GEORGE AND DRAGON

I hope you’re all well in spite of this inclement weather we are having of late. We are certainly ready for a bit of sun. Mind you, the days when the snow made the roads impassable to motorists resulting in the closing of schools and offices were the busiest days at the pub during this mostly wet and cold winter. Talk about extremes! A really nice sunny or a very snowy day will bring people into The George and Dragon but on any other day, we would be quiet, bordering on empty. The constant supply of inclement weather is certainly one of the reasons why busy days at the pub have become few and far in between.

But like most pubs in the country, the weather is not the only reason why we are struggling. The credit crunch has drawn people away from pubs and into the supermarket for cheap food and beer, not to mention the unending regulations the government seem to think up to burden pubs even more. In the meantime, unlike the number of people patronizing the pub, the cost of running a pub, are constantly on the rise. Sadly, we are now in the position where if we don’t get out, we will be in serious trouble. It is for this reason that we’ve decided to give up our tenancy.

Greene King has started looking for new tenants. Some have been in to look around. We will have to wait until Greene King finds a replacement before we can announce a leaving date. All we know at the moment is that it will not happen in the next couple of months. In the meantime, we are still here soldiering on. Our regulars and staff have been brilliant. Rest assured that we have not compromised our food, beer and services. Bill is still freshly cooking your favourite dishes!

The day we leave will be a very sad day for us. We are happy here. We have met a lot of people who have become very good friends. In the three years that we’ve been here, each of us has changed for the better, both as a person as well as a family. We will have fond memories of the pub, our staff and our patrons.

We will definitely keep you informed of things as they progress but until then we will enjoy the time we have left.

See you at the pub!

Sorry for the lack of update last month. Our Halloween Party which was last month’s highlight had to wait until this month to be reported because it happened too late to make it to the newsletter’s November deadline. A local band, Mew and Wooster, provided the music. Once again, thank you to all who came to celebrate with us. The pictures will be up on our website soon.

Next and last big event for this year will be the New Year’s Eve party. This year, we’re going to have live music by The Triple A band performing covers from the 60’s onwards. They’re popular in the local pub scene and they’ve done a couple of gigs for us. We are looking forward to seeing them again. It’s free admission so we hope to see you revelling with us on the 31^st of December, from 9pm!

For the Sunday lunch on the 20^th of December, we will be serving a traditional Christmas Turkey Dinner! Bill does an excellent Christmas Dinner and he could do that any day, not just a Sunday! If you’re thinking about having a family do why not leave the cooking to Bill. What an excellent idea! For a minimum of ten people, we will do all the cooking, serving, cleaning and washing up for you. We’ll even throw in the Christmas decorations and crackers for free. All you have to do is sit and enjoy the family chin-wag! It’s not even going to cost you more than a regular Sunday roast, £7.75 adult and £4.50 child.

Also, if you haven’t noticed yet, we have started closing on a Monday. Trade has been very slow since the summer season finished and so we have opted to have a much deserved day off that day. The only exception would be Christmas Bank Holiday Monday.

Finally, please take note of our opening hours and activities for the Christmas Season.

24 Dec Christmas Eve

Open from 12noon until midnight

Regular menu available at lunchtime only

25 Dec Christmas Day

12noon-2.30pm Open for drinks only

26 Dec Boxing Day

Open from 12noon for drinks only

28 Dec Bank Holiday

Open from 12noon for drinks only

31 Dec New Year’s Eve

Open from 4pm drinks only Party from 9pm

1 Jan New Year’s Day

12noon-3pm Open for drinks only

This past year has been difficult for many, not least the pub. Here’s hoping that 2010 will bring us all good tidings. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

See you at the pub

As expected, it’s slowing down a bit now with the kids back in school. We’re expecting things to start getting busy again near the end of November for the Christmas season. Aunt Sally party was a very good night. The pub trip to the Thai Festival was also a huge success. We’re all looking forward to the next one.

