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Royal Anchor Hotel - Eneida Nelson (10th Jan 2004 - 16:26:27) Could someone explain to me why the Royal Anchor, which I understand is a Grade 11 listed building, been allowed to have an inappropriate, plastic, half-window fitted at the side? I don't understand why the Council has already allowed this lovely, historic, building at the very centre of the village to be festooned with garrish signs and a silly name - that's bad enough, but this is the thin end of the wedge !! I'm very upset - I hope some action will be taken.

Re: Royal Anchor Hotel - Paul Robinson (12th Jan 2004 - 08:33:19) I completely agree. This building which has an impressive history has, through a series of takeovers and mergers in the brewing industry, suffered years of indignity which has culminated in its present role as nothing more than a tawdry 'burger bar'. The tacky adornments to the facade of the building are as nothing compared to the rape of the interior. If plastic flowers, full ashtrays and greasy tables are your 'thang' then look no further. Liphook sorely needs a convivial pub at it's centre and the Anchor is not it .

Re: Royal Anchor Hotel - Les (13th Jan 2004 - 16:32:44) I agree that the signs outside the pub do look awful. To be honest I don’t really use this pub as my local.”Its not my type”. However, you have to remember that this is the largest public house in the village and as such needs to put bums on seats & sell large quantities of alcohol in order to cover overheads. The people with the most money to spend are also largest consumers of alcohol - the 18-35s that frequent the pub now!. Their idea of a good pub, may not be our cup of tea, but we are in the minority and large pubs do not cater for the minority, I am quite happy to let the rabble use the Anchor, although removal of the signs would make the square look better, I shall continue to support my local. Would be a good idea to have a new talkback entry about the pubs in the village to see what other people think. We have six pubs to choose from (The Deer Hut, The Bramshot Club, The Green Dragon, The Railway, The Links, The Black Fox) surely one of them must be getting it right. I will be visiting my local this week – will you ?

Re: Royal Anchor Hotel - Eneida Nelson (14th Jan 2004 - 09:09:18) Les, My gripe against the yobinisation of the Royal Anchor has nothing to do with what sort of "local" it is and I wouldn't pretend to know anything about beer. Although I do go there quite often and enjoy a glass of wine (or two). This particular pub, because of its position on the old Portsmouth Road, has an enormous amount of history. Famous people from Lord Nelson to Queen Victoria have visited. The name was changed from Blue Anchor to Royal after european royalty stayed there on their way to London for the victory celebrations after the battle of Waterloo. It's the sort of history many larger places than Liphook would envy and make the most of commercially, especially with the anniversary of Trafalgar coming up. And what do we do - allow it to become, as Paul says, a tawdry Burger Bar! On the subject of bums on seats, what makes you think the 18-35 generation are only attracted to tacky pubs? I'm from the West Country and often travel back, passing many pretty villages and towns and numerous pubs on the way. Which ones do you think are always full of cars and hard to get a seat in? Well I'll give you a clue, it's not the ones covered in cardboard footballs and stuffed full of slot machines!!

Re: Royal Anchor Hotel - Nick Hancock (20th Jan 2004 - 13:23:11) As Les has said, isn't the problem here that this is where the demand is? It may not be what we all want, but the Anchor is respectably full for much of the time, with people who would need somewhere else to go if it changed, drink its "beer" and eat its "food". Just occasionally - and particularly in the summer - I do the same if I'm looking for something affordable. I would love to make the case for another meeting place in the village. I prefer pubs myself but I can see lots of demand for a wine bar - yet the Grand Anglais doesn't cater for non-eaters, the Links is a long way out and badly overpriced and it would be best not to print my opinion of my last visit to the Green Dragon. Wouldn't it be an ideal use for the old Alldays? In the meantime it seems to me that we must learn to love the Anchor, with all its faults - and do what we can to ensure that the fabric of a formerly wonderful building is not further damaged. By the way ED - we seem to have two threads going on the same topic - is there anything you can do about that?

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