so long,farewell auf weidersehen,goodbye.

well its a final ta ta to the green
one of the nicest places i've seen
but you know your in trub
in an invisible pub
when not many people have been.
Tracy and I would like to thank all those who supported us during our Annus horribilis,all the usual suspects, the Youngs,Boltons,lakelands,Wilkinsons & Browns(+ associates) unfortunately there wern't many others.The biggest mistake we made was trying to do it in this economic climate in a village that can in my opinion sustain only one licensed premises never mind 4.Its not just Hurst Green thats struggling, if you drive through many villages in th UK you will see lots of pubs ,business's up for sale thats just the way it is.We have tried very hard to be a part of the community getting involved with football,cricket,golf and bowling but you know your struggling when you have to run 10k dressed as an eagle in a monsoon to raise the profile of your business.Yes i'm disappointed it didn't work out,but old dears don't last forever and we have tried to get away from the "small portion culture" and raise the spend per head and change the image of the E&C but it was always a tall order for a small bloke.We always wanted our own village pub,and Hurst Green ticked all the boxes for quality of life,location and community.We would have liked to completely changed the E&C,including the decor,furniture and layout,there is spectacular  view out the back which can't be seen and that seems a waste,maybe someone will come along one day and spend a few bob,it wont be JW LEES,the words piss up & brewery come to mind. Hey ho we move on to pastures new,and wish the new tenants the very best of luck & maybe catch up with you in the future across the sea,would be nice to see you all to say goodbye next saturday but if your washing your hair we understand,till the next time,keep tweeting, So Long, Farewell, Auf Weidersehen Goodbye. Much Love xx

Goodbye to The Green

Out of the blue an offer we can't refuse.An old area manager of thwaites has rung and offered us managerial position on the Isle of Man.Its called the British on the quayside @ Douglas and is earmarked for a £250,000 refurbishment.We have enjoyed our time immensely in Hurst Green but in this economic climate we must have been 33/1 to succeed unfortunately we have drifted to 50/1.Our three year plan to establish the pub was always going to be optimistic but we were slowly going in the right direction,but as all small business's you need capital behind you and we just dont want to throw any more hard earned at it.It has always been a wish of ours to run a village pub but maybe in the green it was ten years to late.Tracy and i would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and wish The Bayley,The Shireburn and The Catholic club all the very best for the future.You can't have regrets in life,like myself its to short."its better to have loved and lost than never loved at all" sums it up really and move on to the next challenge.Good luck to HGFC and Chipping cc will miss the banter and craic.We will be leaving in a month so please come and say goodbye if you have the time,all the best, till the next time  Tim much love xxx

FOOTBALL & FAIRYTALES

Well here we go its survival sunday and i hope against hope that blackpool can give us a football fairytale and stay up.The odds are stacked against em & i know a couple of pne fans read this and are desperate for the "donkeylashers" to fall through the premier league trap door.Blackpool are 1/3 to go down but only 5/1 to win @ old trafford ?? I have a close affinity with bfc,luckily enough my first game with the old man was 1975 v sunderland and micky walsh scored the goal of the season & i think budgie burridge (mad as a wasp)saved a pen.In 1980 Unfortunately or fortunately which ever way you look at it my mates and i used to frequent manchester on saturday afternoons checking out the threads and picture discs in the underground market,arndale centre, stolen from ivors & the virgin megastore.One of my mates, big chad was born in manchester and his dad was a blue,so off we went on the no 19 from outside the arndale to maine road,and once i heard the raw of the kippax i was hooked,the football irrelevant(asking for trouble)the atmosphere,no disrespect to bloomfield rd was on another level.We followed city all the way to the cup final with no ticket only to see tommy hutch score @ both ends in a dull draw.We also followed Blackpool everywhere in midweek(if city wern't playing) in school leaving year culminating in an arrest @ doncaster,some prick threw an ashtray from the coach and we all got locked up !!! favourite ever blackpool  player was eamonn okeefe a stocky little fucker but scored great goals,once scored the perfect hatrick v donny(again) left foot screamer,right foot tap in and a diving header only played 36 times for blackpool and scored 26 goals.Favourite ever city player was george kinkladze shame he was in a poor side,had a liquid left foot and if david silva is worth 25 mill so was kinkladze and maybe more in my opinion.So yes i suppose i am a plastic manc but if you have followed your team home and away and suffered the dross i have(i once even payed to view colchester v city on tv when we were in the old second division and attended 12 home games that dreadfull season, thank fuck for mark halseys watch paul dickov and nicky weaver !!!! So come on blackpool on sunday,dont change a thing,play with naive abandon,and whatever happens you have entertained us all,and you never know by 5.45 on sunday lets hope were talking about BFC a football fairytale !!! till the next time much love xxxx

