Featured Image Credit: Facebook/The Butchers Arms Micropub
Topics: News, UK Food, Alcohol, Restaurants and bars
Kit Roberts
Topics: News, UK Food, Alcohol, Restaurants and bars
A pub that has been dubbed the 'UK's dullest pub' has some rules that you might not expect.
The boozer in Herne, Kent, is called The Butchers Arms, and when it first opened without many of the things believed to make a pub successful its landlord was told his idea would guarantee failure.
But despite an extremely challenging period for pubs, with closures announced every week, The Butchers Arms is still going strong some 20 years after it opened in 2005.
Landlord Martyn Hillier might have been called 'Britain’s dullest landlord' when he first opened the pub due to his strict house rules, but it seems his approach has been spectacularly vindicated in the years since.
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At the time, and even now, many of the aspects of what would make a successful pub were not present at The Butchers Arms, but Martyn had a clear idea of his target clientele, which has stood him in good stead.
So what are these rules?
Well firstly, it's with the drinks which are on offer, and if you're not a fan of real ale this might not be the place for you.
When Martyn opened, he made the decision to not serve any lager, just ales on hand pull.
Of course, since the craft beer boom there have since been many similar places, while lager has started to gain a craft reputation all of its own.
But that's not it, as Martyn said he also doesn't serve any spirits either. So no G&Ts, no whisky, no rum - nada.
So the choice is... real ale, take or leave it.
Martyn has clearly shown that there more than enough real ale lovers to keep the tiny pub going for decades, which is sadly more than can be said for a lot of other pubs since 2005.
However, we're not quite done with the rules yet, which also apply to the venue itself.
The tiny three-metres-by-four-metres pub, which was previously a florists, also has no sports, no TV, and no music.
To be fair, there's probably not enough room for a TV anyway.
A sign outside the teeny 'micropub' reads 'Chatham House rule applies', which is in reference to the rules of a London club that were aimed at creating a space where people could openly talk and discuss things, which might give you a clue as to why there's no TV or sports on.
Explaining the secret to his success, Martyn was very clear, telling The Morning Advertiser: “People told me it was the best beer in the Canterbury area.”
Pubs such as this, which were not previously a bar, have become increasingly widespread in the UK as many historic pubs come with hugely difficult contracts with pub companies, meaning that rents go up regularly and landlords are tied to only buying their stock from the pub company at inflated prices - a lethal combination for a business.