I love the Hope in Carshalton.
It just won my London Pub of the Year award for the fourth time, and a few days later CAMRA turned out to be in full agreement with me, naming the Hope as the best pub in Greater London. Big achievement and entirely deserved, I think.
But this isn't about how absolutely fucking awesome this pub is. I'm going to say something controversial, and I'm not I completely believe it to be true, but it's worth floating the idea for debate at least:
Great pubs are killing good pubs. Maybe.
I'd better explain exactly what I mean by this...
Who is the real enemy?
The Hope hasn't always been as good as it is now. There was a time when it was merely one of many good pubs in Carshalton.
Go back, say, 12 years or so, and Carshalton was a great place for a pub crawl. The Hope had arrived, but you also had the Windsor Castle with a sterling reputation for cask ale that used to host beer festivals in the garden. The Fox and Hounds was decent, as was the Racehorse. The Greyhound was worth stopping in for a pint of Young's, and the Woodman would probably offer a reasonable pint.
 |
| I can only drink so much! |
That pub crawl of 2012 isn't a thing. Most folks won't bother with all that faffing about crossing roads, stepping on pavement cracks and timing toilet breaks, when they can just go to the Hope and stop there. Which is entirely understandable.
But it does mean that other pubs in the area that used to be pretty good have suffered. The nearby Sun is a great food venue, and I do pop in there occasionally - where else would one be introduced to a transgender dog?!? - but the truth is that I've had some cask ale in terrible, borderline undrinkable condition in recent years.
When you think about it, it's not surprising. Local drinkers who want good cask, or a more exciting beer range generally will gravitate towards the place that does it best, which is the Hope. By being outstanding, its success has reduced the other contenders to the status of also-rans.
Selsdon Man
A slightly different but, at the same time, similar example, is another of the finalists in my Pub of the Year: The Golden Ark in Selsdon.
The history of this area is interesting. Until the year 2000 there weren't any pubs at all in Selsdon, due to some ancient legislation to which the area had been subject for countless decades. Eventually Wetherspoons were allowed to set up in the village and the Sir Julian Huxley got a reputation for being one of the best Spoons in South London.
They had more of the guest beers and the quality was always good - it was exactly what Selsdon needed and attracted local real ale drinkers who previously would've had to travel a few miles for the nearest pint. That was then.
In more recent years we've got the Golden Ark too. Which is fantastic. And it immediately became the place where the proverbial Selsdon Men and Women go if they want a good pint. Which, in turn, means that the Wetheroutlet a few doors down has now been reduced in importance and stature. It's a pretty generic branch now because a significant portion of the beer-enthusiast market goes elsewhere. They go to the Golden Ark. Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?
(Oh, and on September 13 there's some singer-songwriter playing there. Ben something or other. You might want to check me, I mean him, out. I'm sure it'll be a great night!)
So, what to make of all this?!?
I get that there are counter-examples elsewhere in the country. In places like Derby and Sheffield one successful destination pub can lead to others springing up around them in clusters. Maybe what I've noticed is a London phenomenon? Or confined to areas that can't realistically sustain multiple excellent pubs because there just aren't enough customers.
But there is a philosophical and moral question about the best way to balance the scales. Which is best: One great pub and a handful of indifferent ones, or a town centre with half a dozen pubs, all generally acceptable? Or nothing outstanding, two quite good ones, and five that are absolute dogshit?
I don't have the answers here (I'm not even sure if I have all the questions) and maybe it's an inevitable product of the overall decline in pubs and beer consumption in general. Maybe we should just be thankful for the great pubs, the good pubs and indeed any pubs at all?
But if I'm sort of vaguely right about this, and the degradation of formerly good pubs is an inevitable consequence of the emergence of great ones, how do we feel about it?
It's a troubling thought. For me, at least.
I can't speak for the U.K. but in Sydney the old fashioned "Good" Pub is under three way attack. They are being swallowed up by conglomerate like Merivale (Basically Sydney Wetherspoons), stuck under exclusivity contracts with either Lion-Nathan breweries OR Asahi breweries, and are giving more and more floor-space to pokies (gambling machines).
ReplyDeleteThe result is a homogenization of the traditional sorts of pubs which emerged from our British culture, and now they are little more than local casinos which chain venue in all but name. It also did a number on our local music culture, since all the Aussie rock bands like AC/DC and Silverchair originally had their start in Aussie pubs which are now more interested in pokies revenue than supporting local music.
The fantastic breweries and cocktail bars still exist, and so do good barsm and a resilient punk-rock scene (in Sydney at least), but it certainly feels (to me) that the cultural center of gravity are moving away from the local pub in Aus. Where to next, I'm not sure.
Very good points, Ben. Even in Sheffield, both locals and pub tourists tend to gravitate towards the usual suspects for their beer.
ReplyDeleteCarshalton is a good example. I just looked at my spreadsheet of Beer Guide pubs visited and noted trips to the Greyhound, Racehorse, Railway Tavern, Sun, Windsor Castle and The Hope.
All scored very good or better, none of which I remember bar The Hope, and I haven't been to Carshalton for more than a decade.
And when I do finally get back there to tick the GBG Cryer Arts Centre I've no doubt I'd revisit The Hope, not the others.
Even with its Hope connection, the Cryer has struggled to make its mark, particularly cask-wise, as people will just go the extra half-mile or so to the Hope. I used to pop in there when Lindemans Kriek was a permanent fixture and nothing else would hit the spot.
DeleteAnd, yes, when I'm in Sheffield I know exactly where to go, and I know these places will have so many beers I want that I'm unlikely to try anywhere different... sometimes just getting beyond the Tap and the Rutland is a challenge!