Vespa.org.uk recently caught up with Suzy and Sam, the new management of the famous King Lud in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. This short interview was the result. Enjoy.
So, the King Lud - the pub synonymous with Isle of Wight sea front scooter gatherings - is under new management. Who are you and when did you taken over the reins?
Sam is from Aberdeen, and has a colourful background in hospitality; I am from a large family with vast experience in hospitality and service right here on the Isle of Wight. We took over the King Lud only a month before the August Bank Holiday last year. We managed to get on our feet quite quickly and even through great adversity we had an amazing summer, of course all thanks to the support and goodwill of our customers, our extended family and friends.
Is the Lud your first pub, or will people know you from other pubs?
It is our first pub, but we have both worked in hospitality for a long time, we met whilst managing hotels in France almost ten years ago. Since then we have worked on the west coast of France, Italy and Scotland. We moved to the island to be closer to family and have both worked in various establishments on the island since then.
So what made you decide the Lud was for you - are you, or have you been, scooterists yourselves?
I grew up on the island, and Sam and I have lived in Ryde for the last five years. Naturally we are huge fans of the scooter rally, the whole atmosphere the people, the music, the snappy dressing and of course the amazing scooters and the boost for the town itself. We chose the Lud because we believe it has huge potential to be brought back to life and is in an excellent location!
Hundreds (if not thousands) of scooterists will automatically congregate at the Lud, either for Lambretta Day or over the August Bank Holiday weekend. What, if anything, will they notice has changed under your management?
We had very little time to change much for last years rally but we did book an excellent DJ, Tim Boogaloo, who, with guest DJs played every day from 2pm til very very late. We hope that the Northern Soul sounds did a lot to improve the whole experience for our customers over the weekend! We are planning to do the same in 2010. We had some problems last year with our cellar, so we have installed a new cellar gas system that means we should be able to keep up the speed for the massive demand for beer over the rally. We have redecorated the pub, without destroying the traditional pub feel of the place, and are significantly upgrading the loos this winter. We now serve food all day too. We hope mostly that people will notice the welcoming atmosphere, the improvements we have made and our enthusiasm.
One of the things scooterists grumble about during the Isle of Wight Rally, is that they have to pay to get in everywhere and that pubs take advantage of their "captive audience" by putting prices up, despite the fact that they're guaranteed to take more behind the bar than any other weekend of the year. What's your opinion on that?
We absolutely DO NOT charge for entry although we will have a DJ playing throughout the weekend until very late so hopefully we can compete with the places that do charge, our prices last year were the cheapest in Ryde and Sandown with the exception of Wetherspoon's who we could never compete with. We totally understand the criticism that pubs could be taking advantage of captive audience, but certainly in our experience we had to carefully weigh up the cost of employing a lot more bar staff than usual, door staff and the cost of supplying plastic glasses, which we do in support of the local police and because of our location, this helps ensure the safety of everybody attending the event. Overall it made very little difference to our usual prices though.
The Lud overlooks the famous Ryde Green. In recent years it's been controversially fenced off by certain "enterprises" during the Rally. What do you think about that? Is it good for business, or should the Green go back to being free access to all?
We lived here when the fence went up and we thought it was a real shame, it seemed to ruin the whole experience of the rally, there was nowhere for all the scooters to line up together and for people to just congregate. Although we didn't have the pub then, we understand that the pub did well that year though because people didn't want to pay to go into the enclosure so still got their beer in the Lud! For us, the green as a free space is the centre of the whole weekend.
Unlike many other establishments, traditionally the Lud has remained a regular, open pub throughout the Rally weekend. Do you plan to put on anything special to coincide with Lambretta Day or the Rally?
We will remain a regular and open pub, and of course we will keep our extended opening hours 8am til 4am, we will not charge entry, and we will have DJs playing top sounds for the whole weekend.
Breakfasts seem to go down a storm so we will be serving full English breakfasts every morning again! We are open to suggestions though so if anyone has any smart ideas that will improve the King Lud and the rally for everyone please let us know!
What about the rest of the year, will the Lud be scooter friendly all year round?
Of course, we are people friendly full stop! If only we could get a parking space for scooters!!
Yes that pavement does get pretty full! We're at the end of 2009, just about to head into 2010; what are your long-term plans for the Lud?
To continue to work at making the much needed improvements, to give the place the care, attention and enthusiasm it deserves and to revive it into a place people want to drink, eat and be all year round! Soon we would like to develop the accommodation upstairs into bed and breakfast.
Many thanks for sparing us some of your valuable time Suzy. Finally, what message would you like to send out to the international scootering community? Fill your boots.
Thanks for your support last year and we hope to see you in May and August 2010 again! Check out the new website www.kinglud.co.uk or request to be friends with "Theking Lud" on Facebook, for up to the minute information.
From the website www.kinglud.co.uk:
The King Lud is being given a new lease of life. Landlord Sam, his wife Suzy and their extended family have given The King Lud some much needed love and care in recent months and are making a really positive impact. Having made a note of so many visitors asking about the history of the pub and seeing an opportunity to celebrate the history of one of the last remaining traditional pubs in Ryde, Sam has been working closely with Ryde Social Heritage Society to develop a collection of photos etc, depicting The King Lud and Ryde that will eventually be displayed in a timeline the length of the pub. Sam and Suzy met whilst working in France for a major tour operator however with little to show for their efforts as seasonaires after six years, except "two snowboards, two surfboards and a dog", it was time to settle down and move back to the UK. Having worked briefly in the West Highlands of Scotland, the couple moved to the island. Sam gained invaluable cellar knowledge under the tutelage of Jay Chapman (if not the best cellarman on the island, certain amongst the top two) and Suzy moved out of hospitality all together and worked at Ryde High School coordinating Inclusion. Sam went on to work at SMART Training passing on his kitchen, cellar, front of house knowledge to others as a training advisor and NVQ Assessor.
The couple "hit the ground running" taking over The King Lud just one month before the scooter rally, Sam is sure about the value of a strong team behind him. The pub is a real family affair with family and friends pulling together and working wherever and whenever is needed. The only exception being Dave, "a real star and a welcome addition to our family".
The King Lud now serves good home made and locally sourced food all day featuring traditional pub favourites. There are three hand pumps, one permanently featuring a local ale from Goddards; Doombar, Wadsworth 6X and Wells Bombardier featuring amongst some of the wide range of ales at the second pump, and HSB at the third pump as the firm house favourite "undoubtedly the best pint of HSB on the island" according to the locals.
Live bands are queuing up to play at the King Lud on a Saturday night, this combined with Open Mic Night with Steve on a Wednesday, Alternative Rock Night on a Thursday, Hit the Decks (an open set for DJs) on a Friday night , and a poker league on a Sunday means The King Lud is opening its doors for everybody to enjoy. Sam has reinstated the dartboard and has recently inherited a vintage bar skittles set, this combined with large wooden Rocking Horse, fresh flowers and hanging baskets has given the King Lud a distinct air of being very well cared for and therefore a place that people want to be.
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