Another one going - Hikers Rest to close

[Postman Pat]

So the Hikers is becoming a 'Bistro' pub whatever that is.

Of well, better than becoming another co op I suppose.

Really? Where did you hear this (not suggesting you are incorrect BTW!)?

Been closed since Thursday with some work going on in the accommodation upstairs.

A bistro pub won't last two minutes.

 

[Gwylan]

A bistro pub won't last two minutes.

Wrong area for a bistro pub. A bisto pub might work though - bring on the pies and gravy

 

[BensGrandad]

Better a Bistro Pub than a supermarket or Indian and there are enough chimneys around and far enough from trouble for it to succeed. It must however be closed for 3 months to lose its image and it must be selective in who it then re admits, sounds snobby I know but to kill its old name it has to be very selective in future customers.

 

[Postman Pat]

Better a Bistro Pub than a supermarket or Indian and there are enough chimneys around and far enough from trouble for it to succeed. It must however be closed for 3 months to lose its image and it must be selective in who it then re admits, sounds snobby I know but to kill its old name it has to be very selective in future customers.

I agree, but given it's location between Moulsecoomb and Coldean in an area heavily populated with students, once the un-desireables have been removed, not sure who is left to become customers.

 

[Gwylan]

I agree, but given it's location between Moulsecoomb and Coldean in an area heavily populated with students, once the un-desireables have been removed, not sure who is left to become customers.

I'm here

 

[pearl]

Better a Bistro Pub than a supermarket or Indian and there are enough chimneys around and far enough from trouble for it to succeed. It must however be closed for 3 months to lose its image and it must be selective in who it then re admits, sounds snobby I know but to kill its old name it has to be very selective in future customers.

Now the Hikers has shut I'm not sure where I will go before home games. I used to go there on my own and found it a very friendly local. Where do you go please? I'd like to avoid wherever it is

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Tried the Hikers a couple of times after home cricket matches in Stanmer park back in the last century - never felt welcoming ...
Switched to the Swan and once you'd been served by grumpy John there was an okay atmosphere - table footy was also popular using the old 1d coin.

Also remember the strip at the Ship - marvellous scenes ....

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Hope it's not going to be another Martha gun
regards
DR

 

[Insel affe]

Yes it is. I was thinking of pubs north of the gyratory system but if you're looking from the Level, we've lost the Racehill as well.

What surprises me most about those is that it's a student area. When I was at uni, it was the pubs near student areas that were always busy. How times change

Racehill ? Do you mean the Racehorse ? on Elm Grove.

That changed to flats a few years ago, always empty apart from a few locals and a drab place.

Regarding students they seem to drink at home more now like the rest of us and then venture out after ten at night.

You forget when we were young wide eyed and bushy tailed the pubs shut at 11 so we crammed it in and drinks were alot cheaper, smoking, bands in pubs, fighting and topless dancing in any order.

 

[Lower West Stander]

It always annoys me that the smoking ban gets the blame for the demise of pubs.... in almost all cases it's the defunct business model of the various Pubcos..... buying pubs, charging landlords extortionate rents, then putting them on the market to gain a huge profit from the sale to cover the massive debts these corporations carry to finance the strategy in the first place.

Scandalous

The smoking ban was a huge contributor to the failure of the traditional drinking pub. As was the decision of supermarkets to sell beer and spirits as loss leaders.

You could argue that the beer tie led to the failure of a lot of smaller pubs, because the pubco/brewery charged above market, but in return, the landlord got operational support and a fully repairing lease. Yes pubcos took on too much debt, but they struggled because of the evolution of the market - I doubt old fashioned pubs would have survived regardless. The business model of the traditional pub is now totally outdated. Brewers still own a number of pubs but there are so many variations based on local population/demographics etc, the old working class boozer is a thing of the past.

TBH - I don't miss them......

 

[rippleman]

It always annoys me that the smoking ban gets the blame for the demise of pubs.... in almost all cases it's the defunct business model of the various Pubcos..... buying pubs, charging landlords extortionate rents, then putting them on the market to gain a huge profit from the sale to cover the massive debts these corporations carry to finance the strategy in the first place.

Scandalous

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Was certainly the smoking ban for me. I was always a regular pub goer and had been since my youth. Now I go perhaps a few times a year.

