Spittal Brook.

[Gadget]

Never having been in there, myself and hubby decided to pop in this afternoon. The place was empty so we had to wait for the barman to realise there was somebody to serve. He wasn't particularly friendly and vanished again as soon as he had served us. The pints were lovely and we would have had another except the barman who walked by a couple of times in the lounge end ignored us, even though we had come and stood with glass in hand at the bar. We left feeling unwanted and unwelcome and not inclined to go back.
Shame really as the beer was lovely and so was the cloudy cider. We can take a hint though and won't be troubling them again. No wonder the place was empty.
G x

 

[ben0239]

That must be a one off, i drink in there regularly and we are always treated with a warm welcome.

 

[johnny come lately]

That must be a one off, i drink in there regularly and we are always treated with a warm welcome.

Not sure it's a one-off. It may be a perception but on the two occasions I've been in I experienced similar. Took a long time to get served as person was speaking to (i presume) a regular. No hello or goodbye - despite me saying it. That was a few months ago but I've never gone back.

What gets me annoyed is when service industries don't give good customer service or make no effort to be welcoming then complain about all the other reasons their business is not doing well - eg high rents, tight breweries or competition.

 

[speak65]

We go there fairly regularly.
Great atmosphere - proper pub, good beer etc, but have to agree that customer service can be dire.
Pete the landlord himself is not one of life's jovial folks.
Some of the barstaff are great, but some do make you feel as if you are inconveniencing them.
Overall positives outweigh the negatives, but it wouldnt take too much to push the other way.

 

[Glam]

I was thinking that Gadgets barman was Pete,bit of a grumpy old sod a lot of the time.
He used to employ a lot of younger bar staff,from the conversations they all had with one another,
I'd say they went out in a group,a lot. It was hard at times to get them to serve you.
It's actually a nice pub,sells good ales and has a smashing quiz nite etc.

 

[Gadget]

The guy who served us didn't seem that old really so maybe it was just staff. It seemed like it had a load of potential, i'm reluctant to write it off completely but Wol was totally unimpressed. I suppose it's different if there are more than 2 of you in lol.
G x

 

[flossietoo]

We went to the quiz night last night in belated celebration of a colleague's sixtieth. It was packed, which is brilliant to see. We had meals which were fine and obviously cooked on the premises. Bar staff friendly and highly efficient, signs amusing, regulars nice to us and some excellent dogs. All good until the Quiz MC (the landlord?) made his way accross and demanded to know if we had swapped our answer sheets with other tables (we were two tables) instead of between ourselves. We had. "I'm not accusing you of cheating", he bellowed, clearly doing just that. I can't imagine why anybody would bother to cheat in something like that and since two of our number had visibly drunk themselves to a gentle snooze, we were only ever aspiring to mid-table mediocrity. He does need to work on his people skills, although he should do nothing about his pronounciation. I will treasure his assault on the word 'Gallipole'.

 

[Gramaisc]

Quizmaster mispronunciations - my specialist subject.

Ariel Sharon as (TV) Aerial Sharon (Davies)

Robert Mugabe as Robert Muggerby

Philately as Fellately

Abingdon as Ay Bing Don

And the 'parachuting' one, well you just had to be there..

 

[juice-comedy]

Pete the landlord himself is not one of life's jovial folks.

I can be quite a boisterous individual when drinking, and my first time in the Spittal I was no doubt cursing in a casual manner (unaware that this was against the policy of the pub). Pete sat down at the table opposite me, and informed me that he was very unhappy with my behaviour and I should stop it immediately. He did not raise his voice, but I had no trouble believing that he used to be part of Her Majesty's Special Forces. Suffice to say I nearly pissed myself.

I love the Spittal, good food and ale and I really like that it attracts older people.

 

[Gadget]

Well i'm pleased to say that during the long walk home after viewing a room at St Leonards club, we stopped in to get some internal heating liquid. The bar staff were very different, very friendly and i do believe we saw Pete smile. The lovely barmaid introduced us to the bell that gets you served if no one spots you and the barman who did serve us remembered what we'd had when serving us again Although he thought i'd be legless after 2 pints of scrumpy.... So this time around we had a great time, were sorry to leave and will be going again, but only in the evening.
G x

 

[Glam]

Well i'm pleased to say that during the long walk home after viewing a room at St Leonards club, we stopped in to get some internal heating liquid. The bar staff were very different, very friendly and i do believe we saw Pete smile. The lovely barmaid introduced us to the bell that gets you served if no one spots you and the barman who did serve us remembered what we'd had when serving us again Although he thought i'd be legless after 2 pints of scrumpy.... So this time around we had a great time, were sorry to leave and will be going again, but only in the evening.
G x

Pete - SMILED?! Must've been wind.

 

[Gadget]

Could be he did look pained the rest of the time lol.
G x

 

[Withnail]

Yay - i do like the Spittal Brook, glad you had a better time this time round.

(i'm finding it difficult to believe that Pete actually smiled, though - more inclined toward the 'wind' theory)

 

[Gramaisc]

Smile/grimace - it's a fine line...

 

[Catabatic]

Gave up on the Spittal ages ago, staff were the main problem ..........

 

[Mrmat]

The main problem with the spittle brook is its main strength I believe. So many pubs nowadays are managed from afar, they are a product in themselves (new Rose and crown) and although we usually get a smile and a greeting and a goodbye, it's all a bit contrived for me.

The spittle brook doesn't stand on ceremony and it doesn't do the modern pub conneseur. the products sell themselves, nice beer, nice food and if you go in a few times they will more often than not, learn your name, your drink and invite you to the lock in.

I get annoyed by the theme pubs, you often get a lone bloke at the bar talking to the girl behind the bar, and at the end of the day, the guy at the bar has the power over the girl behind the bar. She has to talk to him and be nice, he can end it when he likes.

At the spittle brook, such dynamics dont exist, and that's why I like it. X

 

[Glam]

The sign outside the Spit says it all

No Pool Table
No Sky
No Jukebox
Town ▬►

 

[Gramaisc]

The sign outside the Spit says it all

No Pool Table
No Sky
No Jukebox
Town ▬►

Typical woman - no sense of direction.

<-- Town's that way...

 

[Glam]

The sign outside the Spit says it all

No Pool Table
No Sky
No Jukebox
Town ▬►

Typical woman - no sense of direction.

<-- Town's that way...

Me mother werea natural blonde - nuff said xx

 

[Noah]

Punch Taverns have the tenancy up for sale -

http://www.punchpubs.co.uk/Punch/Punch+Pubs/Apply+and+find+a+pub/Find+a+pub/