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Three Tuns, Dronfield..

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The Old Sidings - the Dronfield Arms now - was my local for a few years, and was very popular. I'm not a fan of so-called real ales, so when the DA jumped on the bandwagon, I took flight.

The last time I drove past it looked most peculiar! Have they put strange strip lights in the window?! It was too early for Christmas stuff, so I'm ruling that out.

I shared your opinion of the Tuns as well - it was the same as when it was known as the Hallowes. It couldn't decide whether it was a wine bar or a proper pub!

Anyway, it's gone, and according to (fairly) reliable sources may well be turned into a semi-secure - ?! - half-way house for God-knows-what....

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Our first house was on cemetery road,at side of what was then masons in 1969.It was a very busy pub in those days.

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The Old Sidings - the Dronfield Arms now - was my local for a few years, and was very popular. I'm not a fan of so-called real ales, so when the DA jumped on the bandwagon, I took flight.

The last time I drove past it looked most peculiar! Have they put strange strip lights in the window?! It was too early for Christmas stuff, so I'm ruling that out.

I shared your opinion of the Tuns as well - it was the same as when it was known as the Hallowes. It couldn't decide whether it was a wine bar or a proper pub!

Anyway, it's gone, and according to (fairly) reliable sources may well be turned into a semi-secure - ?! - half-way house for God-knows-what....

 

Recovering alcoholics?

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Recovering alcoholics?

 

At best, perhaps!

It's already raised a few eyebrows, I understand.

I suppose the building would be ideal, come to think - big enough for a good few bedrooms, a large ground floor, and it's detached!

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Ayeshas will probably move there....

 

 

Indeed that is what is happening. So much speculation. Ayeshas have never made a secret of their plans. Pity the tunns ex landlord/tenant owes them £28,000 though it would go a long way to doing the place up. Rent arrears.

 

I for one cannot wait to see what the lads do with it.

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On 07/03/2018 at 19:14, ponybabes said:

 

 

Indeed that is what is happening. So much speculation. Ayeshas have never made a secret of their plans. Pity the tunns ex landlord/tenant owes them £28,000 though it would go a long way to doing the place up. Rent arrears.

 

I for one cannot wait to see what the lads do with it.

Well, 13 months later the answer is.... nothing.

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On 17/01/2019 at 14:56, RiffRaff said:

Well, 13 months later the answer is.... nothing.

And here we are, July '19, and still nothing, apart from the roadside sign now shows an advert for a taxi company.

Oh....and there are a few windows being put in by an assortment of missiles!

Thought it might escape the vandalism, but no....

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I think it would make a super Premier Food Store.

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4 hours ago, DerbyTup said:

I think it would make a super Premier Food Store.

Would make my walk to the shops on Sunday afternoon a hell of a lot shorter!! :)

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On 16/01/2018 at 15:19, RiffRaff said:

The Old Sidings - the Dronfield Arms now - was my local for a few years, and was very popular. I'm not a fan of so-called real ales, so when the DA jumped on the bandwagon, I took flight.

The last time I drove past it looked most peculiar! Have they put strange strip lights in the window?! It was too early for Christmas stuff, so I'm ruling that out.

I shared your opinion of the Tuns as well - it was the same as when it was known as the Hallowes. It couldn't decide whether it was a wine bar or a proper pub!

Anyway, it's gone, and according to (fairly) reliable sources may well be turned into a semi-secure - ?! - half-way house for God-knows-what....

 I don't think I've ever been in a "real ale" pub anywhere that doesn't cater to some degree for folks who just want to drink ordinary keg beer or lager.  So it's a pity that you  felt the need to "take flight" just because the pub started having different beer.  That seems strange to me - although I do chop and change the pubs I go in quite regularly.

 

I'm a serial stopper myself.   I have a spate of going in certain pubs for weeks, months, on end, then I get bored with it.  I get bored with the same people, the same conversations, the same boring choice of drinks and I pack it in altogether and find somewhere else to go.  I don't drink much in any case - maybe a couple of pints - very rarely three.  But I'm pretty discerning about what I drink and if I go in a pub and it doesn't have decent beer then I honestly won't bother. 

 

One of the main reasons I stop going in pubs is I find it depressing to see some folks just drinking their lives away in the same pub, night after night.  They are there - part of the furniture - knocking back the beers - popping out for a fag - propping up the bar.  Some real ale pubs seem to attract a certain crowd as well, which I'm not so keen on.  I'm talking about a scruffy, bohemian, "new-age", extreme left wing socialist, animal-rights protesting, vegan, LGBTPQRSTUVWXYZ, crowd.  People who look like they live in old post office vans, have yet to discover soap and shampoo, and rear stray dogs and juggle for a living.  

