When the cropies decamped from The Waggon and Horses there was a year or two when the place had a real buzz (regardless of whether you were interested in CCs or not). With people (TV crews included) from all over the world sounding off you’d be guaranteed of a great time there – especially in the summer.

When interest in CCs began to wane so too did the pub, and I think it did actually close down for a while. Then some locals stepped in (it was featured in a TV prog) to save it and things started looking up again. With the announcement of the £250,000 refurbishment of the barn as an arts venue things really did seem to be looking good – details here.

Gawd knows why it’s gone pear shaped (called them last night and could only get their answerphone) but the only way pubs are going to survive these days is to offer something special (usually good food but you couldn’t get an evening meal on a Sunday there which was a bit weird) and if it’s true that they owe as much as £100,000 in unpaid VAT it sounds like amateur, if not bad, management at work.

Dunno if there’s anything that can be done but it really does need saving... and while I’m feeling totally miserable about this, the Barn Gallery at Avebury needs around £80,000 for a new thatch roof. Jeeze, if the plonkers who waste so much of our money were given a boot up their backsides we might see a few things saved that really do need saving.

Grrr..