Secret Drinker reviews The Pincushion Inn in Wyberton, near Boston
A friend of mine recently agreed to pay an eyewatering amount of money to a company to remove his garden fence and put up a new one.
‘That’s hardly breaking news and nothing to do with booze, you cretin,’ I hear you mumbling to yourself. But hear me out.
Two days before the firm were due to start work, the friend looked out of his window to spot his neighbour had paid a chap - presumably another eyewatering amount - to paint the fence that was due to be ripped from the ground within the next 48 hours.
Paralysed by the fear of having to actually explain the predicament to the family that lived a whole five metres away, let alone the poor bloke that had made a good start with his brush, he stewed on it for a day.
Of course, the whole thing could have been avoided had the two neighbours ever got further than a forced nod on the driveway, but in this era of Netflix and Snapchat it has become all too comfortable to take the easy option and live in our own little self-important, self-assured bubbles.
Many of us even do our drinking alone now. You can go for the cheap supermarket option or the pretentious thing of getting our posh beers and gins of the world delivered to our doors via overpriced subscriptions, complete with glossy mags that we don’t actually bother reading.
And herein lies the problem, Home comforts have made it too easy to stay in and, because we do, pubs are dying at a remarkable rate.
Without these community hubs where a little liquor helps strangers become lifelong friends, beneficial ideas get shared and favours offered our worlds become smaller and lonelier, and we never realise what we had until its gone.
It feels like a gut punch every time I read about yet another pub closing its doors.
Tragically, it’s becoming an all-too-familiar story across the country post-pandemic as villages, estates and communities lose their souls. And once they become flats, they ain’t coming back.
That’s why I was delighted to hear the Pincushion Inn had reopened its doors last Friday (August 23).
Just two months earlier it was announced the pub, long a staple of village life in Wyberton, had closed its doors and, presumably, locals feared the worst.
But it’s great to learn the pub has been taken over by new landlords and reopened, without any fanfare.
The plan, I was told on my visit, was to let things grow by word of mouth.
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I can only guess that the people of Wyberton like a good gossip as there were plenty of people having a good time as I popped in.
One man and his dog supped in the bar (well, the man did), a couple chatted at a nearby table and groups laughed loudly around the beer garden out the back.
The new owners gave the Pincushion Inn a good scrub before it reopened, but little else has changed, I was told.
There are screens, darts boards, a pool table and fruities, plenty to liven the place. And if that’s not enough a few bog-based dad jokes in the gents to raise a smile.
Apparently the idea is to get the regulars and hopefully a new faces back in and accustomed to pub life again before the refurb begins. Indeed, on my visit the sizeable lounge area was closed off with chairs stacked on tables.
It’ll be interesting to see how the new owners put their own stamp on the place, but right now the important thing is that the Pincushion Inn is back open and villagers are making the most of it.
If only a few more places were as proactive then neighbours can get to know each other properly over a pint and my mate wouldn’t have had to put his new fence on hold and lose a sizeable deposit.
THE PINCUSHION INN, LONDON ROAD, WYBERTON, PE21 7DD
DECOR: The same as before with a refurb planned for the near future, but it’s still a nice homely pub with a nice, open well-lit bar area, plenty of seats inside and out. 3/5
DRINK: Your ales, lagers and ciders were the regular faves, so I went with a Madri. 3/5
PRICE: I didn’t think £4.95 was terrible. 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: I wasn’t there at peak time but there were plenty of people about and the pub had the good old community feel. 3/5
STAFF: The young lad greeted me with a smile and chatted enthusiastically about the new venture and the plans. 4/5
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