On 10 Mar 2010 at 9:44pm Ratsville wrote:
I hear tel that Vic and his wonderful cafe at the station is being given the heave-ho, looks like National Rail want a National chain in there...enter yet another Costa or the like selling that milky brown muck and soggy expensive pastry. Obviously they can and will pay more rent than Vic can, so bang goes 23 years of Vic and Jackie serving Lewes. It will be a sad day indeed when they go. Once again it's all about the dosh and not the customer. 
On 10 Mar 2010 at 10:38pm J wrote:
YAY! I LOVE COSTA
On 10 Mar 2010 at 10:53pm brixtonbelle wrote:
No - that's terrible. I really hope not. It really makes the station special.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 8:11am Lady Trump wrote:
J, are you DFE? You have the same intellectual capacity, i.e that of a tomato.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 9:45am Pipsby wrote:
That is a massive shame if it's true. I'm sure the majority of station users appreciate why the Runaway is several leagues ahead of almost every other station cafe I've experienced. Do you think we can run a Lewes Arms style boycott?
On 11 Mar 2010 at 12:34pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Boycott of what ? the station cafe, or using trains ? !!
I agree though - some sort of protest is in order before the cafe is taken away.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 1:24pm Down and Out wrote:
Oh, God, no.
It'll be another one of those bloody awful Pumpkin cafe s***holes like Haywards Heath and East Croydon.
It's by-the-by, but the finest cup of coffee to be had in the whole of London town is from a funny little Italian chap in a funny little shack on the platform at Hampstead Heath overground station. We need to do whatever we can to stop the march of these bloody awful third rate chains. (Even if I do think Vic's poetry is a bit crap)
People, we need to mobilise. First up, how do we confirm that this is definitely true?
On 11 Mar 2010 at 3:01pm J wrote:
DFE??????? I Love Tomatoes
On 11 Mar 2010 at 3:48pm Cliffe resident wrote:
I cant see a problem as I hear that Bills is going to take it over. That will mean a lot more seating at least.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 4:42pm Down and Out wrote:
Cliffe resident - if it's Bills they'll be putting the seating on the tracks. Not ideal.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 10:43pm getorfmoiland wrote:
Tragic, egg sandwiches are the mutts, I'm going to head down there tomorrow and stuff my face.
On 11 Mar 2010 at 11:44pm Pikelet wrote:
If it's going to be Bills, the queue will stretch back to East Croydon. That's the queue for the queue to get served, that is...
On 12 Mar 2010 at 9:32am Frak wrote:
That's a shame if it is. I've yet to come across a 'chain' station cafe that serves a drinkable cup of tea.
On 12 Mar 2010 at 11:16am Mungo wrote:
Daisy's across the road from the station is an absolute winner. The coffee is delish.
The Lemon Tree on Haywards Heath Station is very poor and very expensive. I think it is run by compass so the chances are that the one on Lewes station will be the same or very similar.
On 12 Mar 2010 at 5:00pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
The place on HH station is diabolical and it doesn't do bacon sarnies.
The Runaway is fab.
On 13 Mar 2010 at 8:42pm wanderer wrote:
been into today and spoke to Vic and told him about this forum.. He welcomes the support..
So hopefully we should see him on here soon
On 15 Mar 2010 at 3:44pm Winterbourne Wanderer wrote:
Anyone know if this is definite or is there still discussion about it? Anyone we can protest to?
On 15 Mar 2010 at 8:09pm Jackie and Vic wrote:
Firstly a HUGE THANK YOU for all your support. The Runaway hasn't run away yet and we would dearly like to keep it on track.I guess the director of Southern Railway Mr. Chris Burcell would be a obvious one to protest to or the director of Operations for Southern Railway, whose name we havn't been able to discover as yet,but hope to and will let you know.
Let us raise a cup of good cheer
for the Runaway to still be here!
On 16 Mar 2010 at 5:18pm sashimi wrote:
Jackie and Vic, the Southern website lists the following but no director of operations. Who should we lobby, do you think?
Managing Director Chris Burchell
Finance and Contracts Director Bob Mayne
Development Director Alex Foulds
Fleet Director Gerry McFadden
Human Resources Director Matt Watson
Head of Safety and Operational Standards Derek Epps
Franchise Improvement Director David Scorey
Service Delivery Director James Burt
On 16 Mar 2010 at 6:20pm Jackie and Vic wrote:
Thanks Sashimi for delving into the names of the Directors but we have been informed that to contact them direct could be counter productive and therefore to send protest e.mails to [email protected]
All the best!J&V
On 16 Mar 2010 at 8:46pm BIS wrote:
You could maybe also try the 'Sussex Community Rail Projects' - a partnership working alongside Southern to improve the general commuter services provided along the various lines in and out of Lewes.
There is a link from the Southern site, or you can contact the Development Officer Sam Bryant on samATsussexcrp.ork
Might not be directly up their street, but worth a go.
On 16 Mar 2010 at 8:53pm BIS wrote:
Oops, I'll try again, without the typo this time(!): The email address is obviously '.org' not '.ork' - replace the anti-spam AT with @, just for completeness...
On 16 Mar 2010 at 10:19pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Actually I would advise against using the comments@southern rail email for the simple fact they will take up to 3 weeks or more to answer them (I've tried it). It's a generic email for ALL complaints and queries on southern rail and easy for the company to ignore. It would make the directors very uncomfortable to be petitioned directly, but obviously as INDEPENDENT protesters rather than as an organised protest by Jackie and Vic. I reckon this is the guy to go for -- Finance and Contracts Director Bob Mayne
In the meantime what about the press and a simple petition at the cafe and at stategic points around town to gather support.
WEBBO - is there a way you could put a petition on the Lewes forum site ?
On 18 Mar 2010 at 7:46pm Ratsville wrote:
See todays entry on Viva Levves about this debacle. Looks like Norman Baker is happy to be copied in to emails to Southern. So keep em clean!!
On 19 Mar 2010 at 11:04am Richard Elsen wrote:
This would make a good story for a national newspaper, I think... Jackie & Vic, I could speak to a few journalists as this is what I do for a job...
On 21 Mar 2010 at 12:30pm Jackie and Vic wrote:
Any coverage by the media could be most helpful!We have a petition set up in the cafe and at various outlets in the town. Many thanks everyone for your support!J&V