The next event at the pub will be the much-anticipated Halloween Party, 30th October, Friday, with Live Music featuring Mew and Wooster. Fancy dress optional. From 9pm. Also, children are welcome to knock at our door on Halloween, the 30th. We always have sweets for Trick or Treaters.

See you at the pub!

Not a lot going on apart from the usual happenings at the George and Dragon. We are very busy though. Summer is not quite over yet but I can easily report that so far, we are having an outstanding season. I expect it will start to slow down again when the children go back to school but I’m feeling confident that our pre-Christmas season will also be better than last year’s. All in all, trade is definitely improving.

Reminders for your diary : 11^th Sept 9pm, 80’s Live Music Night. I shall tell you all about that as well as our Thai Festival trip in next month’s issue.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer.

See you at the pub!

GEORGE and DRAGON

I do apologise for the lack of updates these past couple of months. We have been very busy with both pub and our family lately and organizing our tasks have become a real challenge. It seems that people are now getting fed up with the credit crunch as it feels as if the curtain of doom and gloom is finally lifting. I’m sure it’s also because we’ve been having lots of beautiful weather lately but not even the occasional rain showers are preventing people from coming to the pub because we’re still busy even when the weather is not at its best. Long may it last, I pray.

Please take note that we are now closed on a Monday lunchtime. It’s the quietest time in the pub and therefore the best time to give ourselves a day off. We’re still open Monday evenings for drinks. Also, it is always a good idea to book a table especially if you plan to dine after 8pm. Most of the time people can walk into the pub and I’d be able to fit them in but there have been occasions when I had to stop taking orders as early as 8.30pm because Bill is already fully booked until 9pm. To avoid disappointment, please call to book a table. Our phone number is 850723.

Good news and bad news regarding Bill’s ever popular Sunday Roast and our Sunday Menu. Good news is that we’ll be on the regular Lunch Menu on a Sunday. Bad news is, to be able to do that, we have to stop doing the Sunday Roast, at least for the summer. Our biggest problem is our tiny kitchen. The roast takes up all but very little space in our kitchen preventing us to do pretty much anything else. Hopefully, Sundays will continue to be warm and sunny so that the Sunday Roast will not be missed too much.

Dates for your calendar:

31^st August Bank Holiday Monday is our bi-annual pub trip to the Thai Festival in Surrey. If you’re interested in joining us, we still have a few seats left. £10 deposit for the coach. £7.50 entrance fee per person. One child free for every two adults. There will be lots of Thai food, Thai beer, cooking demonstrations, cultural dance exhibitions and shops. The pub will be closed for lunch and will open at 6.30pm for drinks only.

11^th of September Friday 9pm, 80’s Night with live music, fancy dress optional. We will be celebrating the end of the Aunt Sally season and the birthdays of two members of our team, Steph and Emily who will be turning 18 that month! Soon I’ll be able to leave them behind the bar and go on holiday!

Once again, thank you to all valued customers. Last year, with everything going against publicans, trade became so dire we thought we’d be very lucky if we’re still here by the summer but your continued support has seen us through, has kept us going and it looks like we’re here to stay. Here’s to more good times at the George and Dragon.

See you at the pub!

George and Dragon will be closed every Monday lunchtime except School Holidays and Bank Holidays. Back to normal updates next months. Cielo

Bar person or Babysitter wanted to cover staff on leave from 29th of May to 12th of June. Hours: 12-2pm and 6-9pm Tuesday to Saturday. Please contact Cielo at the pub 01235 850723.

April turned out to be a highly eventful month for the George and Dragon. On the first week, we featured a local band called Mew and Wooster. They entertained us with their rendition of popular covers from the seventies to current charts. The music and the drinks flowed until the wee hours of the morning…literally! They will definitely be back.

Once again on Easter Day, third year running, we held our annual Easter Egg Hunt. The weather didn’t look to promising and there was a point when we thought it wouldn’t push through but the weather improved and we had just enough time to hide the different coloured ribbons which the children had to find in exchange for chocolates.

