UPDATE on The Podcast from The Pub #AllForTheLoveOfPubs

Curating the story of the slow, dreadful, deliberate, Death of The Pub. A tragedy of the commons. 

There's me and Robert, the licensees who kick started south east London's pub revolution in December 1995 when we opened The Sun and Doves and DOGSTAR, at either end of notorious, dangerous, 'Front Line' Coldharbour Lane within a week of each other. Together, without really being aware of it, we were about to change the social dynamic of south east London forever. We met at Camberwell Magistrates' court getting our licence transfers and our eyes met across the crowds of a court waiting room that echoed with teeming offlicence and corner shop owners shouting and hollering trying to make sense out of impenetrably confusing court lists ... our paths took parallel, often exruciating, turns for much of the next decade and more as we fought off pure greed of our Great British tied pubco Rentier spiv freeholders... 

 

That makes us the ones who've both been through the Pubco grinder; then there's John, an investigative journalist who's written about predatory development of pubs, and Liam who spent 15 years fighting to save an Ex-Tied pubco pub in SE London and succeeded, it's now being refurbished and will reopen as a Freehold Free of Tie operated by an experienced licensee with a small pub group of his own, in a year or so. Liam has great stories to tell about the toture of the planning system, and how to make it better. 

We also have Sarah, who's a musician singer songwriter who started gigging in pubs 30 odd years ago and has seen the #GreatBritishPubcoScam consume several of her all time favourite pubs that have been demolished, converted or totally homogenised into big business pubco outlets like Fuller's managed etc.

We've got Danny, a documentary filmmaker (Micropubs the New Local) helping with technical and production support, and a few other people are offering voluntary support too... We've got a venue to do the recordings from- The Earl of Derby SE14 - hosting the Podcast from the Pub

A lot of people, from all walks of life, are showing interest in joining the conversation. Everywhere we go we meet people whose lives and loves have been really badly impacted by the social harm these appalling tied pubcos have done while ransacking our built environment, our sense of place, the foundations of our secular culture - from all angles. They all want to tell wonderful stories of encounters, extraordinary events, wonderful meetings of minds, friends made in pubs and how without pubs these can NEVER happen. What unites all of is our concern and LOVE for well run, proper brilliant local pubs and our desire to get them back. And we all know it can be done. 

We're as NERVOUS as can be about getting it right, we're going to start doing some trial recordings until we get comfortable with the format of presentation and order of episodes and look and sound and stuff to make sure it all comes across professionally and confidently and purposefully when we go live.

SO THERE'S STILL WORK TO DO.

All this so far is totally shoe-leather and boot-laces and personally I'm totally broke because of what's happened to me over the past 13 years since I was evicted from The Sun and Doves when I vowed never to rest until we see the back of the pubcos and their shitty disgusting Rentier capitalism bullying business model that RUINS PEOPLE'S LIVES, erodes community everywhere and is destroying a massive significant irreplaceable vital part of British history. The Pub.

YOU CAN HELP US.

If anyone reading this has a small amount of money you'd be prepared to donate weekly / monthly, I mean anything from a quid to a million, we'd be incredibly grateful for the support. I'm 65 and next week I’m starting as a home delivery driver for Sainsbury's. I do need the exercise mind. 

We've invested around £500 so far in broadcast equipment, mics, website url fees and bottom line basics and so on... We need to be on top of all social media accounts, a fully working, good looking and accessible website, buying in some admin skills, and marketing support, and, really, we need to be able to pay for costs or editing and production initially rather than depending on goodwill...

We're determined to make the podcast reach as many people as possible, all over the UK and the world where we KNOW these stories have to be told and they will be received with interest everywhere they're heard... #AllForTheLoveOfPubs is going to be where everyone who LOVE pubs are invited to come and contribute to a growing national conversation about The Future of Pubs and the solution to the pubs crisis. 

THE TRUTH IS A POWERFUL TOOL.

We'll tell the truth, honest, well informed, fact checked and verified. And there is a LOT of truth to tell. LOTS of people we've been talking to are saying #GreatBritishPubcoScam is very like the Post Office Scandal. Unbelievable, simple, shocking, scandalous, nasty, malevolent, greedy, horrific, cruel, bullying abuse of corporate power over individuals who have no voice and are completely ignored. The conversations will be tough, the stories uplifting, sad, joyous, emotional, depressing, but all rounded up with passion, love, and full of hope for the future of pubs because we all really know at heart that we can make great change happen if only we have a common cause we can, all of us, together can rally around.

Since the #CrookedHouse in Himley, and the inspiring way real people's outrage has welled up into an amazing online community of support for making sure it's reborn we reckon the palpable wave of pent up anger there is about the private equity ram raid on OUR pubs - everywehere - has at last been spilling out across the country. It's very encouraging to see people getting so vocal in their concerns about OUR PUBS.

The message below is from a German friend who's figured out from afar more about why British Pubs are on death's door and how the hedge funded blight of the #GreatBritishPubcoScam is responsible for much of the devastation than do millions of people here. 

"Well in times like these with huge parts of the UK public been fucked by the government the whole pub story is a great analogy for the ordinary man suffering. So it should attract large audiences."

IF YOU'D SUPPORT US WITH A REGULAR REPEAT OR ONE OFF DONATION TO HELP US BUILD FOUNDATIONS WE'LL FIND WAYS TO THANK YOU - 

☝☝☝ This ☝☝☝ link is where to donate to The People's Pub Partnership Donorbox is our means of collecting money. It was set up for PPP ahead of a community share issue which was headed off when the owners of a pub got permission for full change of use when their appeal to overturn the unanimous rejection of their application at planning committee was granted in full by the Planning Inspectorate. An all too common shocking turn of injustice. The hundreds of objectors included licensees of other local pubs who argued that this pub was a vital asset, an integral part of the local area's vibrant social scene, essential to its continuing success. Anyway that charade will be one of our episodes and is another experience of the egregious lack of protecton for Britain's pubs that lay behind the reasoning for starting up the podcast: Outrageous planning decisions like this one HAVE to be made totally unacceptable and a lot of that is dependent on planners and people who love pubs eveywhere fully understanding what is going on in plain sight all around us.