Does the British pub still play a part in our community? In our lives? CAMRA believe the Pub is heading for extinction......!

BoroBosco said:
I think the smoking ban (2007) probably played a bigger part than the financial crash.
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I don't know anyone who stopped going to pubs due to smoking ban. Know loads who threatened to but none who carried it through. My best mate who sadly died last week was most vocal about it but recently he told me stopping smoking in pubs and making smokers go outside has been brilliant.
 
Clevo said:
Depends where you are I guess. In London pubs seem to go from strength (evolving with the times) and have many regular customers. Micropubs up and down the country seem to be revitalising pubs in a different way.

I worry about areas like Leicester and Greater Manchester that have pretty much never come out of lockdown. Will any of their pubs or restaurants survive come March? I do hope so. Pubs are such a huge part of British culture and need to be protected in whatever way they can be.
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Of course there'll be plenty of pubs and restaurants, demand will be back. If the current owners aren't in the premises new businesses will be.

Too much panic over a temporary situation for me.
 
I certainly hope not FC!

We're fortunate in this part of the world (Sheffield) to have multiple, brilliant pubs dotted across the city. A nice mix of established old school "boozers" and community-minded independent pubs, most backed by burgeoning craft brewers.

I think it's the level of the shock which may be hard to recover from. The business model (and the government support offered) simply isn't sufficient to protect in the short-term, what will be a viable business longer-term.

I know first hand that the level of support offered for many pubs in the area doesn't even cover the rent on the buildings.

The risk to the industry is that any pubs soon vacated are picked off by the national pub companies, which serve a purpose, but are not to everyone's tastes. Once that happens, it will be difficult for independent (particularly wet-lead) pubs to re-establish themselves.

Let's be honest, if you needed to devise a system which favoured the national pub companies at the expense of the smaller, independent pubs, the tiered system is pretty much how you'd do it.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Of course there'll be plenty of pubs and restaurants, demand will be back. If the current owners aren't in the premises new businesses will be.

Too much panic over a temporary situation for me.
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Whilst I agree with you to a certain extent I also disagree a little.

Would there be queues of investors wanting to open a bar or restaurant when the government can shut you down at the drop of a hat from no fault of your own?
 
Wilf said:
the vast majority wont be able to afford to go to the pub - it will become a special treat.

and the current Virus Pandemic, is hardly a 'drop of a hat'. thats 1,469,288, dropped lost hats!.
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Unfortunately Wilf a precedent has been set.


Anyways I hope CAMRA are successful in raising awareness.
 
Not sure I’d use a pub for coffee. Plenty of other places for that. There is no doubt pubs have faced so many issues over the years

1. A health conscientiousness which hs led to a fall,in alcohol consumption particularly beer
2. The smoking ban
3. Rises in property rentals for the tied and managed houses. Greedy landlords.
4 Price rises
5. Cheap supermarket sales
6. Over capacity in the market
7. Sky increasing prices for showing football

The future of the great British pub will survive but food sales will be integral for the village and country pubs. CAMRA do a fantastic job and when we get back to normality it will be important to support your local pubs if you want them to survive.
 
Before lockdown I was normally out 5 or 6 times a week in Redcar.

Music on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - playing, helping out and running open mics at Turner's Mill, The Halt, The Gypsy Rover and the Pitcher House.

Then I'd often spend Friday night around Station Road listening to the live music on offer.

Saturday night in the Halt for live music again - they get a wide range of North East artists in. If it's not my thing then there are always local artists elsewhere.

Sunday in the Pig & Whistle for the quiz.

All the above interspersed with footy in the Pig as and when - England and Boro - and some random IPAs in Rita's Pantry or a cocktail in MaQueens.

Don't have to drink a lot to have a decent night out and meet up with lots of different groups with a fair amount of crossover.

Hopefully we can pick up where we left off. It's a lot better than it was when I was in my twenties where every pub up town had a choice of lager or John Smith's Smooth.

Over lockdown I've been using the Rita's Pantry takeaway service and have drunk some crazy flavours.

There's definitely something for everyone and the community of regulars is strong.
 
I love my local pubs. Local in my village the barman knows what I want when I walk in. For someone who's only lived in the village a couple of years, I appreciate it.

We also have a couple of local pubs a short drive away that have amazing beer gardens with views stretching for miles and do decent food. Needless to say a fair bit of august was spent eating in them.