However, when the ban was being discussed, the breweries and publicans didn't appear to give a shit and put up no protest at all. My observations were that a significant proportion of "regulars" were also smokers so you could kind of see it coming. I therefore have no sympathy for breweries & publicans who are now suffering but I'm sorry to see the demise of drinking haunts from a historical/nostalgic pov.

 

[Gwylan]

Racehill ? Do you mean the Racehorse ? on Elm Grove.

That changed to flats a few years ago, always empty apart from a few locals and a drab place.

Regarding students they seem to drink at home more now like the rest of us and then venture out after ten at night.

You forget when we were young wide eyed and bushy tailed the pubs shut at 11 so we crammed it in and drinks were alot cheaper, smoking, bands in pubs, fighting and topless dancing in any order.

No, the Racehill on Lewes Rd. It's now a doctor's surgery. Wasn't the one at the top of Elm Grove called The Finishing Post?

Drinks certainly were a lot cheaper then - 15p when I started drinking, that's £1.64 in today's money.If pubs charged £1.64 a pint, they'd certainly get a lot more people in them.

And it was only 11.00 in Brighton, in Hove it was 10.30. I remember legging out of a regular session of tenpin bowling at King Alfred's to dash back inside the border to get a last pint

 

[Postman Pat]

No, the Racehill on Lewes Rd. It's now a doctor's surgery. Wasn't the one at the top of Elm Grove called The Finishing Post?

Racehill, Racehorse and The Winner.

Race hill (bottom) and Racehorse (halfway) are closed, The Winner (top) is "Fox on The Downs"

 

[Gwylan]

Racehill, Racehorse and The Winner.

Race hill (bottom) and Racehorse (halfway) are closed, The Winner (top) is "Fox on The Downs"

Don't remember the Racehorse at all. The Winner is the one that I thought was the Finishing Post. Of the three, I've only been in The Race Hill and it's no great loss

 

[Insel affe]

Don't remember the Racehorse at all. The Winner is the one that I thought was the Finishing Post. Of the three, I've only been in The Race Hill and it's no great loss

Racehorse Elm grove and Queens Park Road.

Dump

 

[AlastairWatts]

Hikers Rest is being replaced by an Indian Restaurant. Landlord and Landlady off to The Cobden. Leaving party on Saturday.

Sad times.

Suspect this will be a Sainsburys within 2 years.

It's worse than that. Last time this came up (in 2015) I went closely into whether the Hikers Rest could become a 'strip pub' along the lines of the one I presently run in High Wycombe. It was pretty clear from the council’s policy on 'sexual entertainment venues' (because that's what they are now called!) that the granting of a licence would be difficult, if not impossible. Eventually the pub was sold by Punch Taverns - who at that time were desperate to reduce their borrowings - to the existing managers.

Under recent government legislation, however, planning permission to use a site like this for housing is relatively easy to obtain. Don't be surprised if this turns quite quickly into a block of flats.... The site is probably worth more than the pub ever was as a going concern...

 

[Insel affe]

Under recent government legislation, however, planning permission to use a site like this for housing is relatively easy to obtain. Don't be surprised if this turns quite quickly into a block of flats.... The site is probably worth more than the pub ever was as a going concern...

Like the Racehorse and many others, cheap and easy to convert close to the Universities...

Sounds like the more likely option.

Indian restaurant or any other for that mater on that corner with limited parking is not going to work.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

wtf is a 'bistro pub'?!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Racehill, Racehorse and The Winner.

Race hill (bottom) and Racehorse (halfway) are closed, The Winner (top) is "Fox on The Downs"

Fox on the Downs does a lovely Sunday roast carvery.

 

[Gwylan]

Like the Racehorse and many others, cheap and easy to convert close to the Universities...

Sounds like the more likely option.

Indian restaurant or any other for that mater on that corner with limited parking is not going to work.

It's not limited parking though. There's a small car park outside the pub and there are no parking restrictions in the surrounding roads (unless it's a match day). I can't see there being much demand for an Indian restaurant though.

I don't imagine it will be easy getting the pub converted into flats. Residents in the area are well organised - they got parking restricted on match days and have stopped the development of the mormon church (for the moment at least). The Coldean Village signs have just gone up around the area and every village needs its pub.