Just weeks after the end of WW II, Barclay Perkins were worried about pissing off the Licensing Magistrates. So much so that they sent all their landlords a warning letter. Why? Try reading the rest of this bloody post. Then you'll discover the answer.Some of their landlords, for pathetic reasons like not having any beer, weren't opening all the hours they could. Barclay Perkins warned:
"we are asking all our Lessees and Tenants to keep their premises open for the full permitted hours. Already there is evidence that failure to do so will be likely to cause grave displeasure to the Licensing Magistrates."Can't imagine the licensing authorities now would complain at a pub staying closed when it could be open. They'd probably prefer all to close forever.
My guess - and it IS only a guess – is that this is a harkback to the 1900s-1930s, when magistrates were closing pubs deemed to be "superfluous", and BP were worried that the magistrates would say that "if you don't have enough trade to stay open all the time, you're obviously superfluous, so we're taking your licence away."
ReplyDelete