The Chemic Tavern: From Both Sides of the Bar
There’s a competition to vote for Yorkshire’s favourite Pub; Lorna Middleton thinks we should choose The Chemic …
The time I first stepped in The Chemic Tavern Rob Wood had been working there for over a year glass-collecting. A year later, I was in the same position, bar-backing a few nights a week to make it through Uni while Rob was comfortably serving and kicking out customers. Eventually we became the full time night staff throughout the week and happily managed the pub.
People complain about bar staff a lot – normally people who have never worked behind a bar I might add – and though we can seem grumpy and watch the clock like the minute hand hasn’t moved in an hour, we have to deal with a lot. Vomit, threats, abuse, running out of glasses, running out of beer, faecal matter and working while everyone else gets drunk and has a jolly good time are just some of the delights of bar work, but I am amazed at what we do to keep the customer happy, even the ones we say we hate.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. You can spend the quiet nights playing board games with the regulars, and the busy ones are so fast paced they’re over before you’ve had time to breath and realise you’ve had five pints paid on and listened to a favourite band for free. There is also a certain pride to be taken from knowing over one hundred customers’ drinking preferences and how many pints of Timothy Taylor’s the guy in the corner will have till he’ll order a whisky. After all the fun, I left with three years service under my belt to pastures new (south Yorkshire) and a year on Rob, along with friend Kate Riley (former manager of the Wrens Hotel) are the new Landlord/Lady. The patrons of the Chemic are certainly happy with this since the pub has been shortlisted for Yorkshire’s favourite pub which undoubtedly shows the glowing approval of the changeover.
Kate and Rob are great friends of mine and I know they will continue to work hard to keep the Chemic moving but it is their customers that are happiest. If they had not decided to take it on after the previous landlady had left there were great fears the pub would close for who knows how long and this essential hub of the surrounding community – and dare I say the city – might have been lost. This may seem dramatic but the Chemic offers so much more than two pints of cask ale and a packet of jalapeno bites, though both are equally tasty. Music is core to the pub with between 3-5 nights a week dedicated to tuneful offerings that not only provide something interesting to go watch and listen to, that won’t cost you a penny, but provides newbies with a stage on Thursday’s open mic night and somewhere for the less mainstream to practice, like the French Breton folk group.
People band together for charity events, book groups, neighbourhood plan meets and quiz nights all under the one roof, but overall the Chemic is essentially a boozer and this makes it the perfect place for all those things because people like to talk and drink, and drunk people like to talk even more! Like all great pubs the Chemic is a place you can walk into, stand at the bar and easily get chatting to a stranger without being labelled a loony or a predator. This is my favourite thing about the Chemic; it is welcoming. I could happily sit with a pint in hand as a lone woman and not feel I was out of place or going to be pounced upon by some leech but if I wanted to put the world to rights then there would always be someone available to bend their ear. It feels like this because there is a mix – it’s inclusive and every stereotype possible is present and accounted for. What I am most proud of is that for the very few occasions that I witnessed a bigoted remark from someone, both customers and staff stand tall together and say ‘NO! You are wrong and this is the wrong place for you’. That is what a real community pub is and that’s why it should be voted Yorkshire’s favourite pub.
The results are revealed on the 9th July, for more info see www.yorkshire.com/pub
Lorna (@makersmeadow)says
I love Yorkshire. Born and grew in Hull in the East, moved to do History at Leeds Uni in the West, currently live in the South, and who knows maybe I’ll retire to the North. I run the Angler’s Rest in Wombwell, the Geeves’ Brewery Tap as well as making housewares and gifts upcycled from their malt sacks in my online shop Makers Meadow I love real ale, museums, food and a make do and mend ethos.