Old lady loving, ghostbusters and melted candles

It is now well into Wednesday and that means I have the rest of today and tomorrow before I throw open the doors of my pretty little pub, well half of it at least, to the general public, their comments and their criticisms. For those who are in the ‘criticism’ list be aware I can shut off audio at will so don’t think that I am listening as you explain how to best run the pub before shooting off home to do whatever the hell it is that you do. I am inundated with unsolicited and pointless advice as soon as people realise that this grubby looking thug is the landlord. I have lost count of the people who have told me that food is the ‘only way that this pub will survive’ which is interesting since its last incarnation was food led and failed!

Other recent snippets of advice have included ‘its quiet in the Winter’, what really? in a seasonal town? on a seasonal island? well best I give the keys back then! Best comment though this week was the supplier who, when I said that I had the freehold, looked at me oddly and said “how did you get that” god help these people in the real world. Some of the subs on site realised this week that ducking around in scrubs gives me the opportunity to avoid some of this ‘advice’ at the moment until I become pinned behind the bar as of Friday. I do recall that while I was at the Ship I concluded that the only reason that pubs ever had below floor cellars was to provide the landlord with an escape hatch, certainly I have used it in pubs before! I am doing my best to rarely be rude though because one never knows who it is that is asking a question, as an example take the fella from Monday. After a couple of nosey laps two guys stopped and leaned on the railings to ask “what is it going to be?” I looked around and , once again, thought that answer was obvious before telling him that it would indeed be a pub again. They asked when I was opening and seemed upset that I open Friday and they go home on Thursday, I was just winding into “well if your week on the island ends on Thursday maybe I should bring everything forward” but thought better of it, his answer? “well looks like we need another visit, I will tell the rest of them”. Now I have no idea what the “rest of them” constitutes but at least I still have a chance to find out.

As you all know I have been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle rather successfully for the last month but I have now reached empty. I am now in a continually exhausted state from 6 am when I rise right through until 2 or 3 am when I retire. There are many definitions of exhausted so for clarity mine is that point when I can fall asleep in a queue in the store. The whole ‘nodding dog’ thing that you do when you are tired, yes that and the stumble when standing in a store at 10 am will always get you attention. The thing that continues to fuel me is both the sense of purpose and a passion to give this old lady a chance to find her way. This week I had a visit from a Derby Engineer, I think that I had all of 3 hours sleep that day and deliveries were turning up to be confronted by scaffold, needles to say a stressful day. When Paul asked if I had any regrets my immediate answer was an emphatic ‘no’, how could it be anything else. Sure it would have been nice to get a better survey and we all love a discount but I am the custodian of a 250-year-old pub cool or what? Of course the pearler is that I live on the most gorgeous island and there is nothing so bad that a glimpse of the bay doesn’t make it better.

How are we* getting on? given that we are opening on Friday? Well things are progressing and at a rate that belies how little energy I have. I am also supported by very good trades who are pulling out all the stops when needed. My roofers took a drowning last week to ensure that the scaffold can be removed on time and the stonemason is up to 14 hour days to get his bit as close to finished as possible. The scaffold is a special drama given that, due to work volumes, we have ended up with a lone wolf scaffolder who not only works on his own but refuses to work with anybody else! After much discussion we have settled on the assumption that he is punishing himself for some previous wrongdoing, why else would that trade work alone? On my two storey scaff it looks bad enough but imagine 5 or 6 storeys and getting half way up without being able to yell “chuck me a …”. I am assured that he will be clear by Friday and I will be able to get my new signs installed and hopefully end the debate about what is happening to the pub. I now have stock on site and the guys arrived today to start fitting the beer raising kit so that I can access said stock, she really is starting to look like a pub again.

