Broadstairs, a quintessential seaside town on the east coast of Kent.
The Kentish Rose between the neighboring thorns of Ramsgate and Margate. This is the place where to retire wealthy and content, and where the dead are not far from living.
Its chalk cliffs are adorned with a grand Victorian bandstand frequented by the musically enlightened high class and gentry.
The grand Georgian and Victorian buildings stand boldly and elegantly surveying the golden sands of the revered Viking Bay and Jetty.
Such grandeur and Victoriana is celebrated as it should be, with respect, with time honoured traditions.
There is one man that captured the peoples of Broadstairs hearts as much as Broadstairs did his. His memory and honour is celebrated, embroidered as a fabric of the community.
Charles Dickens.
The man who redefined Christmas as we know it, for if it was not for the story described in his novel A Christmas Carol, we may never have known the nature of giving and generosity at Christmas like we do now.
Dickens holidayed in Broadstairs, staying at Bleak House which still stands as one of Broadstairs most iconic buildings on the cliff line. It remains sensitively preserved to honour its historical provenance.
“You cannot think how delightful and fresh the place is and how good the walks,” he once wrote.
Here, at The Charles Dickens Public House and Copperfields Restaurant, I look out to see a most glorious view across the English Channel, as perfect a location you could wish for.
The history of this building would go as far back as the era of Dickens visits cira 1837 - 1859 but it would be sometime later that it became a pub and adopted his name. A minor detail, but details matter here.
Dickens never stepped foot in here. Nor did he pen his classic novel A Christmas Carol in Broadstairs, but this is the story we must follow down the rabbit hole today.
Preface
I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C.D.
December, 1843.
The ghost of Christmas past.
"I am a mortal," Scrooge remonstrated, "and liable to fall."
"Bear but a touch of my hand there," said the Spirit, laying it upon his heart, "and you shall be upheld in more than this!"
The Charles Dickens public house has enjoyed many years as one of Broadstair's most recognized landmarks. It is this provenance and prestige that would attract the former owner Frank Thorley of Thorley Taverns in 2009 to buy back his beloved spiritual home he had once forsaken in a regrettable business deal.
Thorley Taverns is a Broadstairs based hospitality powerhouse. It isnt a national chain of pubs, nor were they a local brewery, it started with Frank. Frank first bought the Charles Dickens pub in the 1970's, and it was this starting point to becoming one of the most respected operators in the business.
Frank is Thorley Taverns, but it is also a family business. The company is credited with regeneration of old pubs and hotels and being one of the biggest employers of local people than any other person has done before him.
Is Frank Thorley the Scrooge protagonist of my tale? Loosely. Ol' Frank is certainly more respected and liked than the wretched Ol' Scrooge. But that depends on who you ask I might venture.
Frank is a business man and on this point Scrooge and Frank will agree on - Making money.
It wasn't always this way. Moving his family from city life to the tranquility of Broadstairs, he sought a simpler life and bought The Charles Dickens pub.
Happily settled, Frank fancied a couple more pubs to keep him going comfortably, but as opportunities arose he kept acquiring, kept accumulating, and this is how Ol' Frank kept on for many years.
His dream of a simple life turned into a "monster" a word he later used on reflection of his success.
Now a credible business in its own right, Thorley Taverns kept churning out pubs recreated in the trademark Thorley Tavern standard, with controversial green and yellow tiled toilets, later adorned with signs mounted warning of the consequences of damaging the toilets. If you are caught in the act of willful vandalism you will be barred from all Thorley Taverns for life! And that was a threat that meant something when Thorleys owned all the best places to go.
To summarize end of act 1.
Frank was a happy and passionate man of family, who self made success set himself and his family up for life in a business that reaches into the fabric of society. The Thorley Tavern standard became the benchmark for other to follow, and the guarantee of quality for the customer. Thorley Taverns found stability in a business model that remains unswerving.
The ghost of Christmas present.
When Ol' Frank bought back the Charles Dickens pub he set about his task of refurbishment with gusto, with his own unique brand of standards and style, and green and yellow toilet tiles, naturally.
Like the return of the king, Frank made sure his beloved Charles Dickens Pub was embellished with the finest regalia. He created his best version of this pub he could imagine and it was quite the transformation. No longer dark stained wood, now a natural light oak was used. Full of their self appreciation and back slapping they marvelled at their creation.
In typical Thorley style they put the prices up too.
Now remodeled as a Gastro pub, a self styled place to eat-drink and meet, It enjoyed a honeymoon period that went on for a few years. It became the meet-up place for the back slappers, and the back slappers mates.
However many felt It had all of the blustering of a portly rotund retired Sargent Major bragging insufferably about his safari in Africa, and those in ear shot or forced to listen eyed the nearest exit to escape.
This wasn't really the place to go after all, there were other pubs that were simply better, restaurants that were leagues apart.
It ever so slowly emptied as it dropped into the abyss of expensive mediocrity.
They have full control of the lumps of coal.
