Now the pub has been brought by The Green King pub chain it will interesting to see how the standard changes, I noticed when driving by the pub has a new minty lick of paint and the words “The Cow” painted on the sides of the building with some nice topiary bushes added to the railings.

I do know that the pub was on the market for a few years with the freehold included for around 1.2 million pounds but it seems the pub chain may have done a deal with the owners, but I do not think it was a bargain price.

Greene King is one of the better standards of pub chains (being an ex publican myself some friends worked for the company and they said they were always treated pretty well). It is not surprising that Pub chains want a piece of the animal Ashley Cross has become especially on a Friday and Saturday night when it is pretty packed all around the cross as it is known. I remember back in the day when Le Bateau started the trend and before you know every six months or so a new stylish eatery or bar has opened in the area. As I understand it the old Central Bar just down the road on Commercial Road is to become a new large stylish pub called The Ox, there were rumours of this being a Wetherspoons, But at this point I have not heard anything new so can not comment further.

Anyway back to The Cow I see from Greene Kings website that the menu is much lowered price than before I just hope the standard of food has not dropped!

i see from the website they have an offer of two free drinks when two main courses are purchased the link is here if you wish to get your voucher online http://gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-poole/the-cow-pub/ Also I have noticed they do Sunday Roast for £8.45 all day on Sunday which is very reasonable.

Some of The Cows favourites in the new menu:

A few favourites…

• West Country Crab Cakes in Coriander Breadcrumbs

  With red pepper & chilli dipping sauce and a dressed salad garnish. £4.25

• House Starter Board

  Great to share – West Country crab cakes, duck spring rolls and South Indian samosas, served with hoisin sauce, a tamarind dip, red pepper and chilli sauce. £8.95

• Beef in Chianti

  Served with braised red cabbage, carrots, green beans & Shropshire Blue mash £8.45

• Sweet Potato, Apricot, Chickpea & Red Pepper Kebabs (v)

  On an aromatic roasted vegetable couscous, with minted yoghurt and cucumber, flat bread and spring onions. £7.75

• Sticky Toffee & Date Pudding

  Topped with a rich toffee sauce and served with clotted cream, ice cream or custard £3.15

The contact information:

• Call us:

  01202 723155

• 58 Station Road, Parkstone
• Poole
• BH14 8UD

Greene King has bought the Cow pub in Poole, Dorset off a guide price of £1.2m.

The Victorian freehold property in Ashley Cross won National Freehouse and Pub of the Year in 2007.

The pub was previously a hotel and has the added attraction of its Thienot Gallery private dining room.

Ed Bellfield, director at property agent Christie + Co, said: “The Cow offers a wonderful mix of the traditional and the contemporary, and has established a well-earned reputation as a superb gastropub – as evidenced by the numerous awards it has received and the considerable repeat business it attracts. The Cow was always going to arouse substantial market interest and we are delighted that the renowned operator Greene King has acquired the pub.”

With the release of the first ever adult domain extension .xxx with an intense battle by opposing groups the US authorities have finally cleared the path for .xxx extension to be used. This episode of the adult domain extension has gone on a really long time.

The domain extension will be available in September for trademark owners and then in December anyone can buy the extension but I am sure they will have to be over 18 years of age.

Is anyone else having these problems as I have quite a few blogs that are missing there Astore’s, I have tried to visit other UK Astores and it seems all the UK ones I can find through Google search are also down. I noticed their terms and conditions changes on the 22nd of September 2011 but I could not see any major changes that would effect so many Astore closures.

It seems others sharing their views are also getting a little concerned as you can see from a few of the posts in the Amazon discussion boards which are located here: http://forums.prospero.com/n/mb/post.asp?webtag=am-assocuk&rptid=3162&rptsn=8&did=46AA6402-CA5F-41D5-991F-F7369131562F

A few comments have also been posted on the Amazon affiliateblog http://affiliate-blog.amazon.co.uk/2011/09/important-changes-to-amazon-associates-programme.html

Please share any news you have about the UK Amazon Astore’s going down as there seems to be nowhere to find out any information on this.

Today my family and I went to the Cow for Father’s Day, we all enjoyed a nice roast with all the trimmings it was very tasty and the presentation was excellent. I highly recommend the Cow at lower Parkstone for a nice Sunday lunch. One course £12.50 two courses £16.50 or all 3 for £19.95 which is good value for the quality you get.

Update The Cow has now been bought by pub chain Greene King, I have not been back since and have heard rumours that it is now more a drinkers place than a place to get good food. What a shame but with the explosion of Ashley Cross, Lower Parkstone with trendy bars and pubs it is not surprising larger drinks companies want a slice of the action. Down the road about to open is The Ox which is the huge pub where The Central Pub used to be. I look forward to visiting the Ox but I am expecting more style and no substance than so many Bars and Pubs are becoming.

I have just bought the catalyst theme which I believe used to be called Frugal.

I must say I am very impressed as for so long I have been looking for a real customisable wordpress theme. A lot of people use the Thesis theme and that is good but I must say Catalyst Theme to me seems to be my favourite.

Pros:

Easy to use

Can pretty well replicate any wordpress theme (or keep the bits you like)

Custom CSS, custom widgets and hooks.

Cons:

You need to be creative to use and make it look great, as I am logical person rather than graphically creative I am better taking a pretty theme and tweaking it, but I must say the simplicity of adding content and images anywhere makes it excellent value.

None others I can think of at present.