Lost pub and places

[Skyweir]

LOST PUBS OF PENRITH

A letter-writer in the Daily Telegraph seemed to be out-of-date when he asked: "I wonder if we shall remember 2008 as the year we lost our pubs?"

Alas, public houses the Mitre, the Salutation, the Old Crown, the Horse and Farrier, the Fish, the Coach and Horses, the Railway Tavern, the Museum, the Beacon, the Bluebell, the Lion and Lamb, the Duke's Head and others have been disappearing in steady succession over the years from the streets of Penrith, once among the booziest towns in the land.

The pubs of Penrith were once the mark of friendly social cohesion. But television struck the licensed trade a devastating blow and, in the case of Penrith, the loss of the auction cost landlords some of their best customers, especially in Castlegate and Corn Market, within walking distance of the mart.

The growth of sporting and ex-Servicemen's clubs added to the problems of many pubs, which had previously enjoyed the night-after-night loyalty of regulars.

Such was the strength of support that nobody could have imagined that a bustling hostelry like the Two Lions, in Great Dockray, would ever face closure. There was sometimes a hint of scandal about the place, and late-night violence led to court appearances by customers, some of them transport drivers who found Penrith a convivial town to stay overnight.

The Two Lions was the lorrymen's most popular pub and throbbed with activity and clinking glasses. Now, like other rival houses of a livelier past, the bars and smoke rooms lie sad and silent, behind locked doors and blocked windows.

Without many of its historic inns, Penrith is not the chummy, "lived in" town that once it was.

I was raised in the olde english pub the Coach and Horses .. I remember well the smell of the rich variety of ales and that there was always a warm hearth ..

The pub was one of the local watering holes and gathering spots .. people would bring their families and drink, play darts, sing and talk together .. as an 6-8 year old I carried the takings to the Penrith bank a short walk from the pub.
everybody new my name and would call out to me and coax me into their shops to give me a sweet or something similar or even just chat.

I have such fond memories of this time in my young life .. we later moved to Northumberland to a small village called Gamblesby .. the nearest sociality to the village being a small hamlet nearby.

I have always hoped to take my family back to see where I was raised .. lol .. and spend a few nights in the B&B .. which we also ran when we had it.

sadly this will never be .. but more sadly that it is an end of an era in Penrith .. for the olde english pub

yes it is change .. but sad to think of a future without such places

[aliantha]

That's sad, Sky... (and btw, )

I grew up in Indiana, where kids weren't allowed in bars at all.

But...mmm...bakeries. *Those* I miss!

While we were back in my old neighborhood last weekend, we stopped by a site from my childhood. The building used to be our neighborhood convenience store. Now it's a pizza place. It's even been featured in the Chicago media (lots of folks from Chicago own summer homes in our neck of the woods). Here's one review: abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources/lifestyle_community/food/restaurants&id=5557584

I told the manager that I remembered blowing my allowance on penny candy in the building, and now it's a big-time pizza joint. (The pizza *was* pretty good.)

[Skyweir]

Only seven pizzas are on his menu - including a terrific "white" pizza with prosciutto, crunchy pistachios, gorgonzola-pear topped with pine nuts, and fresh rosemary. His commitment to purity extends to dessert, where the pistachio gelato and the blueberry sorbets are beyond reproach. But it's the pizza he really loves, and says customers used to thicker, Chicago-style pizza are finally getting the hang of true Neapolitan pies.

mmm .. hungry now

It probably sounds odd that I was raised in a pub .. or to you a 'bar' .. but its really not like a bar .. though alchohol is served ..

its a community place .. were locallers gathered .. yes to drink .. but also yarn and play darts .. beer drinking was to be had .. but not for the sport of getting drunk .. but as a wind-down and time to get together and play darts, dominos and cards .. a place to sit and chat .. much like watering holes of times past ..

not really a lot like the western saloon type bar ..

ye olde english pub ..

but bakeries yes .. they were good .. we still have a lot of country bakeries in Oz and even in the cities but the bigger ones arent the same hand made baked goods and stuffs

ho hum .. times past
but now there is pizza!!

[aTOMiC]

Seems every time I turn around something is gone, only remembered due to old photos or dated movies. What ever happened to Rotary dial telephones, 486 computers, toaster ovens, family owned drug stores, clothes lines, black and white televisions, typewriters, vinyl albums, vhs tapes and space movies with actual plastic models for special effects.

It's nostalgic, however just about everything I mentioned I'm fairly happy to do without.

