BITE user comments - morrissey
Comments by morrissey
The Travellers Friend, Woodford Green
...No problem pubworker2007, here's something else for you to get your laughing gear around,
Firstly, let's be honest; noone's been cautioned, and noone's going to be cautioned. You can't be cautioned for reporting truthful events. And you cannot scold critics of the pub for their anonymity, whilst maintaining it yourself. If the police have cautioned BITE users for lying about the TF's outgoing management, why are their negative posts STILL here? I mean, let's take a look at some of them:
1) Sir Drinkalot says: 'frosty bard staff' (October 2004)
2) graley says: 'frosty staff' (December 2004)
3) sam2703 says: 'I got the impression that if you wern't [sic] a regular you were lucky to be... served!' (Sep 2005)
4) anonymous - 'found the outdoor seating preferable to the 'icy reception' at the bar' (2006)
5)LabMonkey - 'asked for ID with a cold sneer... cold reception...' (2007)
6) DavidWaspnest says: 'there's a definite 'local pub for local people' ambience, too' (2007)
7) rogerthedodger said: 'you never will you see more of a smacked backside. It is on the face of the Landlady.' (2007)
8) offthewagon07 says: 'have to agree the comments about the Landlady' and 'atmosphere which is akin to a masonic lodge' (2007)
9) greening says: 'well what can I say about the staff. They are rude, arrogant... and totally blank you.' (2008)
10)smirney78 says: 'I was appalled...Customer service was appaling' (2008)
11) durracellrabbit says.... 'I do wish that the mother and daughter combination would take some lessons in politeness and tolerance. They are both extremely rude... and they do treat outsiders badly. Many times I have witnessed this and have been extremely embarrassed by it. A small amount of courtesy and the occasional smile would be welcomed by many, Including the regulars...' (2009)
12) Bobbatok says: 'served by the most surly, arrogant, rude, insulting welsh sounding girl...'
13) hotdog says: ' you get is a contemptible look' (2012)
14) harveryhangover says: '[the staff] have got more sour...' (2013)
There are so many bad reviews, and consensus about the old management is so overwhelmingly consistent, that I am forced to believe that these posts must contain some truth. And you know what? None really mention the beer, food or building... only the staff and regulars - Ha ha! If its 'mild entertainment' you're looking for, look no further.
Now, here's your chance to put your money where your mouth is.
You say that you regulate this site, and pass on slanderous comments to the BITE management and police... so I am laying down a challenge, report this comment to the police:
>>> THE FORMER LANDLADY, IS BITE USER 'PUBWORKER2007' <<<
... Report that to the police. Tell them that myself and the 11 other previous posters are telling 'lies'. When they knock on our door, we'll send the police round to collect you too for wasting their time, the BITE staff's time, and all of our employers' time. I'll give you 3 months. I'll be back here in 90+ days, make sure you are. ;-)
28 Feb 2015 13:51
The Travellers Friend, Woodford Green
Dear Reader,
If you'd like to have a better idea of how the former landlady may have spoken to patrons - see the posting below by 'pubworker2007' who 100% ISN'T her using a BITE account to defend herself(!)
'pubworker2007' - let me know how all the arrests go of those 'salacious' (slanderous?) posts.
26 Feb 2015 21:50
I visited this pub for the first time in a few years, last month. A friend told me that he had been intimidated out of there one cold, dark evening in 2001 by a table of local 18-21-year old thugs, whom he'd thought had wanted to beat him up in the hope of impressing the girls he was with. My friend said that there were a high number of underage drinkers - much like the George at Wanstead. He didn't go back, and suggested I shouldn't go in the first place.
I ignored his advice and visited this pub around 2002. And I found the clientele to be just as threatening, young and prematurely drunk as he had suggested; swathes of men - sometimes three generations-per family standing around fruit machines; degrees of miserableness and hostility etched into each face at the bar; regardless of age, impatience was their only apparent motivation; slack in posture, slack in friendliness; bedecked in designer labels; carrier bags in hand; fists loaded. Certainly no pub in the area - that I knew of - was so unwelcoming, and I confess to not feeling very secure.
However, in 2008 I returned with colleagues one summer's afternoon, staying until it closed - and the atmosphere was SIGNIFICANTLY more hospitable.
It appeared that the thugs had all died, been incarcerated or had gone to the Chequers down the road. The average age of drinker had jumped from about 18 to 50. Still present however, and perhaps the pub's worst feature, were the extremely impatient regulars. These - still a presence in 2014 - take great exception to a new face placing an order for a drink before them, even if that outsider has been waiting some five-ten minutes longer. These men, creased £20 betwixt fingers, arms folded in frustration, stare at other patrons, before mumbling a one-drink order to an unappreciated, but utterly likeable bar maid/barman. More than this, it seemed that my use of a 'thank you' when receiving my change had really annoyed the regulars.