 

I'm familiar with the pub scene in Dronfield.  The Sidings used to be a very popular pub in the late 80's/90's.  It attracted a younger, smarter crowd, of which I was one.  The big house at the bottom of Green Lane was a bar too, called "Chaplin's", for a short while during that period.  Similarly, it attracted a young, smart set.  I think I must have been in every pub in Dronfield at some time or another.  But I liked the classier places as a kid, places where smart, attractive, people went.  I was, after all,  a hunter-gatherer back then.  As I've got older, I've become less interested in being around smart, attractive people, and more interested in the quality of food and drink.

 

I was enthused when the Hallowes re-opened as the Three Tuns.  I was looking forward to trying lots of new beers from different breweries - but it was beer from the same Spire brewery in the main.  And it wasn't  all so great!  I thought the pub had a strange layout (not much they could do about that without major reconstruction I don't suppose), but there were things they could have done something about, to make it better.

 

First, (and this is really important in any pub - and even in your home), the lighting.  It's interesting that you also draw attention to this.  Lighting can make or break a pub.  It can create and change the atmosphere of a place.  And I'm afraid the 3 tuns got that terribly wrong.  It was stark and unwelcoming.  Whatever other research they've done (if indeed they have done any) to reflect on why this pub failed, I'd bet that they've never even considered something so simple as changing the lighting would have made a huge difference to how welcoming the pub felt.

 

There were other issues too which were within their control.  The beer pumps were not functioning properly.  They were sucking air and the pints had bubbles on top of them which wasn't great.  I once mentioned this and the girl behind the bar said something along the lines of - "he knows there's a problem with it - but he doesn't do anything about it" (or something to that effect).   

 

Which brings me to the beer. 

 

They did have some good ones occasionally.  In particular they had a couple of stronger beers which I really liked, a pale ale, called  "Amarillo" and a strong amber beer called "Enigma".   These two beers were not "regular" on the bar - I believe they were seasonal brews - but they were both very good and I used to look out for them if they were on.

 

On one occasion I was delighted to see they had Enigma on when I visited.  I didn't hesitate to order a pint of that.  I took one sip and nearly spat it out.  It was off, like...really off. Just like vinegar.  Sometimes real ale goes like this if it's the bottom of the barrel, or been stood too long in the pipes.  It's more of an issue with the higher strength beers because, frankly, they don't sell as quick as the lighter session ales.  I mentioned it and there was no problem offering me an alternative drink - that's always appreciated.  But, did they turn the beer clip round and take the beer off?  No.  They were happy to continue selling it to the next customer.  They didn't even try it themselves to see if it was off. 

 

About a week later I went in again, saw the Enigma beer on the bar and assumed that this must be a new barrel now, so ordered a pint of it.  Same again!  I think that was the last time I ever went in there.  They didn't go bust, I'm sure, because of my withheld trade - but these are what I call "quality control" issues - and can bring any business down.

 

I popped into the Dronfield Arms a few weeks ago actually.  I think the beers they make are really quite good, "the hopjacker" stuff.  But it's not really a pub that I like.  I think the narrow "corridor" feel to the place just doesn't do it for me.   It didn't bother me as a kid - but it was heaving with good looking girls back then.  Now it's just a few old farts like me that enjoy the beer! 😉

 

 

Edited by DerbyTup

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1 hour ago, DerbyTup said:

 I don't think I've ever been in a "real ale" pub anywhere that doesn't cater to some degree for folks who just want to drink ordinary keg beer or lager.  So it's a pity that you  felt the need to "take flight" just because the pub started having different beer.  That seems strange to me - although I do chop and change the pubs I go in quite regularly.

Guinness is my particular poison.

Not the smarty-pants job where a can is opened and placed on some gadget that bubbles it up, but "proper" stuff.

Yes, it tastes more-or-less the same as you're downing it, but it's the metallic after-taste that's not pleasant.

I'm fed up with landlords telling me that "this is almost the same".

No, it isn't.

(It always reminds me of the VW advert, where the put-down of another make/model was "Well, it's like a Golf..."!)

I too called in the Arms a few weeks ago.

Yes, smarty-pants Guinness.

 

 

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