Wincanton Bike Night

[Last Train]

Is no more,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/26404863538/permalink/10154048180148539/

Loved that meet :(

I see QB1 has posted up already.

[redken1]

"Police pressure" was one of the reasons given by the pub owners/managers. Since when did the publicly funded police become a pressure group? Just asking?

[Col]

Nouveau riche nimbys with nothing to do except sit smugly in their overpriced country retreats been bleating to plod.

Nothing to stop 'us' going there anyway or is the pub going to turn away business ?

[Last Train]

It's been a real good earner for them so there must have been some serious pressures to stop it.

Some people just can't stand others enjoying themselves.

Farewell footlong.

[Swanny]

Are we living in a police state?

[WR6133]

Are we living in a police state?

Yes

[Dabz]

A real shame that it's been cancelled :/

[Burbler]

I wouldn't be surprised if someone oraganised a protest ride in.

[Last Train]

First post;

It is with great regret that the due to growing Police & Community pressures, The Hunters Lodge Inn will no longer be running the weekly Thursday night Bikers night during the summer months. This event has been running for over 20 years and has amassed a huge following over that time. We would like to thank each and every one of you for your attendance and your patronage. This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, but feel this is the correct time to make this change. These nights have been a fun and exciting part of our summer but we need to concentrate on our core restaurant business which continues to grow from strength to strength. Yours regretfully. The Hunters Lodge Inn.

And this today;

I would just like to elaborate on our decision to finish the Hunters Lodge bike night. This is not because we are anti-biker. we have never been anti-biker and never will be. unfortunately out bike night has actually been in decline over the past few years where-as our normal trade has grown hugely to the point where we struggled to do both last year. on top of that we received a growing number of complaints from the local community in regards to excessive noise and speed. it is for these reasons that we made this really difficult decision. we still welcome bikes but want to reduce the impact of such a large volume in one go. I hope this clears things up and hope for your understanding.

[Toph]

I really enjoyed Hunters Lodge..real shame.
like Kev said... Farewell Footlong.

[Swanny]

unfortunately out bike night has actually been in decline over the past few years
That's bollocks, the car park has always been full of bikes. At least 500 bikes each Thursday
In my opinion it was the best bike meet

[redken1]

In his second statement regarding the end of the Thursday bike night, the landlord of The Hunters Lodge reiterates and emphasizes one of the main reasons for taking this decision, stating, “We received a growing number of complaints from the local community in regards to excessive noise and speed.”

Perhaps instead of simply dismissing the complainants as Anti-biking curtain-twitching NIMBYS, we should take a stepback and look at it from all angles. Although this may well have been a very lucrative evening’s takings for the Inn, I doubt very much that the survival of the Business could rely solely on one bike night a week, reliant on good weather for part of the year. It would be naïve in the extreme to think that a landlord of a pub would ignore what the local community is telling him/her as this is the ‘bread and butter’ trade for most.

This brings me onto the Landlord’s claim of ‘excessive noise and speed’. Most of us love our after market exhaust systems, as I do my Scorpion, and some like em noisier than others. IMHO however, there is a time and a place to let rip (and revving to the limiter) and that is out on the open road away from built-up residential areas and certainly not when leaving a pub or other populated venue, especially on a week night. Time and time again over the years I have seen bikers turned away for this very reason. Unfortunately, it’s the same old story – the vast majority of us show respect towards surrounding residents, but a small minority insist on letting the side down. Local residents won’t rush to the landlord before the pub opens the following morning to tell him/her that one hundred bikers left the area quietly and without incident. But they will let him know if one biker makes enough noise to wake up little Johnny. I’m playing devil’s advocate here – it is all too easy to keep pointing the finger as our pool of welcoming venues shrink ever smaller.

[shiftyblake]

If you read in to what the owners said, They know like any pub now, its all about the restaurant and you don't attract the monied diners if there are oiks like you and me on bikes turning up once a week... and its known as a "bikers pub"

[Dabz]

Yup this is the point I made in the other thread - I think it's a bit easy to blame the police when their second state to suggests it's a business decision made on their part

[Swanny]

500 footlongs and drinks is a hell of a lot of money to turn away
I wonder what his takings for a Thursday will be without us

[Dabz]

Thursday night is only a tiny bit of the week for somewhere like that though. Consider the profit on 5 foot longs compared to one diner in the restaurant? They need to sell a lot of foot longs to compare to a busy restaurant night where people have multiple courses and house wine.

[redken1]

Thursday night is only a tiny bit of the week for somewhere like that though. Consider the profit on 5 foot longs compared to one diner in the restaurant? They need to sell a lot of foot longs to compare to a busy restaurant night where people have multiple courses and house wine.

And not that many on wet nights I suspect and certainly not through the winter months. Of course this was a business decision.

[Col]

^^^^^ It only ran from Clocks forward to September so about 25 evenings maximum where they did very good business.
Diners spending on wine and multiple courses is also nonsense as the menu is hardly gourmet quality or price.
The fact is the business has done well over the last 20 years with the locals knowing it had a bike meet on a Thursday , and plenty of noise to boot, so saying noise is an issue and the meet was in decline is also nonsense.
To my knowledge there has only been one entertainer who parted company with his bike doing a wheelie and I only know of that thru hearsay.
Plod on bikes even go there and the blood bike lot now and again.
I suspect, and who knows, a few wealthy newbs have moved in and have been lobbying their local plod friends to such an extent that they made the concerns ??? known to the pub owners........... as the bloke states 'we still welcome bikes' and it is a decent ride down there and the seating deck will still be there plus the fact they 'Welcome Bikes'...........carry on dudes :)

[Swanny]

I reckon you're on the right tracks Col.
My Dad was a landlord for a few years so I know about the pub trade.
To turn away that much trade just doesn't make sense. There's no way a few diners are going to substitute 500 bikers, you're easily looking at £1500, they won't be selling anywhere near enough steak and chips to cover that especially not on a Thursday evening. There was always a big queue at the bar and food counter.
Those footlongs would only cost pennys to serve and would have a much bigger profit margin than a chicken in a basket meal.

Whatever happened we've lost out on a great bike night. It's a shame more of you WBer's never went.

[redken1]

Others are entitled to form their own views on the reasons behind the demise of the Hunters Lodge bike night based on their own personal speculation. I have no reason to disbelieve the reasons given by the Landlord and it sounds plausible to me. Whatever, it's still a real shame it is no more.

[Vulcanboy]

That's really sad ... a great night out .... :(

[Patchouli Dave]

I fully understand any decision made for commercial reasons, however the pressure brought to bear by locals and police will also be a major part of the decision making process.

A point which they may be missing, is that this biker, who had been there for a footlong and a non alcoholic beverage on a Thursday night, has gone back on a Sunday lunchtime with his family and spent good money (For a fairly mediocre offering).

This decision could impact on their trade in a negative way, I for one won't be going to eat there now that there is no bike night.

I hope that the local residents rally round to support their pub, but I suspect that they would rather spend their Thursday evenings, sitting in their back gardens, listening to the birds singing and congratulating themselves on a victory over those terrible noisy bikers.