Pubs sell fish and chips and beer at 1945 prices to celebrate VE Day
A patriotic pub sold fish and chips at 1945 prices on Thursday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
For one hour, The Bell Hotel in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, sold battered cod with chips and mushy peas for just 8p.
Landlord Phil Gomm, 63, was expecting to sell 150 servings of the traditional supper, and said the pub was 'well packed' ahead of lunchtime trading.
'When you look back at the Second World War, fish and chips was one of the main meals everyone had,' he said.
'The potatoes were a good quantity from the fields of Great Britain, and fish was an easy product to obtain. The Bell is subsidising the costs in good faith for those who gave their lives.
'It is us saying thank you for keeping Great Britain as Great Britain. Without those servicemen and women, we wouldn't be here today.'
He added: 'It is something that should never ever be put to the back burner and forgotten. We would hope that would prevent the nastiness and venom of wars in different nations today.'
'It needs celebrating'
In Ilkley, West Yorkshire, The Flying Duck's pub landlord, Gerard Simpson, 51, lowered the cost of its Wharfedale Brewery Gold beer to just 7p per pint.
The pub is selling the first 80 pints of the beer, which usually costs £4.80, at 1945 prices.
Gerard, whose 21-year-old son Harry serves in the Army, said he hoped pubgoers would give to charity 'generously'.
'The world would be completely different if it wasn't for today,' he said. 'As veterans pass away, it just seems to be getting forgotten on a year-by-year basis and it needs celebrating.
'I just hope people give generously and don't just give the seven pence, we're taking no money at all for the Gold today, and at the end of the day all the money's going into a collection pot for the Royal British Legion.
'The work they do is absolutely fantastic. My own son is in the British military and I just think it's important that there is a fund there to look after these veterans, whether they be old or young, whether they've got physical injuries or mental injuries.
'They also look after the families, I just think they do a fantastic job.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Telegraph
John Lewis orders staff back to the office as it strips back perks
John Lewis has ordered staff back to the office for at least three days a week amid a wider shake-up of the benefits it offers workers. The partnership said staff in its commercial team, including buyers and merchandisers, will be required in the office just months after it scrapped lifetime perks for long-serving employees, and workers were denied a bonus for the third year running. Staff have been told that they must either be in the office, in stores or out meeting brands or suppliers three days a week from July. John Lewis generally has a hybrid working policy where staff regularly speak to managers to determine their work patterns. The change is understood to have been introduced as John Lewis seeks to improve the look of its department stores as part of a wider turnaround. A spokesman said: 'Flexible working is an important part of our offer; everyone in our business can request to work flexibly, and most central office Partners have hybrid working arrangements in place. 'A collaborative culture is critical to help create the best product ranges and store environment for our customers and we're taking steps to encourage team members to spend time together in our offices, our stores, meeting brands and suppliers, and balancing this with working remotely. 'We've also recruited around 50 new team members to help spearhead our range development and store modernisation – and their training and development is vital to set us up for success.' Last month, The Telegraph revealed that John Lewis will no longer offer lifetime discount cards for retirees. Instead, staff who leave after more than 15 years will be entitled to discount cards and access to partnership hotels equal to their years of service. This would mean that, in practice, someone retiring at 65 after 16 years working for the partnership would be entitled to the perks until they are 81. John Lewis has said the changes will enable it to more than double the number of partners who are eligible. At the same time, the company has been facing mounting pressure to restore its staff bonus, which it axed to focus on improving stores and boosting pay rates. Recently, a petition on the campaign website Organise gained more than 4,000 signatures from workers past and present demanding the bonus be reinstated. Last year marked the third consecutive year that staff did not receive their partnership bonus, and only the fourth time since 1953. At the time, a spokesman for John Lewis said: 'Our partners understand that we're focused on improving their base pay and investing to create a sustainable business. 'Our bonus remains an important feature of our employee-owned model, and we confirmed in March that we're determined to reinstate it as quickly as possible. We're proud of our unique benefits package and we want to do even more to recognise our brilliant partners.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Missenden Abbey will close, says Buckinghamshire New University
A university says it has made the "difficult decision" to sell off a manor house that is used as a wedding venue and conference Abbey at Great Missenden dates back to 1133 and is owned by Buckinghamshire New University (BNU).BNU, which recently used the building as a campus for hospitality students, said it would close Missenden Abbey on Sunday 30 cited "ongoing financial pressures faced by all universities" as the reason for the sale. A statement on its website said: "BNU is not alone in having to make tough choices in light of these significant challenges, and our strategic focus is on providing the best possible student experience; generating research that positively impacts our communities; and developing the talent within our organisation."Despite the best efforts of everyone at both Missenden Abbey and the university, we are unable to retain and manage the site without significant investment that we are sadly unable to afford." The building, which was largely rebuilt as a neo-gothic home in the 19th Century, has also featured in TV programmes including Jack Osbourne's Haunted Homecoming, Naked Attraction and The Gadget County Council previously owned the site and ran it as an adult learning college. Missenden Abbey is still taking bookings up until the end of November for afternoon tea, celebrations, conferences and said anyone with a booking after November would be offered a refund or could move their booking to an earlier date. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Award-winning family-run fish and chip shop suddenly closes two branches over ‘rising costs'
FANS have been left devastated after a famous fish and chip shop has shut two of its premises' doors after 60 years. The adored family-run chippy Gormans shuttered its locations on Redburn Road in Westerhope and Denton Road in Newcastle due to "rising costs". 1 "We are closed. Due to the ever increasing costs of energy, stock and wages, we are sad to announce that we have been forced to close," signs on the shops' windows read. "Thank you to all our customers for your support over the years." Diners flocked to social media to mourn the closures. One wrote: "Used to be the best chippy in the area, queues every time. "What a shame." A second weighed in: "We've had our fish and chips from there for years." It is not yet known if other Gormans chip shops have been forced to close. Gormans was set up in the early 1960s by husband and wife Douglas and Evelyn Gorman. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HOSPITALITY? Many food and drink chains have been struggling recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out. Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation. Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches. Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs. Pizza giant, Papa Johns announced it would be shutting down 43 of its stores this year. Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, also shut sites as part of major restructuring plans. This year has seen the announcing of further closures including from casual dining group Chipotle and an award-winning independent bistro in Merseyside. A wave of other closures has rocked the high street, with even high end restaurants feeling the pinch. The glamorous French restaurant La Dame de Pic closed for good earlier this year, with Kora by Tom Kitchen also putting the shutters down. Some chains have blamed Rachel Reeves' decision to raise National Insurance contributions, though the Chancellor has insisted that her actions were necessary to stabilise the economy. Other restaurants, like La Goccia in Covent Garden, said that 'covid' and 'Brexit' has made it impossible to hire qualified staff - forcing them to close.