[CovenantJr]

Only seven pizzas are on his menu - including a terrific "white" pizza with prosciutto, crunchy pistachios, gorgonzola-pear topped with pine nuts, and fresh rosemary. His commitment to purity extends to dessert, where the pistachio gelato and the blueberry sorbets are beyond reproach. But it's the pizza he really loves, and says customers used to thicker, Chicago-style pizza are finally getting the hang of true Neapolitan pies.

mmm .. hungry now

It probably sounds odd that I was raised in a pub .. or to you a 'bar' .. but its really not like a bar .. though alchohol is served ..

its a community place .. were locallers gathered .. yes to drink .. but also yarn and play darts .. beer drinking was to be had .. but not for the sport of getting drunk .. but as a wind-down and time to get together and play darts, dominos and cards .. a place to sit and chat .. much like watering holes of times past ..

Yes, a real pub is very different from a bar.

[Queeaqueg]

The old style pub is leaving and being replaced with these new crappy family cperate chain pubs where they all look the same(layout, uniforms, everything), have these built in fun factory things, serve overpriced food and poor quality beer and wine. Lucky where I live where are actual proper pubs where they are actually owned by a landlord who lives in the pub... not just a manager of pub which has become part of a chain.

[Damelon]

Ah, the memories.

When my grandparents retired in the early 70's from working in Chicago, they bought a bar in Door County, Wisconsin. Typical Wisconsin bar, maybe ten stools, three tables. Living area attached. Served tombstone pizza and sandwiches. A pool table and a foosball table. They had great Pabst beer on tap... tried that when I got a little older.

In the summer they got a lot of vacationers from Chicago, supplementing the locals who worked at the local shipyards and who came around all year. They ran it for five or six years before my grandfather died, but my grandmother ran it by herself for almost thirty more years.

My dad owns the property today. It'll never be a bar again because of issues as to where the building was built and a lack of parking, but it makes a great base for us when we want to get out of town for a few days.

[Cagliostro]

I mourn the loss of drive-in movie theaters. Sure, the sound quality sucked (improved recently by broadcasting on a short wave FM frequency so the sound depended on your car sound system), there was always someone walking by your car and pulling you out of the movie. I could never concentrate. But damn I loved 'em. And it looks like the only one in Denver has gone bye bye as well. Very very sad. Now I don't know of any still around.

I saw at the Denver Art Museum recently a piece that had one of the old style speakers you mount on your window and an empty screen in the background. The weeds had taken over and there was actual sound coming from the speaker of the wind blowing across the unused drive-in. I nearly wept.

[magickmaker17]

I mourn the loss of drive-in movie theaters. Sure, the sound quality sucked (improved recently by broadcasting on a short wave FM frequency so the sound depended on your car sound system), there was always someone walking by your car and pulling you out of the movie. I could never concentrate. But damn I loved 'em. And it looks like the only one in Denver has gone bye bye as well. Very very sad. Now I don't know of any still around.

I saw at the Denver Art Museum recently a piece that had one of the old style speakers you mount on your window and an empty screen in the background. The weeds had taken over and there was actual sound coming from the speaker of the wind blowing across the unused drive-in. I nearly wept.

Thats sad, Cag. I'm pretty sure they do a drive-in thing once a month in downtown Roanoke. but I could be wrong, and it could be just a sit on the grass type of thing...I heard about it two years ago, and I'd have to do some checking.

[danlo]

I put the corner lolly as it's the closest to the malt and donut shop that my Dad took my sister and I to on Sundays in my old home town. Jimmy's Corner Store where my geekdom originated. I'd spend hours immersed in The Hulk, Daredevil and Thor while my Dad read the paper.

[JazFusion]

I miss safe streets. I grew up in the big city. We moved about every year as a kid, but the only house I lived in when I was a kid was in a horrible neighborhood. There were lots of drug dealings, cars being stolen and drive-by shootings. We still played in the streets and wandered around, however unsafe it was.

But even today I'd be hesitant to let my kids wander in the streets by themselves. It's a real shame you have to think so defensively nowadays. I wish I could tell my son, "You can go outside and play, just be back by 6 for dinner!".

[Menolly]

Ah...nostalgia.

This is not my family's video, but we lived five miles from there and my sister and I spent many a summer's day there. I would have been 12 at the time of the video.

...and the Magic Kingdom, the first part of the Walt Disney World resort four hours away in Orlando, opened the same year this video was taken...