The friday blog on sunday !!!!!!

You wait 35 years and it finally happens well done man city for holding your nerve against pub team  stoke and bringing some silverware back to manchester and shutting the plastic glory hunters quiet for ten minutes.Apparently there taking down the 35 year banner and replaceing it with 45 years which is the last time we won the league,i'm glad it will inspire us to win the league,maybe not next season but it will happen soon.On the business front been a slow week,wheres the sun gone its been like winter,it also looks like the pub/restaraunt down the road is gonna open soon which means more competition and another nail in the eagle coffin but hey just keep trying to survive and hope the vat man has a sense of humour.Great crack with the hgfc lads yesterday thanks for putting up with my city induced pissedness until next time much love xxxxx

The Friday Blog

Well i have entered the hurst green 10k trail race to raise awareness of our wonderful little village pub and hopefully raise a few bob for local teams and charities and i will be running in full eagle & child costume.I will start training next week 2 miles a day to prepare for it.I also made my debut for chipping cc last night and really enjoyed getting back on a cricket field,this means i am now a blogger,jogger and a slogger(see what i did there).Allthough easter and the wedding bank holiday showed us the full potential of the E&C we are by no means out of the woods,may will be marketing mayhem to get the message out there,village pubs are closing at an alarming rate and we certainly dont want to be part of that statistic.My old man always used to say to me as a boy "son you only get out of life what you put in" how right he was,however in this economy the harder you seem to work the rewards or people coming through the door seem to be dwindling.No point dwelling on it just got to work harder,and target the right people,it has always been our dream to run our own business and The E&C @ Hurst Green is perfect,the family and I are very happy here,and we won't go down without a fight,and remember little people have to fight dirty !!! till the next time much love   xx Tim

you,ll never have another mother

Well its mothers day again the busiest catering day of the year allegedly,we have about 40 bookings but if your business relies on walk ins it doesn't neccesarily mean your going to be any busier.Especially out in a village pub on a cold wet day,however with the lighter nights and hopefully warmer weather business is improving slowly we are just anticipating the end of year vat bill which will make or break us.A new decking area is being introduced with bistro style tables and the beer garden will be finished by the end of the month with a fantastic view of the ribble valley.We are just trying to improve the cosmetics and and little touches to make it a better place to eat sleep and dine.We are all trying to trade in difficult times but there is always someone worse off than yourself,so  get up in the morning and smile and get it over with !!!! till the next time  Tim

moan moan moan

Well this is my first blog so apologies if its pony.All we seem to do is moan these days and i for one am guilty of it,but as wev'e seen in japan and new zealand recently have we really a lot to moan about, i run a struggling village pub with fuel and beer prices going through the roof its hard work,but i can eat well drink copious amounts of alcohol,and have a great family behind me.To be honest living "on the edge" and hanging on "by your fingertips" is quite exiting,we are just trying to improve things slowly due to a small cashflow and hopefully customers will understand what we are trying to do and use us more often.I also lost a friend and colleague after a short illness recently which really put things into perspective,so next time you get up in the morning and feel shit(hangovers don't count in my business) think of others and dont be so fucking selfish !!!!  much love  xx till next time   Tim