By Neville Grundy, Southprot and West Lancs CAMRA
Wetherspoon’s have announced the closure of one of their outlets in Southport, the Willow Grove on Lord Street. It is due to close early in the new year, possibly February.
I am surprised at this announcement as it has always seemed popular to me, and it is situated in a very central location in the town centre.
It first opened as a Lloyds No 1 bar, run to appeal to the younger market with loud music and a club-like atmosphere, but after a few years it was changed into a standard Wetherspoons pub. At some time in the past, the building was a branch of Boots the Chemist.
I understand that some of the staff will be relocated in the Sir Henry Segrave, Southport’s other Wetherspoon’s at the southern end of Lord Street. I have also learned that Wetherspoon’s has closed the Wild Rose in Bootle and intends to close the Queen’s Picture House in Waterloo, thus effecting a large reduction in the company’s presence in the Sefton area.
Wetherspoon’s is a controversial pub company with many disliking it, partly because of the views of its outspoken boss, Tim Martin, in particular his pro-Brexit stance. Others reacted to reports that as the first lockdown was announced, Mr Martin told his staff to go and work in Tesco. This was a complete distortion of what was actually a supportive comment and I have seen copies of at least fifteen retractions in various national and local papers.
The strangest criticism of Wetherspoon’s I’ve ever read was a complaint that the price of its real ale was too low. This – believe it or not – was in the magazine of a neighbouring CAMRA branch and whoever wrote it had clearly forgotten that our Campaign is a consumers’ organisation; complaining that drinkers aren’t being charged enough was, frankly, bizarre. I wrote to the branch concerned pointing this out but received no reply.
CAMRA Southport & West Lancs Branch sends its best wishes to all affected staff and hopes that all are able to find alternative employment. As far as we know, there are no plans at present to close the Sir Henry Segrave, the Court Leet in Ormskirk or the Lifeboat in Formby.
.► The national CAMRA website is at: camra.org.uk. The Southport & West Lancs Branch website is at southport.camra.org.uk.
