I do recall seeing quite a few thatched houses while I lived in East Sussex, and ventured thereabouts. (Indeed, wasn't the Hungry Monk thatched? The banoffee pie was superb, but I was surprised to find them serve my rare steak well into medium)
Pubs are all about the landlord, needless to say. We lost a (very) local recently, which the council was perfectly happy about, declaring there were enough pubs anyway. It's now a Tesco (aka prime workfare supporter, along with Asda) Express. *sigh* Yet, no huge surprise - even aside from the huge handicap of being a tied pub, they never really offered any interesting beer selections - maybe a single local cask, but otherwise, all the same old crap. Still, it can go the other way - one pub in the center of town was a similarly generic establishment (unfortunate, as it's quite a local landmark of a building, known as the Flint Cottage), and now keeps 5-7 casks and a couple ciders going, plus dozens of interesting bottles. And surprise! They're always busy, or packed out at the weekends.
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Pubs are all about the landlord, needless to say. We lost a (very) local recently, which the council was perfectly happy about, declaring there were enough pubs anyway. It's now a Tesco (aka prime workfare supporter, along with Asda) Express. *sigh* Yet, no huge surprise - even aside from the huge handicap of being a tied pub, they never really offered any interesting beer selections - maybe a single local cask, but otherwise, all the same old crap. Still, it can go the other way - one pub in the center of town was a similarly generic establishment (unfortunate, as it's quite a local landmark of a building, known as the Flint Cottage), and now keeps 5-7 casks and a couple ciders going, plus dozens of interesting bottles. And surprise! They're always busy, or packed out at the weekends.