Coal burns. Coal is momentary and coal is costly. There will be no more coal burned in this office today, is that quite clear, Mr. Cratchit?
Money has been thrown at this place, the staff are immaculately dressed, it is clean as you would expect, it declares itself a Gastro pub and that would be some claim, can they back it up?
Sadly no, its not a Gastro pub though, it isn't even close, you won't be reaching for your camera phone to picture an incredible plate of food for your Insta story here.
It is just pub grub priced uncomfortably steeply.
They describe it as modern pub food with a modern twist. I'm yet to work out what the twist is, Oliver Twist maybe? Please Sir.... Can I have some more?
It has all the excitement and comparability of a Brewers Fayre, the only difference is that a Brewers Fayre is reasonably priced.
For all of its positives it manages to be one of the dullest places to go to drink, meet and eat.
I think I have its niche buttoned down though.
It is somewhere to bring a distant relative thats come to visit, show them the seafront, admire the view and take them somewhere that Charles Dickens never drank or ate in, but they don't know that. Then settle down to food which most will find something to go along with, and then happily say goodbye to their dear relative and not step foot in the Dickens ever again, apart from when the fireworks are on and you want to use the loo.... Whatever you do, don't get caught damaging them!
Expensive mediocrity, how can that be when it is in an excellent location, all the polished chrome and mood lighting you could want, a chiseled bar service, bar food and restaurant with spectacular sea views. There should be nothing mediocre about it.
The ghost of Christmas present might reveal a reason why.
When Frank employs chefs and managers, he tells them what he will pay, gives them the spiel about how he has forgotten more than they will ever know. He hands out a lump of coal, and when the chef or manager realizes he has just signed his life away and he is supposed to be grateful for it, any ounce of passion that was there disappears.
Set to task with the bar set high, the chef or manager finds themselves constricted to the expectations, spied on, stamped down. There are two ways to give yourself a chance to please the boss, first become a moderate back slapper as getting the back slappers on your side is key. Secondly, make lots of money. You have to create a huge profit margin on food. The question of how isnt found in innovation, passion or pride. It is found by flicking through the catalog, and buying it all in.
Look at the menu, it is completely middle of the road, bought in ready to reheat. You pay extra for the "modern twist".
There's nothing wrong with this for most places, if you want dull. It is convenience food at the end of the day, made to look like its something better.
Pubs up and down the country have gone this route, look at Wetherspoons for example. They have made it easy for themselves, it keeps costs down. But not only spoons, this is why there are so many similarities between pub food options from pub to pub, chain to chain, because their ideas are bought from the same catalog.
Ol' Frank doesn't want this as his legacy, he doesn't want mediocrity, he wants to believe that his beloved Charles Dickens pub is outstanding. Maybe as he moves towards his final years he should be allowed his fantasy.
“Am I that man who we know is now dead? No, Spirit! O no, no! Spirit! hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the same man I was, not after these visits from three spirits. Why show me this if I am past all hope? Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life.”
To summarize end of Act 2.
Through the years of tireless work, Frank became trapped by his own success. His once respected model and mantra has become a symbol of greed, domination and arrogance. This has never been more evident in The Charles Dickens pub and Copperfield Restaurant, for all its light oak is doing is empathizing its bland, soulless mediocrity of which they have no shame in charging too much for.
And what of poor Cratchits, the hard working, dutiful people? Those Frank likes to put on a salary because running a pub is a 24 hour existence, and he doesn't want to pay you per hour...
Scrooge is too miserly to offer his clerk a decent wage, but Cratchit is generous enough to be grateful to his boss.
The ghost of Christmas yet to come.
Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.
“People’s actions will predict their consequences, which will surely happen. But if people change their actions, then the consequences will change. Say this is true.”.
What is the future for The Charles Dickens? Oh, I am sure it will plod along, its location and apparent offering is enough to make sure of that. And when the finger of blame gets pointed at the Cratchets, as it often does, well there is always more hired help at disposal.
But heres the point.
If Thorleys wanted a flag ship then they must believe in their flagship. If they want to be the best, then be the best.
Steer away from crowd pleasers on the menu, there are too many places doing better than what you do for less money. You are the Charles Dickens pub and Copperfields restaurant. Be yourself. Set yourself apart, set your bar higher. Look up, not down.
This isn't the only place which Thorleys tout as exceptional, my review of another Broadstairs icon The Tartar Frigate is equally as glum.
As Frank looks to the future, and the transfer of his crown and scepter, he should remind his family of what he sacrificed to achieve his empire, in pursuance of being the best.
He should tell them that to be say you are the best, and being the best are completely different.
Work on being irresistible, not expensive mediocrity and finally shift the remaining green and yellow tiles he has in storage, for I have seen enough.
Be the innovators, not the tweakers and twisters. Not the sneaky theiving Fagin, but thats another story. Humbug.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. O, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”
To summarize Act 3.
The Ghosts have shown the past, present and a vision of a future yet to come. The future is unwritten but beware of the consequences of staying on this path of expensive mediocrity, for you will be judged by what you didn't do, rather than what you think you have.
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