Say it aint so!

[chazwicke]

This is from the realbeer newsletter:

SMALLEST PUB THREATENED WITH CLOSURE
Locals have rallied behind Britain's smallest pub, which faces possible
closure after it was refused permission to expand its seating area outside.
The Nutshell pub in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, is only 15 feet long and seven
feet wide, and licensee Martin Bayliss unsuccessfully petitioned to put six
tables with chairs outside to boost capacity. A spokesman from District
Council said: "The applicant originally wanted to put tables and chairs
outside in an area which extended across another shop's frontage and,
following an objection, we could not grant that application." Bayliss has
submitted his second application, for a smaller outside area, and is hopeful
of a positive outcome when the council meets later this month.



I have been to this Greene King pub and spent a wonderful evening there even getting to go down into the cellar which is in part of a tunnel system that the local monks had dug. It is truly a unique pub and I would hate to see it close!

[newportstorm]

Obviously, the pub's neighbor isn't an ale fan. Otherwise, I'd assume a compromise could have been agreed upon - say, a couple of free pints whenver I stop in and you can put the tables wherever you'd like :D

Cheers!

[chris_o]

I went to the Ipswich Beer Festival last week and got chatting to a chap who lives in Bury St Edmunds. Word there is that Greene King don't see much of a role in their global domination plans for a pub that only takes a dozen customers maximum, so have been looking for an excuse to close it. I guess the landlord is cutting corners in an attempt to increase the takings to a level that Greene King thinks worthwhile. Greene King did the same with a pub just up the road called the Cupola House, a historic structure that need money spending on it. Having done their sums, Greene King decided it wasn't worth the outlay and shut the pub. I hear it's now an upmarket restaurant. Heritage counts for little in the world of mammon.

[chazwicke]

Sorry to hear that. I had a very memorable evening in that pub. 900 year old dead cat and all.

[chazwicke]

I just saw this:

TINY PUB 'EXPANDS' Sep 25 2004








The SMALLEST pub in Britain has been given permission to expand - by putting tables outside.

For 28 days a year, The Nutshell pub in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk - which is only15ftby 7ft - will be allowed to place two tables and eight chairs in the street outside.

The pub was the smallest in the world until a US bar took the title. Only one member of staff can work in it at a time.