The Bull Hotel

Thu 22 Jan 2015, 09:16

Surely the point of Rosemary and others is that they have been disappointed by the Bull in recent times, for whatever reason - you can't expect people to support a service which they don't feel is good enough. I feel enormously for Alix and Stuart, as it's a hard business to be in and I know they work hard, but that doesn't mean they are beyond having made mistakes (some of which, alas, have led to me and several others I know no longer being regulars there). It's great there is a rump of loyal customers, but when it comes to food, drink and accommodation, these are matters of taste and others are entitled to express their disappointment.

The 'use it or lose it' argument is only one part of the picture - why should you use a service which you have found disappointing, or where superior options have been found nearby?

The planning paperwork makes a great deal about how they have made a big investment and are not getting a return on it, and how hard it is to run - all true enough, but that doesn't mean the community should lose a historic and once-popular asset purely to underpin their finances or underwrite errors of judgement.

Other people in this thread and in letters have objection have already proposed a perfectly plausible solution: sell the Barn as a separate property to get out of the financial hole, and sell the business of the Bull Inn (or maybe keep it and try to learn from people's comments?) so that someone else can have a go. The new owners of the Bell are working hard to turn around its rickety reputation - the same could happen here.

Google the Kingham Plough - the top ten results include its own Twitter feed and a review in a national newspaper. Google the Falkland Arms in Great Tew - ditto. There are marketing opportunities here which would also help - the Bull alas doesn't seem to have the same profile or reputation beyond the parish borders.

If the Bull can 'up its game', then certainly the community too has its own duty to support it.