Pirates World ~ Dania Beach, FL

...Johnny and Edgar Winter recorded a live album together there as well...

[Skyweir]

Ah, the memories.

When my grandparents retired in the early 70's from working in Chicago, they bought a bar in Door County, Wisconsin. Typical Wisconsin bar, maybe ten stools, three tables. Living area attached. Served tombstone pizza and sandwiches. A pool table and a foosball table. They had great Pabst beer on tap... tried that when I got a little older.

In the summer they got a lot of vacationers from Chicago, supplementing the locals who worked at the local shipyards and who came around all year. They ran it for five or six years before my grandfather died, but my grandmother ran it by herself for almost thirty more years.

My dad owns the property today. It'll never be a bar again because of issues as to where the building was built and a lack of parking, but it makes a great base for us when we want to get out of town for a few days.

nice memories to have

[Skyweir]

I mourn the loss of drive-in movie theaters. Sure, the sound quality sucked (improved recently by broadcasting on a short wave FM frequency so the sound depended on your car sound system), there was always someone walking by your car and pulling you out of the movie. I could never concentrate. But damn I loved 'em. And it looks like the only one in Denver has gone bye bye as well. Very very sad. Now I don't know of any still around.

I saw at the Denver Art Museum recently a piece that had one of the old style speakers you mount on your window and an empty screen in the background. The weeds had taken over and there was actual sound coming from the speaker of the wind blowing across the unused drive-in. I nearly wept.

I have to say I am with you on this .. I loved the drive-ins .. and they are being phased out here too .. the rare ones that still operate are few and far between

Its not clear why drive-ins would be phased out actually .. are they expensive to run .. surely once you have the infrastructure the cost is only hiring the movies ..

oh well .. i guess there must be some reason ..

[Skyweir]

I put the corner lolly as it's the closest to the malt and donut shop that my Dad took my sister and I to on Sundays in my old home town. Jimmy's Corner Store where my geekdom originated. I'd spend hours immersed in The Hulk, Daredevil and Thor while my Dad read the paper.

malt and dohnut shop .. is that the milkshake bars that feature in some american kids movies? you'd think that someone would make a killing if they opened an authentic malt and dohnut shop today .. we have a few lolly shops that are I guess novelty value .. and they arent that cheap .. but a malt and dohnut shop has nostalgic value as well as being more diverse and likely more profitable ..

I tend to think some of these old nutshells were phased out for economic reasons .. but if someone had the inclination to set up a shop they surely will do well

[Skyweir]

I miss safe streets. I grew up in the big city. We moved about every year as a kid, but the only house I lived in when I was a kid was in a horrible neighborhood. There were lots of drug dealings, cars being stolen and drive-by shootings. We still played in the streets and wandered around, however unsafe it was.

But even today I'd be hesitant to let my kids wander in the streets by themselves. It's a real shame you have to think so defensively nowadays. I wish I could tell my son, "You can go outside and play, just be back by 6 for dinner!".

yeah wow .. safe steets .. when I was a kid we went everywhere and did everything without ever thinking about safety ..

being a cop and seeing the worst that people can do .. i refused to allow my kids ever to walk down the street on their own .. to play in the creek. As a kid myself we always hung out at the creek, caught tadpoles and took em home .. and all manner of good things .. you know create hideouts and forts etc

I relented once .. just once .. I said they could walk down to the creek this once on their own if they stayed together (3 of them)

They split up (as they do) and my 8 year old daughter was approached by a man in a trench coat who offered her lollies to go with him .. she (thank god for training) screamed and ran .. she felt there was something wrong and dangerous with this guy ... we called the police and they searched the area .. did not locate the guy but it was not the first report.

yeah .. safe streets .. how do we get them back ..

I recently travelled to King Island (a small island off the north coast of Tasmania) to a small town called Grassy .. where no one .. no one locks their homes or cars .. it was a breath of fresh air .. the gene pool was a little limited (and that was overtly apparent - lol) but the feel of the place was really good .. healthy and safe ..

I guess in the really small places .. we can still find safe streets .. but not in all of them I wager

[Skyweir]

Ah...nostalgia.

This is not my family's video, but we lived five miles from there and my sister and I spent many a summer's day there. I would have been 12 at the time of the video.

...and the Magic Kingdom, the first part of the Walt Disney World resort four hours away in Orlando, opened the same year this video was taken...

Pirates World ~ Dania Beach, FL

...Johnny and Edgar Winter recorded a live album together there as well...

I couldnt see the video ..