The Malthouse
I have heard that the Malthouse has had a refurbishment and is now trying to attract a new type of clientele.
I must say that walking past I was not overly impressed with the exterior although it was an improvement to what we are used to. The red signs do look rather brash though. Apparently inside things have also been improved. I will have to pop down there soon and report back.
posted by The Cockerel @ 1:28 AM
5 Comments:
Will pop by The Malthouse to see if it is worth venturing into it?? Last time, I was in it, it was full of underage drinkers high on drugs, drinking shots, downing pints of Stella and ordering tons of WKD's and alcopops. Fights were erupting around the pool table and one of the televisions ended up getting smashed! The atmosphere was menacing and all the pub did was to disperse all the troublemakers into the Meadowbank to carry on their drinking and fighting.
Sadly, I don't think this place has changed that much. It probably still has the same clientele, drink promotions on lager, shots etc. and the atmosphere is still as menacing as ever, despite the refurb!!
Woah, that sounds pretty hectic, when was that?
Talked to someone who works there today and he said they were trying to change the clientele to more of a family place. Don't know if it will work though...
Agree with first comment. The Malthouse is well known in Dorking for underage drinkers and aggressive behaviour. Grown-ups avoid the place. Why do the police allow this pub to trade in this way? Or have the management been told to sort the place out? Let's hope so!
Yes, it looks a lot better of the outside. Gone are the garish, Mr Q signs promising all sorts of drink promotions. Signage is in keeping with area. Sadly, as I walked by from The Malthouse up Mill Lane, there is a huge build up of pint glasses, bottles etc. near the junction of the road leading up to St Martins Walk.
So, I guess, the 'new look' Malthouse is still a breeding ground for young thugs, chavs etc. hell bent of drinking to excess and creating problems in the local area.
I absolutely love this site! It is so funny to read the comments of people that believe themselves to be socially so correct.
The first issue I would like to address is the comment that pub was full of underage drinkers.
I worked there for 6 years, not once did I see a consciencious member of the public walk around asking persons for ID, neither were there ever any convictions brought about due to suposed underage drinkers. So I would be curious to know how people can make such outlandish and slanderous comments.
I have said before, I would not be naive enough to state that never ever was there a sucessful purchase of an alcoholic beverage by an underage drinker, however I can confidently say that the Malthouse took every step reasonably possible to ensure this did not occur.
The pub employed typically young staff, often that had siblings younger than themselves and were therefore aware of social groups, persons that were underage and this was readily brought to the attention of the management. Don´t get me wrong, underage people would certainly try and get into the pub, however for the most part, and the general concensus of the time amongst the underage community was that it was a waste of time trying to get into the malthouse because we were so strict.
Your misconception is brought about by seeing behaviour that is typical of the mainstream youth of today. People forget that on a friday and saturday night, the malthouse was often at capacity, it did not need business from underagers, the same cannot be said of other establishments within the town.
The biggoted comments made by people such as yourself are class based. You consider yourselves above the people that frequent the Malthouse, and you believe that these facilites should be there for your enjoyment, and the lower types should come in to line with yourselves.
The reality is, the Malthouse was a family pub, it attracted many, many families, it attracted OAPS, bankers, lawyers, businessmen, anyone in Dorking visiting looking for a fun night out. People who actually could see past the end of their own nose thoroughly enjoyed the place.
I haven´t been in there since christmas, and it was clear to see that despite the refurb, the pub is on its knees financially. It IS frequented now in the evenings by a predominantly younger crowd than ever before, are they underage? I could not tell you, people are older but younger looking these days. I can be confident to say having worked in this pressure sales environment, if you are struggling to meet targets, it may well be all too easy to compromise your standards, fortunately a dilemma I was never faced with.
Yes there were fights from time to time, as there are in every pub. The Malthouse never had a riot which saw a policeman being knocked out, the Falkland arms did. The Yeoman many years ago had an all out brawl, the Malthouse never did.
Something none of you appreciate, and few will actually admit, is that the Malthouse was all the youth or revelling community of Dorking had, they did not want to lose the priveledge of being able to go there. Bad behaviour, drugs etc would not be tollerated. If drugs were found or someone was caught in the act, then they would be barred for life, a policy we stuck to religously, and it had the desired deterring effect.
You have to ask yourself this, drugs, primarily we are talking cocaine, who is this subtance more readily abused by? The people on the budget? Or the people who can afford to drink elsewhere in the town who have a readily avaiable disposable income? When the police did their tests, the Malthouse did not rank the highest in terms of substances found in the toilets. In fact the reflection of the results showed that the establishments which were typically higher priced had a larger problem.
Which brings me onto the police, why did they not stop all these so called misdemeanours that were supposedly going on?
Simply because they didn´t go on. The police were very supportive and appreciative of the place. They knew it was well run and well controlled, so much so they could be confident during peak times to concentrate the majority of their force in Redhill and epsom. In the rare incidents when police assistance was required, and I might add this was usually to remove someone considered dangerous (ie pubwatched) it would often take a considerable time for the police to get there. The trouble from the Malthouse was in the police eyes, minimal. They knew the staff and the management were fully capable of controlling any situations that may arise.
I am commenting on a Malthouse prior to Sep 2005. What happened between then and now as the management change I do not know.
I know that as a result of their license applications being denied for extended hours, they would have been in a situation trying to chase sales targets set the years before, which may have proved somewhat difficult and maybe the new management did relax their controls.
However under when I was working their, the place you describe, whilst may have been a naive person interpretation of the goings on within, it is no way an accurate, informed, or well based description.
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