Cursed

Now I don't mean to alarm the management of the Jericho Tavern should they come across this site, but while the various incarnations of the Reasons To Be Cheerful have been all about championing the best of Birmingham, Cardiff and Oxford, the feature seems to have brought misfortune and misery in its wake.

First there was the news that Spillers, the world's oldest record shop, was under serious threat of being forced out of its premises in The Hayes by rising rent and unscrupulous developers.

Then in October, hard on the heels of the imminent redevelopment of the QI Building in Oxford came word that the semi-legendary Glamorgan Staff Club had been forced to shut its doors.

And now I've discovered that a mere two days after I extolled the virtues of local delicatessen Eggs Eggsetera here on SWSL, it was the target of an arson attack which caused serious damage to both building and equipment. More than a month on and it's still yet to reopen, partly because of the unhelpfulness of the insurers. A shit business, to be sure. Best wishes to proprietors Joe and Linda in getting things up and running again soon.