The Golden Ball pub nearly runs dry during opening celebrations

7:53am Wednesday 21st November 2012 in News

The Golden Ball in Bishophill The Golden Ball in Bishophill

A PUB nearly ran out of beer when it staged a weekend-long party to celebrate becoming the first in York to be run by its local community.

The Golden Ball in Bishophill had a queue of people waiting to get in – and standing room only in the bar – during the Get The Ball Rolling party last weekend.

As reported previously in The Press, the pub’s lease has been taken over by the Golden Ball Cooperative Ltd, with about 180 people investing £400 each in shares.

Co-operative secretary Peter Kilbane said a mix of regulars, local residents and co-op members turned up for the party.

“We were so busy that we nearly ran out of beer,” he said.

“It was only down to the heroics of Karen, the new manager, that we kept the beer flowing. Even so, three out of the seven pumps had run dry by last orders. I’d like to say a big thanks to all the regulars, co-op members and people who have given so much of their time and skills to make this happen.”

Comments(16)

cityforthepremier says...
8:45am Wed 21 Nov 12

Power to the people! Nice work.

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baileyuk says...
9:23am Wed 21 Nov 12

rule 1 of running a pub as a business,, don,t run out of beer! lol

good luck though to all involved

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Blimp says...
9:44am Wed 21 Nov 12

Brilliant, love it! More please.

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Jackanory2 says...
1:06pm Wed 21 Nov 12

I don't live near enough to have this pub as a local, but it is on a pub run that a friend and I would go on, so all I would like to ask is where have all these people been, as every time we went in there was just us and the person behind the bar, I wouldn't mind but the landlord and landlady that have just retired seemed like a really nice couple as well, Apart from that hope it does well and there are more of these so called locals when we next visit.

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PeteKilbane says...
1:29pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Special thanks to the bar staff who worked their socks off all weekend. Thank you. Plenty of top quality beer in the Ball folks! Jackanory2 look forward to meeting you in a busy Ball.

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alilouyates says...
2:55pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Plenty of fine beer available when we called in on Sunday afternoon/evening. Great pub, great atmosphere ... well done and thanks to all who helped make this happen.

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alilouyates says...
2:55pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Plenty of fine beer available when we called in on Sunday afternoon/evening. Great pub, great atmosphere ... well done and thanks to all who helped make this happen.

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SGW221 says...
4:10pm Wed 21 Nov 12

One of the best pubs in York has just got better! There’s a good reason why this little gem of a pub was acquired by some people of the local community. A lovely pub with a great atmosphere. But don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself! Well done to all involved!

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RoseD says...
5:44pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Fantastic!! Well done. A worthy investment by all, clearly, and Pete & Co, good luck. We'll be by!

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Mr Happy says...
7:31pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Great pub. One of my favourites in York along with The Swan and the Volly Arms.

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yorkandproud says...
9:44pm Wed 21 Nov 12

Good luck to you all. Years ago we used to call it the "Brass Kn@cker" , do you still call it that.

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hikerman says...
9:24am Thu 22 Nov 12

i am a born and bread york man never had a drink at all in the golden ball i will this week end sounds a friendly pub good look to you all

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rambolanka says...
10:58am Thu 22 Nov 12

Like Jakanory2, I don't live close eneough to make this my regular, but I'll be in on December 15 after travelling 8,500 miles to enjoy the atmosphere. Do I get a free half for being the most distant local?

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PeteKilbane says...
1:19pm Thu 22 Nov 12

yorkandproud - we certainly do though the Celestial Testi@le has been in fashion lately.

rambolanka - wow! You'll be very welcome. As to the half that'll be up to the manager, Karen. She's very friendly and so proud of her beer that it'll probably be a pint!

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rambolanka says...
9:29am Fri 23 Nov 12

PeteKilbane wrote:
yorkandproud - we certainly do though the Celestial Testi@le has been in fashion lately.

rambolanka - wow! You'll be very welcome. As to the half that'll be up to the manager, Karen. She's very friendly and so proud of her beer that it'll probably be a pint!
I'll be the one in a Sarong then. When your dad was born in Kyme street and your's truly in Drake Street, you can't get more local.

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Minguel says...
1:10pm Fri 23 Nov 12

You can't beat the Ball on a Sunday night for atmosphere. Where else do you get top notch musicians turning up to play just for thier and the rest of the pub's pleasure. Looking forward to getting home to York to visit. Good luck to them.

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