I continued drinking outside my local whilst we had zero cases in our area, until maybe mid Oct but stopped when they started ticking up. I like to monitor the current local situation, but looking forward to getting back, even if the winter by the fire season will be gone by then
 
I am much like you jostler I live in a village with a couple of local pubs that I enjoy using for a chat with the old boys or some footy banter. Topics range from can you get done for drunk flying to what do you think of Bamford with a local Leeds fan. It opens up conversations I don't have with my wife or work colleagues as none of them like football and no I don't work in a hairdresser.
 
The future in villages where local post offices are closing is combining them with the pub - perhaps using the Snug?
There are examples in rural areas.
Others in cities have converted them to Libraries and hubs for the community.
Some of the buildings are very ornate and should be preserved - they are part of our history.
It used to be "The Big Four" breweries who owned the vast majority of Tied - Houses and milked landlords - making fat profits and keeping prices high.
Culturally , we are more nuclear and individualistic than we were fifty years ago - sat at home typing on computers [!] and relying on other sources of entertainment.
The building of pubs out of town - due to the rise of the car also had an effect - drunk driving has increased exponentially over the years.
Its not the end - every community needs a hub - a centre.
Not just for adults, but for youngsters and their elders. [Im not suggesting we invite 15 year olds to get pzzd down the pub]
If communities have the will, drive and leadership we can run our own local - there are cooperative ventures and community examples, which have been successful.
Cheers. (y)
 
I'd be very sad to see our local pubs go, we frequent 3 regularly, but one more so than anywhere. From an entirely selfish point of view I suppose, the local is a big part of our weekend social scene, we very rarely went out during the working week. We do not have children and many of our pals either don't have kids either, or have grown up kids, so Fridays and Saturdays are a social gathering of for the most part like-minded folk. There's folks from all walks of life in our local and that makes it very interesting to be a part of and we always have a great night out. Yes, we all have a few drinks and sometimes get a bit squiffy, but for us it's far more about meeting up with friendly faces and talking about things we wouldn't necessarily talk about to each other if it was just my wife and I on our own in the house; we have a laugh and a giggle. For some of the older fellas who go in on an afternoon on their own, seeing another fella in the same position gives them an outlet, they don't see another human being from one pub visit to the next so it's crucially important for them to maintain some social contact - as humans we are social creatures and it is and has been thus since time immemorial

I fear for our main local though if we don't here in Low Fell/Gateshead get out of Tiers 2 - 3 fairly soon. The pub doesn't do food so the future does not look good at present for it to be viable as a wet only pub

We went out when we were allowed to do so under the 1 household per table thing and it seemed to work fine - table service worked, one-way system worked, people wore masks when required, bar staff were constantly sanitising tables and seats and wore masks themselves and as far as I'm aware, there have been no reported of cases of infection of anyone who went in at that time, as a regular or otherwise. They followed all the rules (and in some cases exceeded requirements) so it just seems harsh that having done everything that was asked of them, and us as punters, with apparently no adverse affects, it may have to close. Maybe permanently this time.

Pubs in my view are a crucial part of our community and society will be worse off if some/all go to the wall
 
Laughing said:
I am much like you jostler I live in a village with a couple of local pubs that I enjoy using for a chat with the old boys or some footy banter. Topics range from can you get done for drunk flying to what do you think of Bamford with a local Leeds fan. It opens up conversations I don't have with my wife or work colleagues as none of them like football and no I don't work in a hairdresser.
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That's the number one thing I'm missing about pubs.
It's great to have a busy shift at work then unwind in the bar afterwards chewing the fat. A conversation between 2 people can easily spread to a conversation with the full bar.
The social aspect of humanity is slowly eroding.
 
RandySavage said:
That's the number one thing I'm missing about pubs.
It's great to have a busy shift at work then unwind in the bar afterwards chewing the fat. A conversation between 2 people can easily spread to a conversation with the full bar.
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Ditto that
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Can the wet trade pubs not be making cold food available if it means they can stay open. Pies, Scotch Eggs, sandwiches and ordering pizzas to be delivered from a menu in the boozer?
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I hope that is that case for when we do drop a tier - been meaning to catch the landlord for a couple of weeks now but haven't seen him when I pass in the car - someone (may have been you cat, I cant remember) suggested a similar thing about a pizza van on site which i think is a very good idea, there's another pub near me that was doing that anyway every Saturday afternoon/night
 
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