It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch, but Ma and Pa have been enjoying some quality downtime, the soundtrack to which has been the quiet sobbing of Pa. He’s still recovering from the, er, opinion administered by Ma after he managed to sink the boat in October. Fortunately, the boat survived, as did several of Pa’s vital organs, so Ma’s axiom of “least said, soonest mended” seems to be working!
[Many thanks to those fine folks Terry and Adrian at Messing About On The River for lending us one of their boats to help us see the season out – oh and to Derek Brockwell, erstwhile owner of Beeses and current neighbour who helped Pa save the boat!]
Lord Mayor of Bristol pays his dues
The last few weeks of the season were notable by the fact that the Lord Mayor of Bristol finally got around to paying his respects to Ma. Despite the impudent (and some would say foolhardy) delay, Ma decided to overlook his lack of respect and show him the kind of Beeses welcome that he had been missing (no, NOT that kind...). In this task she was nobly aided by one Laurence Mussett (sadly, it is his real name) who deputised for Pa in fine style by giving away the Beeses stock of scones, jam and cream to all and sundry (the Lord Mayor of Bristol seldom travels alone, and his retinue of courtiers, fine ladies and gentry – or “scroungers and wastrels” as Pa was heard to comment when he discovered the turn of events – are now of the mind that such delicacies can always be had for the price of a cup of tea...). As you can see from the picture, Pa showed up once the cameras appeared. You can probably tell from his customary warm smile that he’s under the impression the till is overflowing...
But that wasn’t the only mayor Ma and Pa met this year. With a burgeoning fan club in the US they felt it their duty spread the word of Beeses, and where better to start than Louisa, Kentucky. As soon as Louisa’s mayor heard of the visit he requested a meeting – clearly, some kind of mayoral jungle telegraph exists where the names of important personages are circulated amongst members in order to enhance their standing in the civic leader community (which is like the freemasons, but not as absurd). Louisa’s mayor recognised that he had some catching up to do with Bristol’s mayor, and that he could also get a jump on all the other mayors in the US. Ma and Pa were delighted to accept the invitation, and so laid the foundations of a cultural exchange between Bristol and Louisa.
Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to engage in the full range of social intercourse in true Beeses style as Louisa is in a dry county, but you can’t have everything! Talking of which...
Drink Beeses Dry
Our first ‘Drink Beeses Dry’ event went well as we had fun demolishing the stock that wouldn’t make it through the close season. One or two regulars took a while to get their heads round the idea, one being sufficiently unsettled at the lack of Ashton Press on the Sunday that he had to gather his thoughts over a Coke!
While you’re gone...
And so Beeses closed for the winter. The week following Drink Beeses Dry was spent closing the place down: marquee taken down, gardens and decking cleared of furniture, rugs rolled up, furniture cleaned and varnished, electrical equipment scrubbed and put up on tables in case of flooding...by the time Pa had finished that lot there wasn’t much left to do for anyone else!
There is plenty of work going on through the rest of
the winter: as you can see we’re changing the pond area, and our
gardening team of Clare, Claire and Barbara have also spent a lot of time
clearing away some of the more enthusiastic vegetation.Having spent a lot of time on the gardens since we arrived, it is now time to turn our attention to the bar. We’ll be sprucing up the loos, and making major changes to the bar layout, all with the intention of making it even lovelier! We’ll be inviting you to a preview weekend so you can take a look before we re-open on Easter weekend, and we’ll let you know the details in the New Year.
We’re continuing to chip away at the task of bringing Beeses into the twentieth century with the installation of a credit and debit card terminal. So next year you’ll be able to step out of your house with only a spring in your step, a song in your heart and a card in your pocket to enjoy Ma’s quality menu, Pa’s fine ales, or the marvellous pork scratchings that we fly in from Dudley.
We’re also enhancing our online presence with the addition of a Facebook group, so if you have a Facebook profile we’ll be displaying our events there as well, but Ma’s having difficulty understanding it all. Quite why anyone would want to sit on a ‘puter and have a wall (Fun Wall? Super Wall?? Where’s the Beer Wall???) is beyond her. But if it helps people know about what we’re up to, then she’s right up for it!
...and before you come back
As Ma is fond of saying, opinions are like rock bands: she’s only interested in them if they are loud, compelling, and wearing spandex trousers (er, not sure about that last one...). But even if you don’t wear spandex trousers, Ma still wants to hear from you. We’ve just completed our first full year of trading and now we want to hear your comments and suggestions: what works for you, what doesn’t work for you, and anything new you think we should be doing. And if you were thinking along the lines of topless barmaids, forget it, as Pa still bears the scars of Ma failing to appreciate his “joke”...all you have to do is reply to this e-mail to send your comments.
Season’s greetings
And so as the season to be jolly elbows its way to the front of the queue, we shall bid you farewell. We look forward to seeing you again in 2008, and leave you with this festive token.
Lurve
Ma and Pa Beese
Beeses Bar & Tea Gardens
www.beeses.co.uk
www.myspace.com/beeses
Tel: 0117 977 7412