When I first took-over at The Rec one of the first things I did was remove a polystyrene hanging ceiling that the previous owners had installed in the bar upstairs. It revealed the enormous, beautiful ceiling above and I was ecstatic and wondered what could have possessed them to install it in the first place. Ever winter since then I realise why they did it. It takes an enormous amount of heat to warm such a massive room and every year I’ve struggled to do so. There are only so many cash-eating fan heaters you can deploy at any one time! Coupled with this was the realisation that the beautiful radiators in the restaurant are no longer performing as they once did and needed to be replaced.

So, I’ve had to bite the bullet on the expense of installing new heating all over the building. Unlike President Trump I believe in climate change and suspect our winters may be a little fiercer from here on in and don’t want a repeat of one day last year when I had a customer eating her dinner in a coat……how embarrassing.

The new system is all ready and, despite the odd night scare about the cost, I couldn’t be happier. The only slight regret is that the new efficient radiators are not exactly the prettiest of things. Every morning I baulk a little at the sight of them but I suspect that may just be a personal reaction. The staff are all insistent that you “get used to them” in a day or two and that the benefits far outweigh the downsides. They’re right of course but I’m still sourcing new paints to help cover-up my regret at losing the cast iron behemoths that used to live here.