Inside is passable, it is not what I want and I am conscious of significantly more works being required but it is passable and tradeable so ready to go. I still have acres to do and will doubtless miss all sorts as I take it right to the wire but hey if it was easy everybody would do it. A lot of people have said lovely things about the pub and equally lovely things about me and how my pub will be but I remain convinced that the Plough is its own beast I am simply the person who is allowing her to do what she needs to do. The Plough is no more Gav’s pub than the Ship was, the place has been here for 250 years and I will never match that all I can hope to do is preserve the building and its history and add some more good memories to a fabric that is already soaked in them. I must be doing something right because, after fighting back, the building is now tolerating the works and the paranormal side has had little to say in objection. In fairness the paranormal side may just be tiredness, short of a ghostbusters style phantom smacking me in the face with a shovel nothing would wake me up so I have visions of dozens of ethereal spirits spending an hour or so trying to spook me before getting dispirited (see what I did there) and leaving.

 

 

*remember we makes me sound better but means I, there is nobody else here

 

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The rarest, the bravest and little spiders

Time is really rushing by now, the pub opens at the end of next week and there is still so much to do. I had an overnight visit from Dave and his lad last night the extra labour was a real help but just having friends around and taking some time (only a little) to relax helps even more. It is odd when people visit me now as I am fiercely protective of both my little island and my little pub and desperately want people to love them both. You will notice that a stroll along the cliff is obligatory for all visitors and like a proud new father I will be a pace behind you waiting for you to be stunned. I don’t expect the pub to stun you, any sign of me being stunned is simply because I am punch drunk, but I do want you to like it. The pub is not just a home and business it is very much my baby and when you scatter those few favourable words about you can be certain that I snatch every single one and file it.

After some work yesterday I took a break to walk down the cliff with the lads and then back up to the Crab for dinner, since I never eat out alone this is a rare treat. When Dave tired they went back to the hotel and I returned to work, its pub time that is just how it is. Walking around the bay and down into the old village I was reminded once again what a truly stunning place this is and how lucky I am to be able to live here despite the distance it puts between me and friends. So how is it all going? Well the roofers are mob handed and on target to get the scaffold down by opening, they will go on to do the roofs at the rear during trading. The stonemason thinks he will just make it but had disappeared today to have a baby, well observe the process at least! Baby arrival also put one of my beer installs at risk but I think that is now resolved. Beer survey is tomorrow but install is next Thursday, horribly close to opening but they assure me that it is no risk.

My water softener engineer arrives tomorrow from Reading, oddly water softener engineers don’t occur on the island and we have to import. The water softener service is an unexpected expense but I am assured that it is good for another 20 years and is a very expensive piece of kit so it is a sensible expense. The decoration that remains is to complete one room of the right hand bar (I always label them from behind the bar rather than the street) the front door, window reveals and the gents toilets. In truth there is lots more to do but that is to my eye and not yours. One of the benefits of visiting the Crab last night was to cast an eye over the decoration and recalibrate my aspirations. I still have mountains to do but am hopeful of getting the bar vacated for cleaning by the weekend just have to set a stop on what I am going to achieve before opening. Having the lads here meant the morning kerb crawl from Rich’s boys took all of 10 minutes and I got to wave goodbye to 12 yards of rubbish that has been cluttering the place up although I have to apologise for exposing the big brave men to island spiders and to Jo for having to console her ‘brave soldiers’ when they get home. The opening is definitely happening despite the incredulous looks that I receive when I say this (Thanks Ad for the “oh this month”).

How am I in the midst of all this? Well I am 1 stone down from the pub diet but its a stone that I didn’t need, I am exhausted and very conscious that I am missing lots of details. The cash and time burn is astonishing even for somebody who predicted massive problems and I have taken to never getting out of ‘scruffs’ since I live on a building site there seems little point. I think the best description came from one of the trades who was looking around the pub appreciatively. I asked him if he fancied a pub and without hesitation he answered “No, have you looked in a mirror? we reckon you are on fast forward, you are actually ageing in front of our eyes”. The most important thing though is that I love it, I love my pub, love the island and the people and love the fact that my passion for this place can drive me into 18 hour days continuously now for over three weeks.

