Golden Lion Tap

16/06/2026

The rollercoaster ride that is Barnstaple Fringe is nearly here!
Delighted to welcome them back to the Golden Lion Tap with an eclectic mix of drama, comedy, intrigue and more performing in our Clubroom. Tickets can be purchased ://www.theatrefest.co.uk/content/page/tickets

Thursday 25th
18:00 Richard Pulsford: Gold Fashioned Jokes
19:30 The Remarkable Tales Of Miss Marjorie Bishop
21:15 Blades Of Grass

Friday 26th
18:00 The Remarkable Tales Of Miss Marjorie Bishop
19:45 Humdinger Words for Lollygaggers & Fuddy-Duddies
21:30 thirty.

Saturday 27th
13:30 Richard Pulsford: Gold Fashioned Jokes
15:30 Blades Of Grass
17:00 Humdinger Words for Lollygaggers & Fuddy-Duddies
18:45 thirty.
21:00 The Remarkable Tales Of Miss Marjorie Bishop

Sunday 28th
13:30 Humdinger Words for Lollygaggers & Fuddy-Duddies
15:15 thirty.
17:00 Richard Pulsford: Gold Fashioned Jokes
18:45 Blades Of Grass

*plus* The Secret Show (Sshhh, its a secret)



Fringe TheatreFest

08/06/2026

🍺 PUBS ARE SO EXPENSIVE: PART 3 🍫

Ok, let’s look at this again in the only way that EVERYONE understands the economy…

⏳ Minimum wage in 2005 was £5.05 and a Freddo was 10p.
🤩 One hour of work got you 50 Freddos!

Now fast forward to June 2026…

⏳ Minimum wage is £12.71 and a Freddo is 35p.
😢 One hour of work will now only get you 36 of them!

That's a 152% rise in pay but a 250% rise in the cost of delicious frog shaped chocolate bars! 📈

If wages had kept pace with the price of Freddos, the minimum wage would now be £17.68 an hour! 💸

By comparison:

⏳ Minimum wage in 2005 would get you two pints of beer per hour
⏳ Now, in June 2026, it will get you about 2.5 pints!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: pubs are not expensive. 📣

The cost of living is horrific. The external pressures on all of our finances right now are soul-destroying. We get it. Everyone is fu***ng skint. Everyone is struggling! 😰

But stop blaming pubs.

We are not being “greedy”.

Most landlords are earning less than ever - personally I earn less than £6ph for the hours I work, and I know a lot of publicans earning even less! 😔

We are effectively subsidising you being able to have a pint!

Because if I charged what I needed to, to earn a decent wage myself, I’d be selling beer at £12 a pint right now! 💸😢

TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW!👇👇👇
Because I’m, somehow, still getting the “but, they ARE expensive because…” comments! 🙄

08/06/2026

📣 PUBS ARE SO EXPENSIVE: PART 2! 📣

Following on from part 1 post…

A number of people still queried “why pubs are so expensive”…

And a follower, Kyle Michael, has kindly allowed me to share his post below to explain things a little more!

So here goes…

🤔 What is so hard for some to understand?

🤷‍♂️ Pubs are NOT expensive, the perception of cost is being distorted by the lack of disposable income, not the price!

🏛️ Blame that on government, not the publican who has cut and cut and cut his profit to keep going!

⚖️ Let’s compare beer prices to wages!

Prices used below are the average in April each year, together with the minimum wage at the same time.

Year Pint Min wage %

1998 1.87 3.00 62.3
2000 1.99 3.60 55.2
2005 2.41 4.85 49.6
2010 2.94 5.93 49.6
2015 3.44 6.40 53.7
2020 3.72 8.72 42.6 **
2023 4.56 10.41 43.8
2024 4.77 11.44 41.6
2025 5.17 12.21 41.6

** pubs shut in April 2020 so used July figure, but VAT had been reduced so pint price was artificially lower.

📣 If pubs had stayed with the same % as in 1998, an average pint would now be £7.73!

🚨 YEP: SEVEN POUND SEVENTY THREE! 🚨

👌 Time to adjust your minds and expectations and keep things real, or you simply won't have any pubs left.

Sources:
ONS for Beer Prices https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/czms/mm23

Business Info for Min wage
https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/national-minimum-wage-previous-rates

So what do you think? Are pubs being greedy? Or is it the government? Let me know below! 👇👇👇

08/06/2026

Right.
Apparently, pubs are “too expensive.” 😬🥵💰

I hear it every day. 🤯

Usually from someone clutching a £6 artisan coffee, scrolling TikTok on a £1,200 phone, while explaining how £6 for a pint is daylight robbery. 💎

But sure. The pub is the problem. 👌

Let me explain this slowly…

You’re not paying £6 for “beer”! 🍺

You’re paying for an experience, for a community, for…

💸 The heating being on before you arrive.
💸 The lights staying on after you leave.
💸 The loos being scrubbed (you’re welcome).
💸 The glasses being washed.
💸 The staff being paid.
💸 The licences. The insurance. The rates. The tax.
💸 The little bite the card machine takes every single time you tap.
💸 And the fact that when the cellar floods at 11pm on a Tuesday… it’s me in wellies.

You’re not just buying a drink. 🍷

You’re renting a space to exist in public without being moved on. To socialise. To make friends. To feel welcome. To belong. ❤️

Go and sit in the middle of ASDA for three hours debating VAR and see how long that lasts. Try getting banter from a self-checkout. 😅

Pubs aren’t competing with supermarket booze. 🛒

We’re competing with the idea that community should be free. 🏘️❤️

And here’s the bit I find fascinating…

The same people who mourn “the death of the British pub” are the ones who treat us like overpriced off-licences. 🍾

We don’t sell beer. 🍺

We sell:
👉 First dates that turned into marriages.
👉 Wakes where the real stories came out.
👉 “Ok, just one” that became the best night of the year.
👉 Somewhere to decompress when the world’s had enough of you and you’ve had enough of the world.

We sell a place to not be alone. 🫂

If you want cheap: stay on your sofa with a four-pack of lukewarm cans 🛋️🥵🍻

But PLEASE don’t confuse low cost with value! 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, I’ll be over here - overcharging for heating, chairs, and human interaction. 🔥🪑🤗

Tag a mate who needs to stop being a tight-arse and buy a round! You know the one. 😂👇

23/05/2026

Fringe TheatreFest is coming soon. Heres a teaser of one of the performances appearing at the Golden Lion Tap in Barnstaple

Highlight reel from the World Premiere of Humdinger Words for Lollygaggers & Fuddy-Duddies filmed in Rotunda Squeak at Brighton Fringe in May 2026.See the fu...

22/05/2026

09/04/2026

Shout out to our newest followers! Delighted to have you join us! Tina Offield, Kyle Eyres, Char Cann

22/03/2026

All the usual suspects At the Golden Lion Tap

13/03/2026

Get your Karaoke fix at GLTs tonight. 9.30 pm onwards!