We went over to Birchover on Friday night and discovered that the Druid has gone out of business, permanently so the locals say. Having said that, it wouldn’t surprise me if the chef was now at the Red Lion: nestled among the regular fish and chips’s etc on the menu is now such things as pan-fried pigeon, with black pudding and prosciutto. And delicious it was, especially at prices less than £8!
RickG
PARWICH.ORG 
So the Druids at Birchover has closed its doors. Pub dining has come a long way since the Bernie inns initiative where patrons could enjoy good basic fayre ,non confusing menus that didn’t require one to be au fait with ” The Repertoire De La Cuisine “,no pompous sommeliers who would take delight in exploiting a customers ignorance and no final bill that would necessitate the use of smelling salts to avoid fainting. What have we got now, enter pub, ‘table for two Sir? ‘, ‘ no thank you, we would just like to sit down and have a drink please’, Big dilemma ,consult bookings list, scratch chin, cursory glance around the room, ‘Ok the table by the window isn’t booked until seven so that gives you five minutes to relax and enjoy a drink’. Glass of wine ,pint of ale £12.00 please ,smile extra. Our jolly old inns are fast disappearing due mainly to changing social habits,cheap supermarket booze, home entertainment etc etc,. The Cock Inn at Muggington most likely to have once been an important staging post in days of yore is now a crumbling heap. Greedy pub companies, exorbitant rents, beer ties, insurance premiums the list is endless all contributing to the demise of the traditional pub.Your once jovial host is now reduced to a nervous wreck poring over countless bills. Spare a thought when you are tucking into your pan fried Yeti steak with thrice mashed potato and organic parsnip crisps with a Galapagos tortoise jus, (all locally sourced of course). Keep a good memory of the old pubs,you’ll need it. ‘From the towns all Inns have been driven, from the villages most …….Change your hearts or you will lose your Inns and you will have deserved to lose them, but when you have lost your Inns drown your empty selves for you will have lost the last of England. ( Hilaire Belloc ) 1870 – 1953.
Interesting and insightful comment Paul, from somebody who knows more than most the “Inn’s” and outs of the trade!
personally I think the smoking ban had a lot to do with the demise of pubs, must have made a big difference,years ago it was 10 bensons and a couple of pints,cant realy remember last time I had the urge to go to the pub.also M+S two for a tenner couldn`t have helped.
Interesting comments from Paul there. I also think the drink driving laws have also had an unfortunate side effect on the social habits of going to the pub for a drink. I remember that going to try different pubs was something that we loved to do before the changes in the law. All the more reason why we need to support our local village pub or that will be gone too.