Our big event for April was of course, St. George’s Day. We personally believe that more should be done to mark this special day of England’s very own patron saint. Poor St. George sits in the corner looking very embarrassed because St. Patrick and St. Andrew get more attention in England than him! Well, we were not having it. St. George is England’s and the pub’s patron saint and we will give him the accolade he deserves! The Wantage-based 17^th Century Vale Islanders and The Old Specked Hen Mixed Morris Clog Dancers, feel the same way and that’s why it has now become tradition for them to grace us with their period singing, dancing and costumes in celebration of this special day. We have done our bit for the “Britishness” campaign!

We were also pleased to find that a lot more places were working to make St. George Day more substantial. Our neighbouring village, West Hagbourne held a Dragon Display Competition and had asked our landlord, Bill, to judge the competition! This contest has attracted a lot of media attention and so on the week of St. George’s Day, the village, the contest and Bill were in three papers, The Didcot Herald, The Oxford Mail and The Daily Star! That’s now his claim to fame.

Two bank holiday Mondays in May and weather permitting, we will have a barbeque for lunch on both days. Hopefully the May bank holiday weather will be good to us this year because so far, it’s always been wet and horrid. Nothing worse than soggy burger buns! So good luck to us and see you at the pub!

I’m sure we could all agree that March had been a very good month, weather-wise, at least and we all know that good weather draws people in at the George and Dragon. At the beginning of the month, it looked like it would be just another slow time for us but after the first week, the weather turned for the better and then, we were literally, rushed off our feet! Hopefully, we are seeing what would be the beginning of a busy year for us. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

You may have received a homemade flyer hand-delivered by our sons, George and Gavin. It’s only a reminder of what we do at lunchtimes and the new take-away service that we are now offering (Tuesday-Saturday only). Also in last month’s newsletter, we mentioned that we would be open all day Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, we’ve decided to revert to the old hours of 12-2.30pm and 5.30-11pm for Saturday because not enough people come in on a Saturday after 2pm to make it viable. Sunday hours will remain the same.

Once again, we will have an Easter Egg Hunt in the pub garden for the kids this year. It will be on the 12^th of April, 2.30-4pm. Lots of free chocolates are always fun for the kids so make sure they don’t miss out! As for St. George’s day, I am yet to receive confirmation from people regarding our activities for that day but keep an eye out for our boards outside the pub to find out what will be happening.

We have high hopes for Spring and Summer so wish us luck and we wish you the same!

See you at the pub!

Our apologies for last month’s lack of update. We were on holiday! Yes, we went to the Philippines for two weeks and left the pub in the care of our trusted team who have, I might add, done a very good job indeed. It took a few days to get our bearings back but we’re definitely back on track – groove and all!

The 22^nd of March will be that special day for mums. Expect the roast for that day to be truly special. We will of course, have other things on as well. We have been taking bookings as early as the first week of February and spaces are running low so book yours soon!

In anticipation of a promising Spring season, Bill has been busy concocting new things for our menu and so from the beginning of March you will find new dishes on offer like pasta, salads, vegetarian meals and new puddings. Recently, it’s been called to our attention that there are some in the village who, for some reason or other, are unable to come to the pub for a meal but would really like to try Bill’s very popular Thai Curries (among other things) and because we are always happy to accommodate, a selection of meals are now available to take-away and did I mention that they will have a 10% discount? Bargain!

Opening and Dining Hours from the 1^st of March:

Opening times:

Monday to Friday 12-2.30pm and 5.30-11pm

Saturday & Sunday 12-11pm

Dining Hours:

Lunch 12-2 Sunday to Saturday

Dinner 6.30-9 Tuesday to Saturday

Pensioner’s Lunch are still on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 20% off all regular main course meals.

Here’s wishing us all a beautiful Spring ahead and see you at the pub!