Greene King strike again!

[firbeck 859]

Having bought up and destroyed the Hardy Hansons brewery at Kimberley, our favourite brewers Greene King are now asset stripping the pubs that they inherited from them, what a surprise.

The White Cow at Ilkeston has been sold by Greene King to Tesco's, or so they say, allegedly for them to turn into a Mini-Mart.

According to Greene King, the pub doesn't make any money, liars, it had a £262,000+ turn over in it's last tax year.

According to Greene King, Tesco's are to turn it into a Mini-mart, liars, no planning application for a change of use or consultation has been received by Erewash Borough Council.

I think it unlikely that this would happen bearing in mind that there is a large Tesco's up the road anyway.

Look out for another local pub landmark to be demolished to make way for housing.

Please follow my principles and refuse to buy any Greene King products, I know it's hard as they've wormed their way into pubs all over the country and they've tried to make themselves look socially aware by selling their p@ss for 99p at Wetherspoons (funny how they never reduce the price of their beers in the big supermarkets), but they're making so much money as a result of shutting down rivals and putting people out of work, that they can probably still manipulate the system and make a profit out of it.

They will probably eventually go the same way as those previous asset strippers, Whitbread and Greenall Whitley, the fat cat directors will leg it off to the Bahamas with their ill gotten gains and shut down their own brewery, they won't give a damn about putting their own employees out on the streets.

Last weekend the GK pub in the next village had a beer festival, what that means is that GK produce all these wierd and wonderful brews with long lost names such as Ruddles, Morelands, Ridleys, Hardy Hansons et al and kid the public that they actually mean something, well they don't, they all come out of the same big vat at Bury St Edmunds, you can see it from the road, it's all a big con, don't get fooled by it, no doubt each director has a slash in it to make it taste different, I wouldn't put it past them.

So when you see these nice bottled 'Real Ales' with those names in your local supermarket, don't buy them, you may as well buy GK IPA ( if you have any principles), it's the same stuff without the p@ss, or is it.

[Fynger 841]

Its not that long ago that the White Cow had a big re-vamp and all that work done at the back.....Ok its like most pubs now and only busy at weekends....but it makes a fair amount from the rooms it rents upstairs too.

[pemberton 15]

If you wanna decent pint - try the Vat & Fiddle!

[Beefsteak 305]

But ain't that the dreaded HP ??? ...........................LOL

[Fynger 841]

I drink Whiskey so 'a pint' dont come into it....Hee Hee

[Craig Strongman 13]

Why do so many people refer to Tesco as Tesco's?

[Limey 242]

Around here if you work for Ford, you work at Fords!

[Beefsteak 305]

I didn't work for TI Raleigh Industries Limited, I worked 'at the Raleigh'

But whats all this got to do with Greene King?

Mind you I do like a pint of Abbot (Sorry Firbeck)

[Fynger 841]

Drove past the White Cow in Ilkeston Today...Yep its all Boarded up.

[plantfit 7,597]

Be very careful firbeck, they're moving around in vans now looking for drinkers that don't comply!!!!!

Rog

[Bip 88]

I beleive the Shaftesbury Club sell GK rubbish in the guise of Kimberly Dark and Speckled Hen also the Harrington arms just up road from me is a GK place I beleive, they too sell Abbots crap and GKs IPA with other nonsuch brands.

I drank the bitter in the Shaftesbury for quite a while until I couldn't stomach it any more so changed to Guinness maybe as you say firbeck the directors had p*ssed in it..

I avoid GK at all costs now.

I like a whiskey too but it drys my throat after several glasses.

Bip.

[firbeck 859]

Bip, a voice in the wilderness, thank you, please can you convince Beefsteak not to drink Abbot. Compared to what it was several years ago, when believe it or not yours truly designed the new Abbot pipeline, and made a few adjustments, and before the GK terrorists kicked in, it was lovely.

I was in Sainsburies yesterday and this bloke chucked a bottle of Abbot in his basket, I managed to convince him to swap it for a bottle of real beer, Timothy Taylors Landlord, now that is a pint of the real stuff, for better or worse, Madonnas favourite tipple, try it on draught and it's real pleasure, much better than the bottled variety, but where can you get it on draught apart from Keighley, all pubs there are devoted to it.

[Beefsteak 305]

The only beer to beat Timothy Taylors ,Landlord , IMO, is Theakstones 'Old Peculiar' !!

[firbeck 859]

The only beer to beat Timothy Taylors ,Landlord , IMO, is Theakstones 'Old Peculiar' !!

Ah, but did you know that another small brewery assasin, Scottish and Newcastle ( aka Home Brewery), took over the Theakstons Brewery at Masham and without telling anyone, shifted Old Peculiar production to Newcastle, could you tell the difference, you bet, you could taste the p@ss that the directors added to it. Fortunately, S & N were subjected to further take overs themselves and gratuitously allowed the original Theakstons brewery to carry on independantly from Masham, trouble is, all the original staff had moved over to the breakaway Theakston sons new Black Sheep brewery just down the road and wouldn't go back. So, if you want something more akin to Theakstons Old Peculiar, try Black Sheep, it hasn't been tainted by big business deals at the expense of public taste and opinion.

Sorry, but I get passionate about my beer and it's manipulation by the big companies who are only interested by property deals and massive profit for their directors at the sacrifice of smaller, independant companies and their employees.

[Beefsteak 305]

Can't get any of them round here, it's John Smiths or John Smiths!! Even Robinsons seems to have dissapeared from the pubs now.

[Fynger 841]

Just found this.....

Pub will make way for Tesco Express

Date: 12 March 2009

Plans for another Tesco store in Ilkeston have been confirmed this week, causing anger and concern from residents.

