August 2011
End of the road for the Boar’s Head, or as it was affectionately known, the Whore’s Bed. It’s always sad to see the passing of a hostelry that’s been there for more than 100 years but the reality is that pint-sized Piccotts End couldn’t sustain a pub in today’s economic climate. There’s always the excellent Crown & Sceptre a mile down the road at Briden’s Camp. You could say that’s even more off the beaten track but mine hosts Martin & Shirley have made it into a meeting point for walkers, locals and diners alike.

The Boar’s Head might have survived had it found the right landlords but that wasn’t to be. It now looks likely to become a private house and most people in the village will welcome that. Discounting the Marchmont Arms, the closure marks the end of an era in which Piccotts End boasted a school, a church, a hospital, a bakery, a mill, a pub, a petrol station and garage and few more besides where locals gathered together.

No sooner had I made some unflattering comments about the Gazette in my July blog than it suddenly becomes a tabloid. A coincidence of course but I am taking the credit. The new format is much easier to read, seems to have more news and certainly more letters. I noticed in one week’s edition that out of 13 letters, only 5 writers supplied their name and address. I think editors should only print letters from ‘name and address supplied’ in cases where printing the identity of the authors seriously endangers them. It’s a sign of the times that today’s ‘silent majority’ want to make even a murmur of complaint under the cloak of anonymity.