So 2014. Well, it's better yet. The atmosphere has been tamed further still, and it seems that there are many professionals dining and drinking with colleagues in place of the Violence frequenting a decade earlier. The range of ales they now have - bottled and canned - is pretty 'hipster-beard' for a Weatherspoons, and this pretty cultured range is all the more impressive when you consider that you can buy these ales CHEAPER in a pub than in a supermarket. I could have a range of very drinkable bottle/keg ales all for under a tenner. Compare that to the wonderful Walthamstow pubs whom charge DOUBLE or the same selection and Weatherspoons suddenly looks very impressive.
Another sight - and I am sure this IS good parenting - is the frequency of married couples whom bring their children in for a cheap dinner. I tend to think that even though this is perhaps the least child-suitable environment in Barkingside, the dads whom bring their kids for dinner, do care more than the majority of Oak dads whom neglect their offspring, and opt to waste Friday evenings in a sodden mess, whilst their children sleep at home, storyless.
A mark? In 2002, I'd have said '1', in 2008, I'd have said '3', today; '6' - and six of those marks are for the range of ales.
25 Oct 2014 15:05
The Travellers Friend, Woodford Green
_____________________________________ PAUSE ______________________________________
Yes, er, something a BIT suspicious about the sudden wave of angrily defensive posts that have appeared post-24th November 2013.
You know, it does seem a bit fishy that ‘Linney’, ‘wanderingstar’, ‘Troye72’, ‘The_Real_Customer’ (anything but ‘real’!), and -- perhaps most suspiciously of all ‘Beergoggles69’ and ‘gimmebeer’ -- all suddenly appear out of nowhere unanimously in support of the new management.
Even if these six accounts belong to different people, they certainly read like they’ve been written by the same individual, and I hope the author/s and new management are not one and the same. If ever there was a case for deleting a pub’s B.I.T.E reviews to date, the Travellers Friend is a candidate. The posts and history of ‘Beergoggles69’ et al, give the impression that the current owners are directly, or indirectly, attempting to correct the imbalance here, rather than letting customers do it.
HAVING SAID THIS, whilst I doubt the separate existence of these reviewers, I do actually agree with their sentiments: the Travellers Friend (TF) is a good pub that is getting even better under its new ownership. Scott and Andrew really do not deserve to inherit the TF’s previously bad scores, which appear to be largely due to the outgoing landlady and her daughters.
The bottom line is: this is a decent pub.
The ale is very good, but it always was; the parochial clientele is 90% male, retired, and a frequent user, but it always was; there is a nice beer garden at the front, but then there was a nice beer garden at the back. Some may feel the new wine is an improvement, but I don’t drink wine in a pub. So why do I say the TF is noticeably better?
Drinkers now feel wanted. That’s it.
The new owners appear to be trying much harder with their punters than the outgoing ones did. In fairness to the old landlady and daughters, it sounded as though they’d had a tough time with their husband’s/father’s passing, and I never found them to be once aggressive or unreasonable; they kept great beer, won awards, and many regulars really liked them.
But I DO think posts by ‘DavesWaspnest’ and ‘Buster1955’ (see below) do -- truthfully -- convey a large consensus of dissatisfaction amongst non-regulars, whom used the TF on a monthly basis, rather than a daily one. The old landlady’s relentless coldness, which I would imagine was fairly unhelpful to her own emotional well-being, did make the newcomer feel unwelcome. I personally disliked the old landlady’s policy of ‘no kids’, but I was happy to admit that allowing kids into pubs can ruin, as well as improve them.
Under the old regime, the uninitiated could expect to:
1) have their deferential manners met with indifference,
2) have their orders taken without eye-contact, smiles or polite conversation;
3) have their quiet conversations listened into by the arms-folded, frowning men on bar stools;
Scott, Andrew and their employees have corrected 1) & 2) and perhaps the new regime will eventually do away with 3).
Visiting the TF a handful of times in 2014, I have noticed a much warmer atmosphere, for which all staff should be congratulated. They have obviously read many of the previous reviews on here, and sought to rectify the TF’s reputation of being an inhospitable pub; caring only for the needs of regulars, whom appeared to find the acquaintance of, and coexistence with, strangers an inconvenience. There are now more women, more families and more varied patrons using the pub than I noticed in the years before. And the atmosphere is a little happier.
