The Golden Lion, Southwick

This used to be a good site for getting a 'snapshot' of what to expect when visiting a new pub. Having been told by a mate about the entries made about the good old 'Golden', I logged on to have a look. It seems my mate was right. in that the site seems to be being used simply as a vehicle to promote the business of friends of most of the contributors. It does seem a little 'co-incidental' that most of the contributors (and interestingly enough, the ones who are dishing out the heavy-handed comments either way) are very new to this site. It is interesting to look this up - just click on the contributor's name in the bottom right hand corner of each comment box and you will be able to see the details - try it.

There is no mystery about who I am. My screen name is my real name and I worked for Ray and Jan in the late '70s and then again for the 9 years to August 2007.I am still a good friend of theirs. I too only registered on this site recently (today), this was so that I could remark on how disappointing and childish I find all of this.

I may as well mention here that I have been asked why I haven't been back to the Golden since re-opening. The rumour in the village that this is some sort of 'sour grapes' reaction is untrue. If you really want to know, (and cutting a very long story short) my life has been connected with this pub in one way or another since I arrived in the village in 1963. I left at about the same time my father died in 2007. I visited the pub several times during the renovations and was very interested to see the changes made, particularly the re-instatement of the serving hatch and the uncovering of the lovely fireplaces. However, I prefer to remember the place as it was for the time being. Maybe I will feel differently in the future. Who knows.

24 Feb 2010 11:48