I KNOW you’re busy and you haven’t got time …but go on give this film a go. It’s a beautifully put together piece of oral history on The Geldeston Locks – one of the most charismatic pubs on the Broads network. Hats off to all involved in commissioning it.
MEET the new team at the New Inn at Rockland. Jim Ravenwolf and Sandy Jarvis stepped into the breach three weeks ago allowing the doors of this lovely pub to open for the first time in five months. So far they’ve been impressed with the number of walkers and cyclists coming through the doors, but are slightly disappointed with the quantity of locals. Sandy plans to start offering Bed and Breakfast within a week (there are two en-suite rooms above) and they’re keen to get gigs going too. “Music and Ale, that’s the direction we want to go in,” said Jim. “Wherry outsells all three lagers, that tells you a lot.”
So the good news is that it’s re-opened. The bad news is that we haven’t got the security of having leaseholders in place. That’s not Jim and Sandy’s fault of course. But the reality is that they are managers, doing the honours temporarily on behalf of a holding company which presumably wants to see if the numbers add up before committing further. Sandy can’t say how long they’ll be in place. “It’s suck it and see,” she said. Once again with Wherryman’s Way pubs, it’s a case of use it or lose it.
* I will give a phone number for the B&B once the pub has a phone line. At the moment the lack of a line also means you can’t pay for food or drink by card. (Jim has on occasion driven customers to the cashpoint in Loddon, but that’s another story…)
