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The owners of a remote and historic tavern on the brink of permanent closure claim they’ve had their internet profile sabotaged because they decided to host a Mongrel Mob gathering.
The annual meeting for the Mongrel Mob’s Barbarians Dannevirke Chapter on December 16 went “smoothly” on the grounds of the Wimbledon Tavern.
Owners Eric and Susan Gathercole say it’s allowed them to stay open over the festive season, but it hasn’t gone down well with everyone in the small rural community.
The tavern in the Tararua District, near the coast about an hour’s drive south of Waipukurau and east of Dannevirke, has been under threat of closure for months and the Gathercoles said they needed to do something to earn money.
While they said they understood the weekend gathering might have been intimidating for some, they obtained the correct licensing and police were notified before the event.
Eric Gathercole is the owner of the Wimbledon Tavern.
“These guys are amongst the most respectful customers we have had attend the place,” Eric said of the gang.
“My paddock is now tidier than when they started.”
The couple said they would normally have turned the gang event away, however, they were stuck between a financial rock and a hard place and decided to go ahead with it.
While they didn’t make enough money for it to be the big saviour the business needed - as the 100 guests had moved on by 8.30pm - they had made enough to keep the tavern doors open until early 2024, he said.
“We had a great day with them, I can’t say enough really,” Eric said.
In the days immediately following the event, the Gathercoles said they had been subjected to hurtful social media comments and their Google description was changed to say they were permanently closed.
“I didn’t receive one phone call,” Eric said of the gathering.
“I didn’t have one person come through the front door to discuss it and the council never received a single objection.”
The Historic Wimbledon Tavern has seen many locals and people passing through have a drink and meal.
The Gathercoles aim to return the pub to being the thriving hub it once was in the rural community.
The couple moved to Wimbledon from Auckland in 2018 and said taking over the tavern was the best choice for their family as it was cheaper to live and work in rural Wimbledon than in Auckland.
The tavern has resilience written into its foundations as it was originally built in 1885 by George Cripps and rebuilt in 1896 after it burned down.
It has seen many through its doors and yarns around the old-style wide bar where guests can chat with the bar staff, and it features a rather unusual round pool table.
The Wimbledon Tavern features a round pool table.
Susan described the beginning of their ownership as the ‘honeymoon phase’ and the locals would come in and spend money to check them out.
“Between locals not coming in here any more, and the road being a mess, it’s taken us to a point where we need more income,” he said.
They both work part-time, Susan as a roadworker in traffic management, and Eric drives the local school bus just to afford to keep the doors open and put food on the table.
The pair said the increase of forestry in the area has hit the pub hard.
“Farms were sold to trees and we lost 12 people through that,” Eric said.
“I had a guy from the carbon credits come in and tell me it’s better for the rural area to have trees rather than farms.”
Eric said the pub offers drinks and typical pub meals and he believed the financial burden faced by many had also caused a decline in people visiting.
“We are not getting the income required to stay open. It is less than 30 per cent of what is needed,” Eric said.
The pair hope that over the summer more people will visit and bring the much-needed injection of cash, otherwise the future of the Wimbledon Tavern remains uncertain.
