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Vote with our throats
• ONE of our fellow residents, Catherine Barber, has raised some interesting points about the ambience at the Auld Triangle (Make pub welcoming, February 1).
I can empathise with some of her comments, but I feel her solution (to emulate wealthier pubs in Canonbury/Barnsbury) is somewhat drastic.
For example, I know how intimidating it can be for a stranger to walk into a well-established group of people, be it a community pub, an online weather forum or just the first day in a new job. First impressions – of an apparently unwelcoming atmosphere – often prove to be false. The Auld Triangle typifies this situation because it attracts loyal rather than transitory customers and staff. Beneath the surface is a culture that wouldn’t be out of place in McCarthy’s Bar.
There is obviously a problem with trade at times, and the original customer base is declining in numbers, without any corresponding influx of new customers. The solution, I believe, is co-existence not displacement.
Catherine has drawn a comparison with the Compton and Drapers Arms. These are excellent hostelries in their own settings, but St Thomas’s Road bears little resemblance to Compton Avenue or Barnsbury Street. These three pubs serve different markets with different budgets.
The Compton doesn’t offer traditional Irish music while the Auld Triangle doesn’t offer traditional English real ale. But a trip to the Auld Triangle can offer the same benefits as a trip to the Emerald Isle, without the need to take time off work.
From my observations, the Auld Triangle operates from three angles: on match days, it serves as a pit stop for commuting Arsenal fans; on Sundays it is an embassy for Irish musicians; and at all other times it is reliant on the community for its trade.
My advice to any fellow residents unfamiliar with the Auld Triangle is to pay a couple of visits to this establishment on a Sunday evening, when the musicians are in full flight, get the feel of the place, discuss your issues and suggestions with the bar staff, and take it from there.
The most appropriate time to make an effort would be during National Community Pubs Week, which runs from February 16-23. Here is an opportunity for many of the residents to boycott the sofa and transfer discussions and meetings to a different setting.
Martin Joyce, the landlord, is a welcoming non-bully, and I interpret his “use it or lose it” challenge as an invitation not a threat. He was merely stating the obvious.
At the end of the day, we residents have more to lose than he does if the pub disappears, so surely it’s our duty to vote with our throats and not with our feet!
IAN SHACKLOCK
Monsell Road, N4
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