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News from
July 2007
31 July 2007
We're
very grateful to you for continuing to support The Fox while we repair
our flood damage.
Our insurance company's representative will visit us on 2 August to
assess our damage and process our insurance claim, and I hope that in
the near future I will be able to tell you that the claim has been
settled and that new carpets are on the way.
In the
meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding, and
we look forward to seeing you soon.
24 July
2007
Well, despite the
floods, we remain open for business as usual, offering our full range of
services. The only thing you'll find missing is our carpet!
Considering
the
 flood damage we and others suffered over the weekend, we hope that
you'll understand we are doing our best in circumstances more difficult
than usual.
Certainly we're
grateful to you for continuing to support The Fox at this time.
We're well aware that there are pubs close to us that did not suffer as
badly as we did and still have all their carpets intact, and it's
reassuring to see that, despite our somewhat austere surroundings at
present, you're still coming to The Fox for your favourite sandwiches
and meals. We're very grateful.
Every cloud has a silver
lining, so I'm told, and so long as the insurance claim is honoured,
we'll have new carpets for you sooner rather than later. Frankly,
it could be a whole lot worse.
To those of you have
also suffered flood damage, we offer you our sympathy and hope that your
homes are back to normal as soon as possible.
23 July
2007
We are always pleased
to see people flooding into The Fox, but on Friday 20 July we had an
unwanted visitor: flood water.
 Like
most of the south of England, Steventon received 10 hours' solid
torrential rain - twice the normal monthly rainfall for July in less
than half a day. Despite our efforts to hold the excess water in
the car park, bit by bit the water level crept up the side of the
building until it began lapping at the front doorstep.
It was then, at around
5pm, that we realised that we were losing the battle, and that despite
our defences, we, like thousands of other people across the country,
were about to get very wet.
The
"high-tide" mark crept up the hallway and around the corner leading to
the restaurant area. Very soon, there was the un-nerving
"slap-slap" of Wellington
 boots on sodden carpet as we moved around the
pub trying to serve the customers stranded at The Fox as a result of the
incessant flow of water across the road and down the hill.
But we remained open,
continuing to serve drinks as we watched in shocked amazement at the
river flowing past the window on what a few hours earlier had been a
busy village high street.
It was heartening to
see the villagers pulling together in this time of need. The Miles
family helped our elderly neighbour, Margaret Slaymaker, out of her
flooded house opposite The Fox and took her to the relative safety of
their cottage. Dennis Hastings and
 Sandra
took refuge in The Fox, having suffered the full force of the water
cascading off the hills behind their home raging in through their back
door and out through the front. Dennis and Sandra had moved into
their new home less than two months ago, and they watched in horror as
the thousands of pounds of improvements they had made to their new home
were washed away in minutes.
We provided hot meals
for those stranded at The Fox as best we could under the circumstances,
and when the fire service arrived we fed them too, many of whom had been
on flood defence duty since 6am and had not stopped for a break or a
bite to eat for more than twelve straight hours.
The flood waters
marched around the corner of the pub and into the garden. We
quickly learned that our new smoking shelter, waterproof to normal
rainfall, was no match for water
rushing
in at ground level. By this time our restaurant carpet was ruined,
the kitchen was under threat, and we discovered that water was coming
into the bar through the brick walls!
 The fire service worked
in our car park until midnight, vainly pumping water into the fields
behind the pub to prevent it flowing down High Street and into the
lower-lying parts of the village. But at midnight, the service's
county commissioner issued orders for them to stand down, as their
tenders were needed to provide a response to any outbreaks of fire that
night. We thanked them for their help, and told them we would be
up early to greet them when they returned at 6am the following morning.
Amazingly, we awoke to
find the car park was still flooded but that the water had receded.
Within 24 hours, it was almost as though we'd had a big storm but that
the flood hadn't happened at all. Only the sodden carpets proved
that it had.
The Fox came off
relatively lightly. We had nearly a foot of water in the car park,
but no more than two inches in the pub. We know that many of our
neighbours and customers suffered far worse, some still a foot under
water more than two days later, and seeing pictures of the poor
residents of Gloucester and Tewksbury on television only goes to show
how lucky we were. The damage the waters have caused is
heart-breaking, but we appreciate to some degree the horror of what
others are still going through.
