Fantasy Pub Landlady

      Shedley and I are feeling a bit rueful because,  according to the estate agent's sign, The Vine pub on Stockbridge High St. is, at last,  under offer.

In the pink!

       We're a bit disappointed because, periodically, since it's been up for sale we've enjoyed playing the fantasy pub game, namely the, 'What-If-We-Owned-The-Vine game.'

     The Vine has been on the market for well over a year. It's a large pub with a big stretch of untidy parking and garden at the back. It expands across at least three floors with several B & B rooms upstairs, fairly buckshee in appearance the last time I looked at them which was in 2009. The building is higgledy-piggledy – there may well be a fourth floor and no doubt there is a cellar.

     It has occupied its central position for centuries rather than decades and its closure, whilst doubtless a boost to the other Stockbridge pubs - The White Hart, The Grosvenor, The Three Cups and The Greyhound on the Test – has left a big hole in the High St. and something of an eyesore.

     There's little doubt in our minds that if we bought The Vine it would become the most celebrated pub in the land with people journeying from as far away as South Georgia to come and 'sample its warm hospitality' – which is what publicans always want you to do.