someone going into a pub selling 10 real ales and then selecting John Smiths.

It is rather like going into a Michelin starred restaurant and ordering a Big Mac.

Back to the plot..

A pub close by has closed for the 3rd time in 2 years. Not only did the various landlords have to pay pubco prices for beer. They were also required to pay £1000 per week rent on a pub that was crowded with 30 people in it.

It is difficult to see how anyone can make a go of a pubco owned pub these days. How is it possible to make a living after paying £1000/week rent and then having to buy your beer at £50 per barrel over market rate.

I note that the Shakespeare on Gibraltar Street is currently on the market at around £190 K free of tie. That was another good music venue, and one that could possibly be viable as there isn't a greedy pubco involved.

P.S.. I know where there is a 10 barrel brewery for sale with 4 fermenters.(£15,000) &capable of brewing around 11,500 pints per week. Now a pub with its own brewery really makes sense at the moment.

in your dreams pal.you will be in for a shock.so dont count your chickens or should i say hens

Thanks for that totally meaningless contribution.

What is it that you are trying to say?

Is it that the pub remained closed for 6 months before re-opening? Or is it that custommers are not welcome?