It smacks of hypocrisy (From Basingstoke Gazette)

It smacks of hypocrisy

10:43am Thursday 13th December 2012 in Letters

Sir.–I am the uncle of the last licensee of The Mole pub, Monk Sherborne, and I know how hard he and his family worked to make the pub a success. My own daughter even worked as a part-time barmaid there.

As we now know, their efforts were in vain and they were forced to close The Mole – the main reason being lack of local custom.

How those residents of Monk Sherborne can make such a song and dance about its closure defies belief. They stayed away en masse. In effect, they did not support the pub in any shape or form.

I have read in your columns about the villagers’ valiant campaign to reopen the Mole, but to me it just smacks of hypocrisy and self-justification.

It is always sad to see a hostelry close, but it was particularly sad for me to see the landlord, his wife and family subjected to the onerous economic pressures which finally forced closure.

Whether the villagers deserve a pub is open to question. They claim a victory – I have a feeling that it will by a pyrrhic one.

Good luck to Mr and Mrs Thompson, who own the property, in their endeavours.

–Arthur Stitt, Well Close, Wootton St Lawrence, Basingstoke.