CanterburyPress

Punch Taverns take on the Canterbury pub scene.

The Three Tuns refurbished to its former glory

Punch Taverns has brought back The three Tuns after its long closure, but what are Punch Taverns plans for it.

Since the recession hit, hundreds of pubs across the UK closed their doors to the public, but Punch Taverns are fighting back and have reopened the Three Tuns pub on Watling Street.
The Pub was closed over 18 months ago as it’s previous owner, The Orchid group went into administration, the company was saved after a financial restructure but unfortunately The There Tuns did not survive.

If Punch taverns announced last year that it was reopening a pub in the heart of Canterbury, we would have thought it were mad and that it would unquestionably have failed, not just because of the recession but because of the competition from the massive amount of pubs already in Canterbury. Lorna Cooney, the pubs new manager said that seeing the amount of competitor pubs "just added to the excitement" and that she "was really excited by the historical side to the pub and the amazing city centre".

The listed building dating back to the 1600’s, is still in its prime condition after a few tweaks and clean ups and holds its Tavern like atmosphere and appearance. The layout is very similar but with a few upgrades and additions. The bar is still situated in the middle of the pub surrounded by many different areas to sit, relax and socialize, "families, students and all local residents are welcome" said Ms Cooney.

Food is served all day everyday, including breakfast for just £3.99 that includes all you can drink tea and house coffee. The menu is broad with a choice of main meals and lunch time snacks. The team are currently organising a fun filled bank holiday weekend on 29 May. At the event will be a free Hog roast, live music and entertainment, a bouncy castle and facepainting for the children aswell as the normal menu and the pubs cocktail bar launch. "We have created a traditional, warm and relaxed place to be, with an excellent team behind the bar and a fantastic new menu coming" said Ms Cooney.

Studio 41 and Planet lazer could be converted into student flats.


No dates have been finalised but it has been made official that Studio 41 where the popular gay night (Girls and Boys) and student nights (Soap) are held is being forced to find a new location.

Permission was originally given for a block of flats but another developer is putting forward a new application for Canterbury Christ church university to build student accomodation on the site.

Stephen Sullivan, Studio 41's DJ said "It'd be pointless for me to guess, as others have already done, on exactly how long Studio 41 will be at it's current location. Any dates you may hear or read about at this stage are complete speculation.

We think the proposal, which will end up being used by Christ Church, will be much more beneficial to Canterbury than the previous plans; Therefore we will not be objecting to it" continued Mr Sullivan.

To keep upto date with the latest developments of the club go to Girls and boys.co.uk!

Canterbury Christ Church students give their opinions of the final prime ministerial debate live on BBC Radio Kent on friday 30 April.

The students were split into two groups, one group listened to the debate on radio 4 and the other group watched it live on BBC One. The experiement of the two groups was conducted by John and Clare, BBC Radio Kents breakfast presenters. John said "we wanted to know how much the visual performance by the candidates rather than what they were actually saying, impacts on the voters".

The idea for the experiment came from the first TV debate in 1960 between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy those that watched voted Kennedy and those who listened voted Nixon.

The results of this experiment were very interesting. The listening group backing Clegg and the watching groups winner was Cameron.

Interestingly Jamie Harris from the watching group felt that Nick Clegg seemed 'over confident'. The listening group thought that David cameron was the loser of the debate.

The listening group liked the fact that Nick Clegg didn't get involved in the 'petty arguments' between Cameron and Brown and this aided in there choice of who the clear winner of the debate was.

Both groups didn't have much to say about Browns performance.

You can find out what else the students said about the debate by clicking here!

Canterbury City Council accepted Lounge on the Farm organiser’s second application to increase the festivals capacity to 9,999.


The first application for an increased capacity license was rejected as the council suddenly wanted more detailed information following complaints from neighbours about the noise levels of the festival. After 35 minutes the committee finally agreed to give the licence, but not without cost.

Chairman Cllr Jean Harrison laid down some conditions to the license, the license can only last a year at a time, which will hit the organisers pockets as each application cost £1000. A more detailed traffic management plan has to be put in place and all bars have to stop serving at midnight.

"We had to make a very long and hard decision. Not all members of the committee were unanimous in granting the licence”. Said Cllr Harrison.

The larger area covered by the license will be used for parking and camping. Last year the festival sold 4,999 tickets and this year the organisers hope to sell 6,000.

Organisers of the 3 day event seemed happy with the results and agreed that everything had to be done right not just to benefit the patrons but the neighbours of the farm. Mr Gough said, "If this event is to go forward we need to get it right. If anything goes wrong it will come back on us."
The festival takes place at Merton Farm, Canterbury between 9, 10 and 11 July. For more information go to the Lounge on the Farm website.

Check out this video to see what to expect this year!

The Young Briton’s Foundation says that “Britain can recover, but a hung parliament would strangle us”. Others believe that it would be good for democracy.

With a Hung parliament on the cards after results of recent opinion polls, the YBF has launched a national campaign to make Britian aware of the consequences of a hung parliament. It has posted 500,000 leaflets through people doors, including through the doors of many Canterbury residents, adverts have been placed in all major newspapers and a video produced showing showing what could happen if a hung parliament occurs.

If you want to find out more information about Hung Parliaments go to Q&A: Hung parliaments.

There have been numerous rumours of a Primark, Iceland and even a Waitrose opening in the old Woolworths, but it is now official that those were in fact just rumours. The bad news is that it is Poundland that has taken over the building.

Poundland is the self proclaimed biggest single-price discount retailer in Europe, selling everything for just £1.
This is possibly excellent news for many residents in Canterbury, but is not so good for market traders that trade just opposite the store. Steve Bamber, chairman of the traders for Canterbury said “It will be selling similar stock to what we already sell outside”.
One the plus side the new store will create 30 jobs for Canterbury. Poundlands director David Coxon said “opening here will create new jobs and a great shopping experience for the local community”.
The store will be opening on 20 May and according the posters in the window, Larry Lamb also known as the late Archie Mitchell from Eastenders will be opening the store.

Anne Belsey candidate of the Money Reform Party said to the packed lecture theatre at Canterbury Christ church university “We could sort out our economic problems in a week, including paying off the entire National Debt which has taken 300 years to build up."

According to the most recent odds, Julian Brazier has the Canterbury and Whitstable constituency wrapped around his little finger, still after 148 years of Tory control, but anything could happen before the elections in 6 days time.

All six candidates gave fine performances as they were questioned by the audience. Each was given two minutes to answer seven questions.

When the issue of bankers was raised Labour's Jean Samuel from Whitstable said, "Bonuses should be earned. Twenty per cent of my pay is based on bonuses and if I don't reach my targets I don't get paid."

Guy Voizey Liberal Democrat, also from Whitstable, said he would divide the banks into two sections: one for us to move money about and one to make investments.

UKIP's Howard Farmer, again from Whitstable, admitted with modesty, "I don't know a huge amount about the banking system apart from how it affects me and my family. But banks which had money from the government should not make profits until all the loans were repaid."