News from the Plough

Whilst I have been merrily updating what I consider to be the more frivolous social feeds I am conscious that I have neglected you my loyal blog audience, I can assure you that this is far from intentional. I like to sit and consider  my blog posts, despite the fact that they always appear to be random, and time pressure has meant that I haven’t had the opportunity you on the progress at the Plough.

I will start with a task that is complete, see there is one, the plumbers have left the building. Despite the plumbing having all the hallmarks of a disaster it was actually a series of small successes. The first, and most critical, success was that the plumbing was sub contracted out in its entirety, I didn’t do any of it despite urges to the contrary. The plumbing itself works despite everybody’s opinion that it should not by design and as a final success, after three days of work, the plumbers have adopted my new stock phase of ‘it’s a pub’.

I now have a total weight for stone and its a not insignificant 3.9 tons. The stonemason has found wiring,  flues and no end of concrete hidden behind the broken stonework but little in the way of mortar. The pictures below give an indication of progress and a good shot of the manic grin which greets me every time I question the crumbling mess that was once my pub. Thanks to Dave ‘s dogged determination we are still on target and the job is starting to come together now.

Scaffolding is now up for the roofers who have a push on to get done by the end of the month but they do say that people work best when challenged. There are three roofs in this tranche, one other one is already done and the remainder should last a few more years. This is a good point to remember for those whose answer to the trials of this project is “oh I remember when we brought the last house”,when I talk of roofs I have 5 pitched roofs and 3 flat roofs it’s not like a house unless you have had a pub you don’t have any reference point for comparison.

Decorating is a challenge and not just because it is so mind numbingly boring. It is taking a good few coats of white to cover the old colours and provide a base for the new colours so I haven’t actually got much of the new up yet. I have now erased the wall of pool fame and some other written legends on the wall though so should progress to colour this week. Even in all white it does look better and brighter so I am happy with the decision to go lighter.

Ready for colour

One of the biggest challenges to the painting is that it is having to be done in stages around the other works; as an example replacing a lintel can move a window so the reveals have to be left until last. Another challenge is the shear amount of stuff in the building at the moment.

Busy

You can see that I have a new front door in the picture above and a new lounge door gets installed next weekend. Safesite have been amazing and I have had ‘customers’ wander in past the steel door but somehow I think the wooden one is more welcoming.  Suppler accounts are now live and I am expecting to see a survey for the draught install his week. I am in the process of working out what glassware I need because it appears that all of the useful ‘standard’ glassware was removed from the pub. I am in the process of arranging refuse collection, far more complicated than it sounds, and have a growing list of other items to attend to but I think we can achieve it. The first wave of furniture is on site as are the fridges and I am battling with the water softener to try and understand if it is working and what all the numbers mean.

The deck has now been washed and had the first coat of oil. The oil stated that it covers 70 m2 per tin so, since it took 4 tins, I presume the deck is 280 m2 it doesn’t look that big but it certainly felt at least that when I was staining it!

It's not that big

I have a supplier on board for the outside furniture it just remains for me to pay him and ensure that he accepts the fact that I live on the smaller island a fact which has caused several heated conversations with suppliers already! I am also debating measurements with my table supplier after the prescribed screws came through the table top during assembly but I feel I have that debate in the bag.

I had a sneak preview of the new pub sign this week and even my son, who had concerns over the term ‘hand painted’ was impressed.  I think that it is a stunning piece of work and am looking forward to getting them up. The sign writer expects them to be finished this week and it will be great to have them ‘on hand’

Sign

What else is there to say? Well probably lots but my tired mind is struggling already and its only 4 pm. Instead of more pub ramblings let me share a glimpse of the jewel that I call home,  below is a view of the bay which never ceases to delight:

The bay

And just to show it’s not all ocean a peak at the chine:

Chine

Finally for those that have noticed the use of the term “we” fear not it is still only me but somehow it feels appropriate to say we rather than I possibly because the shear scale of the task makes it seem that one person is inadequate.

