Lucky

I noticed through the modern day oracle that is Facebook that at least two new bar/restaurants are to open in Ramsbottom in the near future. One, while not (so far at least) proclaiming any particular 'theme' in terms of cuisine, is looking to provide community facilities: space for mother-toddler groups, space for book clubs or discussion groups to meet and so forth. The other is apparently going to incorporate a vegan restaurant. Broadly, I am very much in the "Yay!" camp on these developments, not least because empty shops (which one of them is and in a very prime spot to boot) do not look good in terms of selling the town to tourists as a thriving community. Having these units occupied and providing good food and service to townsfolk and tourists alike is a good thing. I do have a little reservation about the 'bar' aspect of both developments, though. More of this later.

When we first moved to Rammy almost 23 years ago, the places to eat (as in restaurants rather than take aways) were much more limited than today. At the top end of the scale, there was the Village Restaurant (later to become Ramsons although not at that time quite as 'fine dining' as it later became). Then there were The China Cottage (good then, good now), the Eastern Eye (ditto), an Italian (been through several owners - variable quality but, overall, a little generic) and another Indian (again, has been through several owners and is currently pretty good). I think there may also have been a restaurant attached to the hotel side of the Grants Arms but I never tried it and it seemed to come and go. Some of the pubs in the centre did food but, generally, it was not much beyond things that go 'Ding!' in the microwave. But, talking of pubs, Rammy had shedloads! The Rammy Mile, the pub crawl traditionally attempted following the Good Friday service up at Peel Tower above the town, consisted of a pint in each pub starting from the Hare & Hounds in Holcombe Brook and continuing via The Brook, The Fusilier, The Masons Arms, The Old Dun Horse, The Major, The Old Grey Mare, The Clarence, The Rose & Crown, The Grants Arms, The Royal Oak, The Railway and, finally, The Good Samaritan. That was 13 pints and a fair old walk!

Today, The Old Dun Horse is flats, The Good Sam is an excellent (still not verified this!) restaurant, The Hearth of the Ram, and The Clarence is an Indian Restaurant yet there are actually more places to have a pint than ever before! The lost watering holes have been replaced by several eating places which can also be treated as a bar for drinks only: the Lounge, Bar XLII, the First Chop, the Venetian Hideaway and Levanter. In addition, there is the Irwell Works microbrewery in the centre of town that has its own bar. There is definitely no shortage of beer in Rammy! However, just as some pubs have gone or have changed, so too have the options for eating. Ramsons may be no more, but the food served at its successor, the Venetian Hideaway, is superb in its own way; Levanter's tapas are praised far and wide; the Spice Garden offers excellent Thai food; the Hearth, as I have mentioned, is supposedly very good and, in addition, pubs are now upping their game with The Eagle & Child and The Major both offering excellent homecooked food, the former a little more 'cheffy', the latter more down-to-earth and excellent value. In addition, whereas Bailey's Tearoom offered the only afternoon tea option when we moved here, there are now several places offering light snacks and a pot of tea.

Two things seem to have arisen out of the new 'eating/bar' culture in Rammy. The first is an extension of something that was already started when we moved here: the inverted snobbery. There is an attitude that seems to suggest that Rammy is a working town for working people and we can do without 'incomers' blocking up the roads and drinking in their chi-chi bars. Well, the facts of the matter are, there are no longer cotton mills in Rammy, fewer and fewer people work in manual industries and the demographic of the town is changing becoming younger and more affluent. A town that was dying as the mills shut down has been regenrated and is thriving once more. And if that means there are going to be some restaurants that charge a bit more for food, so be it. There are still plenty of places offering down-to-earth, good value food that is not cook-chill microwave shit. What we have here is choice and we should be thankful rather than pining for those not-so-long-ago days when the food was, in the main, not so great. It's not about 'us' and 'them', it's about having a thriving, viable town.

Which brings me to my second consequence of the changes I have noted. There is a danger in the town swinging too far to the bar/restaurant side of things. Such venues largely cater for an evening trade. If a shop shuts, I think we need to be careful about another bar opening in its place. This is apparently a new trend on the high street because the conversion of a shop to a bar is fairly cheap and licenses are easy to obtain. We need to ensure diversity is a feature of the town, that we have a daytime economy as well as good places to eat and drink in the evening. I think we still have that balance right and the two new ventures I started with show that, hopefully, that diversity is still there. As long as we have that, I think we are very lucky to live where we do.