Does drinking and eating out leave you with nowt?

Early in 2010 I travelled north from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire with my good friend Charlie Broadbridge to watch the Leeds United v Wycombe Wanderers Coca-Cola Football League One match at Elland Road admist all the snow and ice (1-1 was the final score). We travelled up the M1 on the Friday night and stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Leeds opposite a pub. Charlie ordered a pint of Fosters larger and I had a large Barcardi with diet coke, ice and lemon. The whole round only cost £4.25

Now this was both a pleasant surprise and a bit of a shock to us as the Barcardi and Coca-Cola alone in the Charles Dickens in Beaconsfield, Bucks comes to £7 on its own and a pint of Fosters around £3 on its own. Given we appear to be paying more than double for drinks down south it got me thinking, “does drinking and eating out leave you with nowt?” – well the answer is yes if you live in South Bucks, as the cost of dining out is ridiculously expensive compared to “up north”.

For example, at the same Yorkshire pub, Charlie had a full English breakfast with chips and toast for only £2.75 – In Buckinghamshire you are very fortunate if bread served before the meal is as cheap as that. No wonder people who live in and around High Wycombe are eating out less and going to the pub less often!

The eating places that seem to be booming are the restaurant’s offering real value for money and some selected well established high end eating houses with fantastic reputations, which certainly do seem to cost an arm and a leg, like the Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield, whose drinks appear to cost even more than the Charles Dickens!