Posted on 01/10/2020 7:37:48 AM PST by NRx
...This goes to show that Samuel Smith pubs are quite different to most drinking establishments: mobile phones, laptops, tablets, even Kindles are banned; payment in many pubs is by cash only; and the look and feel of the establishments is, in the words of its own website, “uncompromisingly Victorian”. And all this is down to one man, the reclusive Humphrey Smith, owner of the chain.
...More recently, in 2017, Smith banned swearing in his pubs. Last October he was said to have closed another establishment, The Fox and Goose in Worcestershire, after overhearing a customer swearing while carrying out one of his many unannounced visits.
Then in March last year managers of the company’s 200 or so pubs were told that the customers’ use of mobile phones was banned so as to encourage “social conversation”.
...And yet, are these draconian policies bad for business? It seems not. Whatever the publicity that follows Samuel Smith and its boss, there is no denying that this is a successful company, with a range of traditional beers (you won’t find a mango milkshake IPA at the bar, for instance). There are over 20 pubs in London, many of which are architectural gems, such as The Cheshire Cheese and the Princess Louise.
Samuel Smith Old Brewery was founded in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in 1758 and has been in the same family since the 19th century. Many of its pubs are in northern England, with others in the East Midlands, London and Bristol and Gloucester. They are noted for their old-fashioned decor, with original snob screens, booths and ornate wooden bar backs, retained and preserved wherever possible.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Pubs even close at 11:00pm. It’s almost a third-world country. Even more so in the last 30 years.
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We loved the area and the people. Lots of dogs in the restaurants when they were open. :-0
I’ve been to third world countries more developed than the UK.
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