The new owners came from behind the bar to chat, and they made me feel that our custom was appreciated in a way that the previous owners failed to do once in 10 years. Perhaps even more credit should go to the new staff when one imagines that they themselves COULD have faced hostility from regulars, whom were disappointed to see the old landlady go.
In my opinion, it is the best pub in Woodford Green. It does not appeal to me in the way many Walthamstow pubs like The Chequers, The Bell, The Nags Head or The Rose and Crown do, but then again, that probably says more about my tastes, and age, than it does about the pubs.
The TF’s current score of ‘5.9’ is undeserved. I’d give the pub 8/10; ‘8’ is a numerical equivalent to ‘very good’. But because of the beating it has taken on here over the years, I am clicking on ‘10’ to help raise its aggregate closer to a fairer overall score of 8+.
29 Jul 2014 21:35
A dreadful experience last summer, i went here with my girlfriend whilst staying in Twickenham at a friends and watched in horror as the drunken (?) blothchy faced thug of a lanlord ripped into a table of students. I really hope he doesnt run this lovely pub now, in fact I quiet hope he is dead.
8 Sep 2007 10:35
Not bad, would be a boring way to spend an evening but with all this blistering sunshine and the Green over the road; it is a good place to waste an afternoon. I was drinking a beer when a cricket ball bounced over the road and into my left foot. Next thing I know a fielder runs across the road and gets clipped by a woman in a Ford Cortina sending him flying into my right leg. So maybe its not as boring a I first thought.
29 Jul 2006 10:30
You have to laugh at this place, even its BITE entry has a member of staff working here, vetting the comments.
look at all the reviews! As soon as a negative one appears, the Maoist staff 'Sort' things right out: they log on posing as drinkers and batter out bland management-speak rebuttals all 'clumsy thumbs'. The criticisms of this pub are totally valid, it is not a nice place to be in at the weekend. It is full of limited men, who like their ancestors: eat meat, groom themselves, hit girls on the head with clubs and fight.
GOOD BITS? O.K the place itself isn't terrible, alright decor and it has a lot of seating. There is a good selection of drink and the bar staff are friendly. But how can you respect a place that so evidently runs on a mission statement of making lots of money as quickly as possible, or:
Employ cheap staff to sell cheap drinks to cheap people.
----------------------------
I mean, look at Jen21's comment, more like BilltheBouncer21. And as for Shoobz, never seen trouble here Shoobz? When do you go drinking there? 11:00-11:30 a.m on a Monday morning?
Whatsmore, if it is the staff or friends of staff defending this place - why would they bother? I can understand a nurse defending th NHS, a teacher backing the NUT or a firefighter sticking up for the FBU but a barman defend the Sorting Rooms? Thats like a 12 year old Indonesian sweatshop worker defending Nike.
Watch the 'impartial' response to this one above ^^^^, its going to be limited.
29 Jul 2006 10:06
Was politely asked to leave by a short barman. No reason given but maybe the fact I was wearing an England football shirt, sober and with my 5"2 girlfriend made me a risk.
Appauling treatment for anyone to endure. Like the bloke said below, I wish them nothing but eternal misery. Their lives would be bettered by a sudden loss of existence.
27 Jun 2006 17:40
Look at the heated disagreement between reviewers here, an e-metaphor for the sorting rooms, unfriendly doormen and staff picking arguing with placid and reasonable members of the public. I do sympathise with these doormen who probably endure an endless struggle preventing twickenham's most violent and socially challenged from drinking here. If you are a 16-year old Dave who has never been here then you may be impressed by its size and low lighting, plenty of places to hide from the doorman who attempt to kick you out.
Does boost your sense of self-importance as you find that the large number of fellow drinkers are all considerably more stupid and common than you are.
28 Mar 2006 19:33
The George and Dragon, Brentford
look at the name. take a wild guess at the sort of people who would go to a pub with this name. good chance that most of the drinkers ALSO have a tattoo of George OR a dragon.
28 Mar 2006 18:28
dreadful people descend upon this place. people who look 40 but act half that age. a useless way to spend an evening.
18 Mar 2006 23:01
The George and Dragon, Brentford
i once went into this pub after missing a 267. I was met at the door by a small gathering of shirtless 19 year old yobs exercising their poor sense of humour by laughing out loud. Inside the drinkers also displayed an imaginative aggression towards newcomers. I sat on my own watching their teeange girlfriends park their prams on the kerb whilst one lad showed the gang how the throttle on an escort works.
18 Mar 2006 22:54
best summerised by the teenage mums who perch on the wall outside which runs down the side of sommerfield.
18 Mar 2006 22:45
The Travellers Friend, Woodford Green
P.S: Was in TF before Christmas - improving further. 9/10.
28 Feb 2015 14:50