The philosophy behind a micropub is the rejection of all that the big chains tell us that we want. There will, therefore, be no television, no fruit machines, no juke box, no food, no spirits and no lager. The emphasis will be on good beer from microbreweries, Kentish ciders, house wines and conversation. The beer will be served straight from the cask. The pub’s name, ‘The Just Reproach’ has been taken from Daniel Defoe’s account of the Great Storm of 1703. Realising the enormity and impact of the Great Storm across the country Defoe asked for the public to send accounts to him which he would then publish. There is uncertainty as to how many accounts Defoe received and how many he made up but accounts of Deal and its inhabitants were far from flattering! Defoe concluded the book with a poem and, in reference to Deal, he wrote:
“If I had any Satire left to write. Could I with suited spleen indite,
My verse should blast that fatal town,
And drown’d sailors’ widows pull it down;
No footsteps of it should appear,
And ships no more cast anchor there. The barbarous hated name of Deal shou’d die,
Or be a term of infamy;
And till that’s done, the town will stand
A just reproach to all the land.”
Obviously the town, and its people, have changed significantly in over 300 years!!
