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Jetsetting table holds pride of place at Echuca Caledonian Hotel
THERE’S a table at the Caledonian Hotel with its own passport.
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It has literally travelled the world – along with its owner (and Cal publican) Dave Cunningham.
This globetrotting table was built in the UK (on February 17, 1994 at Shropshire if you must know) but was living in the Greyhound Hotel at Sydenham in London when Dave first met it.
He was working with Firkin Breweries and they had just taken over the Greyhound which would be rebranded like all Firkin pubs.
In this case, it would be the Feweterer Firkin (a feweterer being a greyhound handler in medieval England).
But new owners meant a new look, so all the furniture was being tossed (along with boxes and boxes of liqueurs and spirits not used by Firkin but very welcome at Chez Cunningham, although he swears he gave nearly all of it to his parents).
The table, however, was his.
“I didn’t have much furniture and certainly not a dining table and this is a really well made piece of furniture and its matching set of chairs are top notch,” Dave explained.
“It was my job to supervise the rebrand of the new pub while still running my own – the Faith and Firkin in Wandsworth – and that’s where the table and chairs went.”
But the travelogue is just beginning.
Next stop was Beijing, where Dave was running a Firkin pub for a year before being packed up and shipped off again – table and chairs still in tow.
This time he landed in the stylish Parisian neighbourhood of Montparnasse where he was the host of the Financier and Firkin for three years.
To put the hyperjump from Paris to Echuca in context, we backtrack a couple of years to Dave meeting a guy from Kyabram – Cameron Stone – who was using his two-year UK working visa as a member of the Firkin team and the two footloose and fancy free 20-somethings became good mates.
“Once Cam’s two years were up; he did some travelling around Europe and then headed home to Australia,” Dave said.
“Then he rang me one day out of the blue and said ‘there’s a pub in Echuca, the Shamrock, do you want to buy it with me?” he said.
“I had absolutely no idea where Echuca was but asked Cam if I would be allowed to wear shorts. He told me it was a hot town and that’s about all it took, and we walked into the Shamrock as partners on October 17 in 2002.”
And yes, the table and chairs qualified for a visa and duly arrived here.
But they had a detour along the way, going to Dave’s parents in Canberra while he got settled in the twin towns.
“Mum and dad were using it as a table extension for dinner parties and when they retired and moved to Paynesville, I thought the table and chairs would probably retire there with them,” Dave said.
“But while they moved the table and chairs were diverted to Kyabram for storage and then I realised I needed a table and chairs for home; so the folks went to Paynesville and the table and chairs came here – and we were both home.”
After a long stint at the Shamrock, Dave got the opportunity to branch out into his own pub and has just completed his first 12 months as the Cal’s owner.
He also acquired a new home, new furniture and once again the Greyhound’s table and chairs appeared to have run their race.
“But I just couldn’t do it, get rid of them, so now they are in the bistro at the Cal and I get to see them every day,” he laughed.
The table has been worn smooth by years of use, the woodwork on the chairs burnished to a deep honey glow; and the only thing Dave has done to any of it is recover the seats from their original but weathered material to leather.
Holding pride of place in a corner of the bistro and ideal for larger groups and/or teams at the Cal’s Thursday quiz nights (open to anyone).
Sprawled in one of the carvers Dave (who is a giant of a publican) ruminates on his first year as a sole owner.
“Could not have timed it better; COVID-19 turned up and we were shut down – even the table and chairs were suffering separation anxiety,” he laughed.
“But I was able to use the time to fast track renovations in the pub, our accommodation wing and really get stuck into Latte Lane, which is now going gangbusters.
“We are also well onto our way to opening our coffee shop and we have dramatically expanded Latte Lane into a sort of takeaway café with people getting a snack or meal to go with their coffees – and there’s more to come.”
Sadly, there won’t be room for the table and chairs in the new pub showcase coffee shop, but now they are closer to 30 than 20 (which is old in modern furniture years), the multi-lingual jet-setting furniture finally has found a place to call home.