Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:The thing that surprised me was to read that you still haven't banned smoking in your pubs. Geez people, get it together! Pubs here are packed again now that the smokers have been kicked out. It's the best thing that ever happened to pubs I reckon. Of course now we've all become super sensitive to smokers, and they've become the lepers of the 21st century. I'll literally, for example, cross the street to avoid a smoker. And if I get caught in a conversation with one, I'll graphically tell them how smoking killed my mother, and what the last two years of her so-called life were like.
As for the Lewes Arms, I remember Sweder writing about it - it sounded quaint. But being a smokers pub, I wouldn't go there anyhow. And why did the owner sell out to GK anyway?
Mid Life Crisis Bigot.
The decision to ban smoking in pubs was taken some time ago and comes into force on June 1st, I think. It's been a real pleasure visiting pubs in Ireland in the last couple of years, since they went smoke-free.
I don't know the history of the pub but a) there was legislation about 20 years ago (?) to force breweries to sell off a lot of their 'tied houses', and b) to force pubs to sell guest beers (i.e. from another brewery). I suspect both these laws may have some bearing in the pub's history. But more important is that (as mentioned in the article) GK used to be a widely respected friend of the real beer enthusiast, and if it did go from private ownership to GK-owned, would probably have been seen as a good choice at the time.