Staff at the White Cow pub, Nottingham Road, have been made redundant and the pub is due to close on Thursday this week, to the disappointment of many regulars.

Staff at Kensington Junior School, directly opposite the pub, have raised concerns over the traffic and congestion the supermarket may cause.

Headteacher, Lindsey Partridge, said: "Anything that makes parking and traffic at the beginning and end of the day any worse than it already is, is not going to be a good idea."

Regular Fred Richardson said: "All the extra traffic it's going to cause is just an accident waiting to happen."

Juliette Bishop, Tesco's corporate affairs manager, said: "Tesco can confirm that we have plans to redevelop the White Cow Pub on Nottingham Road, Ilkeston into a Tesco Express store.

"We are planning to re-use the existing building, which has a transferable planning consent, into a Tesco Express, a small neighbourhood convenience store."

She added: "I cannot see parking being a problem. The site already has substantial parking spaces - 25 in total.

"Lots of people who travel to this store, will do so on foot. People who do their shopping here will also frequent the other shops on Nottingham Road."

Russ Saxton was due to perform at the pub with his Black Sabbath tribute band in three weeks.

He said: "It's a sad loss to the local music scene - bands have got nowhere else to play."

Jenny Webb from Greene King said: ""Community pubs are very much at the heart of our business. Sadly, The White Cow was not successful and we were left with no alternative but to seek a buyer.

"Whilst we would have liked it to see it continue as a pub, we received no interest from pub operators wishing to take it on."

[Beefsteak 305]

Tesco have just opened three ,yes three, new branches in nearby Middlewich. They haven't invaded here yet, but give them time.

By the way , The Bluebell is a Green King pub , but they do sell two rather nice local brews. Lancaster Bomber, and Dambuster.

Any body want to drive after lunch on Wednesday??

[Fynger 841]

Alan says its a freehouse

[poohbear 1,360]

Just found this.....

Pub will make way for Tesco Express

"Lots of people who travel to this store, will do so on foot. People who do their shopping here will also frequent the other shops on Nottingham Road."

No they won't ...they'll go to Tescos.Because the average shopper is too thick to realise that Tesco Express is a damn sight more expensive than their superstores.

Trust a Tesco spokesman to make out they could give a toss about other retailers in the district.

When the Sunday trading laws were done away with, the big boys were only allowed to open from 10 till 4 on Sundays.Tescos have got round this by opening hundreds of smaller stores that can stay open all hours.This company is an ever spreading cancer wiping out all competition wherever they open.

[Beefsteak 305]

Alan says its a freehouse

I refer my learned coleague to post 10 above. Picture taken in their carpark!!

Doesn't stop it being a freehouse though

[Craig Strongman 13]

Firbeck, you can get a pint of TT Landlord much closer than that, I had one in the King William, on the main A6 between Duffield and Belper, in Makeney. They also have a number of real ales always on tap, and their regular beer festival is there very soon, next week?

[firbeck 859]

Craig

It's interesting that I've looked on the Timothy Taylors website to see where the nearest TT Landlord outlet is to me. According to them it's the White Hart in Braintree which is literally 5 mins walk up the road from me and very cosy. When you look on the pub website, it's a Greene King pub whose real ales are listed as GK IPA and Abbot, not a sniff of TT in site, well there wouldn't be, if they sold that they'd have to buy up the TT brewery and shut it down, TT Landlord made in Bury St Edmunds, not on your life.

I was interested to read Fyngers article on The White Cow which is from the Ilkeston paper, I've found an identical event occuring in Bristol, the Friendship pub being shut down and turned into a Tesco mini-mart, exactly the same quote by that nice woman from Tesco, 'we have a transferable planning permission'?????

I've been involved in planning for 40 years and never heard of such a thing, to turn a pub into a shop requires an application for a change of use, full stop, I'm also presuming that they will have to knock the place down in order to put up the standard Tesco shop design, which means an even more involved application. I've checked again with Erewash Borough Council and no applications have been made to them in respect of the White Cow.

As usual, GK and Tesco are full of Cr@p.

A worrying thing on our local news last night, Adnams are in financial trouble, their trade and profits have dropped off by 67%. I bet GK are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of getting their hands on that place. If you've never been to Southwold in Suffolk, it's a wonderful place and the brewery dominates the town, the Adnams pubs and beer are magnificent, I'm very concerned that the lovely Sole Bay Inn, opposite the brewery, will end up full of GK p@ss and ruin our trips to the seaside.

Beefsteak, if The Bluebell is a freehouse, why is Alan selling GK, I would have thought that the local brew Batemans was a better choice, their brewery is just up the road.

[Craig Strongman 13]

Hi Firb, the King William has had TT on tap for as long as ive been going in there, its one of their staple beers, not a guest, and despite my own liking for it to be a little cooler, is a fine pint!

[looselegs 0]

Hi, it is 100% a free house, Greene King were fitting me some new T bars ( gratis of course ) as I do sell their IPA, other beers we sell are Tom Woods Bomber County, Tom Woods Dambuster ( brewed exclusively for the Blue Bell, Ruddles Smooth, and a guest beer that we change every barrel, we also sell a good range of malts ( as FYNGER will testify to ). hope this explains the Greene King van in the car park.

[Beefsteak 305]

Oy , slow poster , we've been backing you every step of the way. (Well most of us) Including selling you out of ham and eggs last Wednesday!!! (And a few pints less on the old "Dambuster "too!!)

We'll be back in August/ September if you can keep a civil tongue in yer ed !! (And keep the food and ale just as good)

Cheers mate , great lunch as usual.