By MELISSA MEEHAN
THEY say you can’t keep a good man down, and that sentiment is true for the owners of the Micawber Tavern squashed by a fallen tree over the weekend.
After a week of seriously bad weather, a large tree flattened the office, storeroom, dry cellar and branches fell into the main dining area of the popular Belgrave restaurant in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Owner Kristina Beatty said it was a freak chance of luck that she had sent staff home early on Friday night, otherwise the result could have been more devastating.
“It was a fluke that we had a very quiet night, and I told the duty manager to pack up early and go home,” Ms Beatty said.
“Normally, there would be people in all of the areas affected by the tree.”
On Monday, Ms Beatty said an army of friends had been helping her cut the tree and clear the mess left behind.
Salvaging what they could, Ms Beatty said they were weeks away from reopening.
“At the moment we are just making the area safe, and salvaging what we can – which isn’t much,” she said.
“And my team of hardy workers are here to help.”
The is not the first time the Micawber Tavern has been devastated by bad weather.
Years ago after another week of heavy rain, floodwaters inundated the bottom level, forcing Ms Beatty, her family and friends to close for a week while they cleaned up the mess.