We are proud to say
that our team showed true British grit and remained at their posts while
the flood water poured into and around the pub, and they all got stuck
in on the clean-up on Saturday morning to make sure that we were open on time and
able to serve food to those customers who were unable to cook for
themselves at home. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to
prepare our usual roast lunch on the Sunday, but I think we did
exceedingly well to be able to serve food at all that weekend.
Through it all, we
tried to keep a stiff upper lip and our sense of humour:
 18 July 2007
We
are very proud to have been awarded an accreditation for excellence in
serving cask ales.
The accreditation
scheme is operated by
Cask Marque, an independent, non profit
making body run by a management committee elected by its membership of
brewers, retailers, trade bodies and consumer groups.
To be accredited to the scheme, pubs are visited unannounced by an
independent assessor twice a year. The assessor checks all cask ales on
sale against four criteria - temperature, appearance, aroma and taste -
and to gain the Cask Marque accreditation a pub must achieve a rating of
80% across all its cask ales.
I have always taken
great pride in our beers, and I'm extremely pleased to say that our ales
achieved a score of 99% satisfaction over the two testing sessions, a
notable achievement for a pub more known for its food than its real ale.
We will continue
serving real ale lovers' needs by stocking the complete range of
guest and seasonal ales
available to us each year, storing them in optimum conditions, and
serving them with care and pride.
Cheers!
2 July 2007
Well, here we are, 24
hours after smoking was banned in public buildings in England, and we're
still in business. So far, so good! Our customers - even the
heaviest smokers - have continued to use The Fox and have resisted the
urge to light up indoors, so we can all look forward to a better
environment at The Fox.
On the day before the
smoking ban came into force, we received an email advising us that
building work on our
permanent smoking shelter is expected to begin on Wednesday 4
July, and bearing in mind the recent weather, that won't be a day too
soon. In the meantime, we have erected a temporary gazebo for our
smoking customers to shelter under when the heavens open. So long
as the wind doesn't get up too much, it should suffice in the short term
until the permanent structure is available.
 As
we said last month, we have had so many
favourable comments about the improvements we have made to our garden
that we are confident that The Fox will be even more popular now that
the smoking ban is in effect.
We will certainly do
our best to make The Fox as attractive as possible for smokers and
non-smokers alike. In the next few weeks we will be planning
revisions to our lunch
and dinner
menus, offering you new and exciting dishes, and although we believe we
have the largest
children's menu in the area, we will be adding to that too,
giving our youngest customers even more to choose from. We'll also
be looking at our wine list, giving you an even bigger and better range
of wines by the glass and by the bottle.
All we need now is a
bit of sunshine, and we'll all enjoy a wonderful summer at The Fox.
Fingers crossed, folks!
If you have any
questions about the new law or our building work, please ask the staff and we'll be
happy to explain what the new law means to you - whether or not you
are a smoker.
1 July 2007
 In
addition to our regular brands, we also offer Greene King's seasonal
ales, as well as guest ales from other brewers. Our next guest
ale will be Tribute from the
St. Austell Brewery in Cornwall.
Brewed at
4.2% abv, it is a premium
hand-crafted ale to be savoured, and has become a popular
favourite with drinkers both in Cornwall and farther up country.
Its moreish hoppy flavour with a fresh citrus nose compliments a fine
chicken, gammon or fish dish, and was very popular when we had it on tap
last summer.
 Here
at The Fox, in return for your support we run a
Loyalty Card Scheme.
Each month we make a money-saving offer that is only available to
loyalty card holders.
Throughout July,
if you place a food order for £25 or more, we'll give you £2.50 back in
cash - that's up to 10% off the cost of your meal.
Joining the scheme is
easy: complete the very short application form
available from the bar, hand it to the bar staff, and you can begin
using your card immediately.
Pick up your card and begin saving
money at The Fox today.
* Unfortunately, we are
not able to accept discount vouchers in conjunction with this offer.
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