Some explaining and delightful visitors

Several people have said to me recently that they either “don’t know how I do it” or that they “couldn’t do it”. We all hear these statements at various times in our lives and my most recent ones have been against both the current and planned workload. My working day at the moment starts no later than 6 am and ends no earlier than 1 am, that has been the way for the last week and will be the way for the next 4, after that the hard work starts. This workload is fuelled by copious cups of tea, a sandwich and a bag of crisps unless it is one of those days when I remembered to make toast for breakfast.

In the interests of furthering the debate I thought that I would give you an insight into my psychology. I must say in advance that I am not offering this in a Richard Branson ‘what you need to succeed’ style far from it, if anything  I am showing the unhealthy aspects of my personality. I have been called ‘driven’ but I don’t think that’s accurate, I may be determined but I am not sure that translates into driven. I am incredibly stubborn which is both good and bad. It was stubbornness that left my hands where they are and sees me using them today, it was also stubbornness that led me to my pub, I don’t give in that’s just not for me. There is an old saying that winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win, well I don’t quit, ever. The unhealthy side of my stubborn streak can be seen in the raw and bleeding patch on my right arm where I have literally worn through the paper thin skin from the failed graft. There is no sensation in that area so I rarely notice that I have damaged it and I have no time to stop and pander to it, far more important things to do.

Nature bears the brunt of a lot of my stubbornness as you would see if you watched me getting up in the morning. I have to roll out of bed onto my knees at the moment, luckily I have a low bed. When I first wake up I am missing a shoulder and two wrists, well not missing since the pain assure me that they are there! Once I get upright I have to work my limbs into submission before I can lift a kettle, in truth this is before I leave the bedroom since I am not convinced that tripping over would end well. So to answer the question of physicaly how can I spend 18 hours on hard physical labour, the answer is simply how could I  not?I am a practical person and things need doing, besides I still have a grudge against Ms Nature to settle. Does it hurt? Yes, a lot. Would it be easier not to do it? Without doubt. Is it wise? Well there’s a question, my recovery is littered with experts agreeing that me doing what wasn’t recommended was, in fact, the right thing to do so who knows. The questions are academic anyway, it is simply who I am.

I have never needed a lot of sleep, although conversely I can normally sleep on demand, so that allows for the long hours. Rather than being driven to succeed I am furiously critical of my failures. Today’s plan was to stain the decking, amongst other things, I had the material, the weather and the time. It transpires that the deck oil was incredibly over optimistic in its coverage information and the two tins that equated to two coats actually didn’t even cover half of the decking for first coat! Now my plan had involved getting the deck done and then strolling along the coast to either Sandown or Ventnor, kind of like a weekend treat reminding me of the majestic splendour that I live in. I may have even stopped for something to eat although, in truth, that’s unlikely since I loathe eating out alone. Because I took a step back on the decking, through no real fault of my own, I have gone nowhere, I have filled holes, wired networks and stripped plumbing and will continue well into the night. This is not as simple as some form of self flagellation it is driven by an internal rage at the failure to achieve it is not as if I am punishing myself for failure but rather that the failure pushes me on. Hey I never said I was normal.

On a lighter note I had the pleasure of meeting one of the four daughters who worked in the pub when their Dad had it from the early 50s. She was delighted that the old name is returning and dated the extensions earlier than we had thought since they were there when they moved in. It was a great chat and I look forward to showing her around soon, the look in her eyes spoke of 25 years of happy memories. This, for me, is one of the wonderful things about pubs, they are like a public repository of memories. Sure somebody lived in your house before you but it’s unlikely that you will ever meet them and if you did they would just say “oh that was my room at the front” pubs are not like that, they are formative in people’s lives. Over the last 200+ years this old lady has had an impact on thousands of lives and its my job to keep her at it. I remember being devastated to see pubs that I had a connection with close forever and I wouldn’t want anybody to feel that loss over this old girl, I take the challenge of guardianship incredibly seriously and am proud to keep her going.

