Extended hours - One year on
It has been one year now since the licensing laws changed to allow pubs to open longer hours. I wanted this to happen for years and it's not just that I like visiting the pub that makes me say this, it was common sense. People used to go out and constantly be watching the clock to either be somewhere else or have their quota. Either way it made them drink faster. Come closing time, whatever town you were in, the streets were crowded with people who just didn't want to go home just yet. Dorking after hours was a nightmare sometimesIn Dorking I think that the whole thing has been managed very well. The pubs tend to close at different times so when you walk home the streets are largely empty, compared to before. In this weeks Dorking Advertiser there is an article about this where they start off by being sensationalist by stating that drink related crime has soared since the new laws came into effect, but reading on it tones it down with even the police supporting the new arrangements. I know from personal experience the High Street is now consistently a much quieter place past 11.00pm.
When I go out with my friends we tend to go out a little later and drink the same amount, just slower. It is much more relaxed which is really the whole point of it. The only time we drink a little more is when we end up in the Old House, and that is only because it goes on until 2.00am, and you never know whether or not you are going to get in. If you do get in and roll out of there at 2.00am Dorking is dead quiet.
posted by The Cockerel @ 11:32 PM
4 Comments:
Dorking is no better with the 'new' pub licencing hours. The same idiots hang around the kebab, off their faces looking for a punch up or two before spewing up all over the pavements, smashing a few shop windows on their way back to their rancid abode. It has got not any worse but sadly, it has not got any better either. There is NO evidence of drinking in moderation. Just look at The Old House at midnight, queues of people with one aim to drink as much as possible till 2AM on Friday and Saturday night. If anything, the morons have a few extra hours to drink their Stella, and trash the place as the police knock off around 12 midnight. Since the extended hours, there has been a huge amount of criminal damage in the vicinity of the High Street and sadly, this all is drink related!!
Went out for a curry at the Dorking Brassarie last night and a few drinks at The Kings Arms last night. The curry restaurant was very good, full of atmosphere and offers very great value for money. The Kings Arms was really cosy, had a great mixture of people, was not threatening and made me proud to live in a town where this olde style pub still exists. I then proceeded to walk up the High Street from West Street at around 11:15pm to see the same problems still persist even with the extended hours. There were loads of people off their faces, fists were flying outside The White Horse Hotel and a group were gathering around to get a piece of the action! I decided to walk on and up Dene Street only to be confronted by about fifteen thugs who were coming out of Arty P's. Pint glasses were flying, tempers were frayed and people were milling around looking for an excuse to cause some trouble.
Sadly, nothing has changed since the relaxation of the pub hours. There are still quite a number of people intent on causing trouble and getting blind drunk for the hell of it. I have also noticed sadly that Arty P's has definitely changed for the worst. Rob and Viv left about two months ago and it has changed from an upmarket wine bar full of professional people into a real chav magnet!! The landlord at present is an arrogant, anti-social thug whose main aim is to put profit before clientele. Last night, there was a lot of underage, tracksuit wearing hoodies who emerged from the pub off their faces, vomiting on the pavements, making as much noise as possible and could not a sentence together without f'in and blinding -- PATHETIC....
I still believe it is much better. I went out last night and it was the same story when I went home. Empty and quiet. I literally haven't seen any trouble in Dorking for ages.
Sadly, it seems that Arty P's is reinventing itself as another Jolly Butchers. It seems to be attracting young people in the same mould as The Malthouse and the Surrey Yeoman. What a shame...as Arty P's was lovely when it first opened. It attracted youngish people who were articulate, worked hard during the day and never caused any offense to anybody. Now, it is full of low lifes and men who brag how many wimin' they got pregnant and the life they lead livin' on the dole. The wimin' are just as bad. Sadly, this place has to been seen, to be believed. There is also talk that the pool table is coming back along with a dart board and screens to show the football.
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