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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Nicola Jordan, 14 June 2015.
Suppers are being urged to pop along to the new micropub in Strood for
some real ale and beer.
Keep it small and keep it simple.
That is the concept behind the newest craze of socialising – the
micropub.
The 10:50 From Victoria, Medway’s latest alehouse under the railway
arches in Strood, is just that.
Alan Bartlett.
There’s no bar and beer and cider is served direct from the cask. And if
you’re looking for a gastropub, keep walking, the most lavish thing on
the menu is a packet of pork scratchings.
Austerity doesn’t end there. Mobile phones, juke boxes and fruit
machines are barred, as are children (yes, even quiet ones).
Werner Neumann, Bob Jackson, Gary O'Hara enjoying a pint at the micro pub.
Key to the micropub is good old fashioned conversation in a
back-to-basics informal surrounding.
10.50 from Victoria, in North Street, is tucked away at the back of the
Asda car park and opened in March this year.
It is the joint venture of Bob Jackson, Gary O’Hara and Werner Neumann,
good mates and drinking buddies of at least 20 years.
The new micropub, the 10.50 from Victoria, North Street, Strood.
They decided to open their own mini pub after their local in Strood got
taken over and the new owners were intent on attracting younger
customers.
Bob, a joiner whose carpentry workshop is next door, and his pals
decided to visit the first ever micropub, The "Butcher’s Arms" in Herne,
and they liked what they saw.
But just to be sure they were on to a winner they jumped on a train and
visited another 27 micropubs across the county.
Suppers outside the 10.50 from Victoria, in North Street.
Bob, 70, said: “We thought we would attract an older type of customer and
possibly the real ale brigade.
“Women love it and feel quite comfortable to come here on their own. We
also get couples popping in for a drink before going out for a meal who
don’t particularly want to have a drink with a load of lager louts.
“The art of conversation is dying. People would rather text and Facebook
than talk to each other.”
Tipples – there are seven English beers and six ciders – are handwritten
on a chalkboard. Food is not available, although Bob is trying to
persuade his business partners to lay on a ploughman’s dish and snacks
are restricted to crisps and peanuts.
He said: “They are against it, especially Werner, who was a master chef
for 40 years and never wants to serve up another meal again. But I look
at it as a way of persuading customers to stay on and drink rather than
go home for a meal.”
The bar got its name because it is the 1,050th railway arch from
Victoria, which is number one. Time is called by ringing the traditional
bell at 10.50pm with 10 minutes to drink up.
Bob has put his carpentry skills to use and fitted out much of the
furniture and fixtures.
He intends to continue the railway theme by installing slam-shut train
doors and create a platform on the terrace. 10.50 from Victoria is open
from 4pm to 9pm on Monday to Thursday and from noon to 11pm on Friday
and Saturday. It is closed on Sundays.
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