Smokey pirates and enchantment

Well I’m nearly at the end of my first week at my little pub on the smaller island, what a week. I will start this post in best Tommy Cooper voice, you will have to do that bit in your head, ’20 pirates walk in a bar’. That’s it you can stop the voice now, there is no punch line that is just a typical night on the island.

When the aforementioned pirates walked in somebody commented to me and we struck up a brief conversation. This fellow came from Oxfordshire and enquired as to where I lived, I felt very proud to say “Shanklin”. After a couple of pints I walked back up the hill through the old village and once again was astounded by how enchanting it is. I carried on past the pub to the cliff top and spent 5 minutes sucking in the most glorious views simply because I could. It’s still have to pinch myself from time to time and remember that I don’t have to ‘go home’ this is not a vacation I am one of those privileged to live here.

The pub may not look very different but in my world it is well progressed. Significant supplies have been ordered, which is a real mission from the other side of the Solent, and a lot of the internal infrastructure is done. The decking has been stripped back ready for oiling and the damaged tiles in the bar have been stripped and replaced. The next missions are to finish the deck and sort the public toilets. The gents currently has the doors removed in the hope that it dries out enough to sand back what’s left of the plaster and paint. I know that longer term I have to address the penetrating damp issue but in the short term a dose of paint and some new skirting will improve it no end.

The fact that I am reaching decoration jobs is great news but I have to remember that there is a huge volume of clerical and regulatory tasks as well before I open. It’s great to see the interest that is stirred by being on site full time as people realise that things are progressing and I have had some really positive feedback from people. It’s also good to change people’s perceptions from ‘another revamp’ to a lot of structural love and attention that has been overdue for way too long.

I learnt a good lesson yesterday when struggling with a next to useless petrol strimmer, always check the exhaust direction. After revving this thing up and getting it all running I heard a strange noise just noticeable over the little engine. Shutting the engine off made the noise immediately recognisable and it took me a good ten minutes to work out how to reset the fire alarm!

Touchy pubs, belts & loose physics hey IAP!

They say that the first sign of madness is talking to yourself, they are well out that is only a symptom. The real indicator of madness is buying a pub, shuffling around it talking to yourself is merely a confirmation of a weak state of mind! In keeping with the principle that kept us going through the injuries I am going to explain some of what is happening because remember ‘I do this stuff so you don’t have to’.

Lesson one: buildings are not inanimate objects. I don’t mean ghosts or ethereal matter I mean that buildings themselves are not simply a pile of materials. If you want to experience an angry property then do as I did yesterday, climb into a very small and incredibly hot loft and try to locate a pipe in the jungle that is your plumbing. To give you an idea of my plumbing turn on the ‘pipes’ screen saver on Windows, what it creates is actually an accurate representation of my plumbing, go figure. After shaking my head in amazement and criticising some very dubious practices I turned to crawl back to the hatch but the pub does not take criticism of her plumbing well. As I reached out to a rafter to balance upon I took a healthy 240 V belt from a bare cable. Whilst this is the fourth such loft experience I feel compelled to link this one to the fact that I was criticising the old girls plumbing clearly buildings are not inanimate, for my safety I am typing this in the dark!

Lesson Two: there are only 24 hours in a day. No matter how hard I try that is the limit even with a current average of 17 hrs a day this is a very small and inconsiderate limit. As a subset of this lesson I can say that Fridays are not all the same, well I guess the days themselves are but the angle that you view them from changes. For those of you at work in the normal world the coming of Friday is a cause for celebration but for me it is the indication that I have lost a week of precious time and therefore its a day to be feared. I guess in a lot of ways its like vacation Fridays, they are cold indications that time is running away rather than warm invitations to relaxed weekends. Treasure your friendly Fridays because when they turn they are mean.

Lesson Three: IAP (It’s a pub). Westerners in China, when met with odd situations, use the term TIC (this is China) IAP is similar in that it works in every situation. When the stonemason shakes his head and can’t understand something – IAP; when the plumber can’t fathom the pipework – IAP. I have used this phrase at least a dozen times this week alone including when I was sat on the floor in the bar with my head in my hands trying to understand the phone system. Everything in pubs is according to pub none of the normal rules apply. We have all experienced sudden drunkenness when we leave a pub and hit fresh air haven’t we? Think about it for a moment, fresh air has no effect on the rate of transfer of alcohol into the bloodstream does it? No, what you have experienced is physics which, whilst allowed to enter the pub, is severely restricted because its rules don’t suit pubs. So you leave the pub and go from pub physics to everyday physics, simple really.

Lesson Four: you have not seen it all. Whatever your trade or experience you have not seen it all. You haven’t yet seen the worst or most surprising well-intentioned but non optimal repair unless you saw it in a pub and even then you would need a caveat of “worst so far”. Today I went to move an electrical socket in the office, a simple task in the normal world. After 5 hours I have created a single ring from the bonfire inducing ring>radial>ring circuit (with multiple spurs). I have removed two separate twisted conductor joints, yes this is 2.5 mm copper. The result is that I achieved what I set out to do, the ‘pub tax’ is half a roll of cable and 5 hours of my life. Mini ring mains run in double lengths of bell wire? seen it, cores twisted and separated in air? seen it, post it notes to indicate live conductors? seen it and was pleased that somebody though to tell me! I should note that this is not a criticism it is just the way it is, after all IAP, some of the most ingenious attempts to effect a repair happen in pubs and its only when you look that you realise that they are there so they must work. As an example the bell wire ring main wasn’t one pair ( there would be no ground) no they made the effort to add a second pair for ground and redundancy!

Lesson Five: a whole question gets whole answer. This is not pub specific but island specific and probably more specifically aimed at the council. Some weeks ago, when I started paying council tax, I enquired as to whether I would receive domestic waste collection which is often not the case on trade property. The response was that yes I do get a domestic collection and it is on Thursday. Having dealt with councils before I went further and asked if it was a bin arrangement or a sack affair and was assured that I was on plastic sacks. Today I left a couple of sacks outside and, by chance, was at the front to see them ignored. Perplexed I enquired as to why my Tendring council refuse sacks had not been collected “not allowed black ones” was the answer. I called the council and they told me that I need clear refuse sacks but they don’t send them out instead I have to take a complex security code to the library (run by volunteers) where they will provide me with approved refuse sacks. Some would suggest that this is overly complicated but they clearly don’t appreciate the complexities of waste collection, for me I now know to be more accurate in my questioning.

Lesson Six: power cuts no longer bring silence. I was awoken in the early hours by a power cut, yes that’s right I was awoken. I wasn’t awoken by some sixth sense that realised that power wasn’t on, that would be quite cool. I was awoken by blazing emergency lights and irritated bleeps and buzzes from the various alarms that were less than happy with the situation. The instant panic is that its something in the pub but the volt stick confirms that there is no incoming feed so I set about the alarms. I have no idea how burglars do it, focusing on little lights and buttons as the beeps get ever closer to the crescendo.

I will leave the lessons there for tonight, I think that you have had enough for now. On a personal note, for those that are wondering, the work is great its like being a young man on site again but every now and again the crashing reality of time and financial pressure hits and I realise that this isn’t a site its my home, my business and everything I own. It’s that crashing reality that keeps me working long into the night and starts me again in the early hours. The damaged limbs are not enjoying working like a young man, hell the whole body is unhappy. Righty would barely operate this morning and had t be soaked in scalding water* for 5 minutes, he is seizing again as I write this and lefty is aching nearly as much as my shoulder but they have another couple of hours yet. I am sure that the majority of this is change rather than over use and since it is only for a few weeks I am sure that it will all settle down over the coming months.

*WD40 for joints