Pubs

[unapalomablanca]

I remember pubs from 30years back. You had pubs where people stood ten deep at the bar drinking and laughing.

You had jukeboxes, pool tables, darts, bar billiards, crisps and peanuts. Then back in the late 80s the tories allowed pubs to provide hot meals and i think they have gone downhill ever since. They have the irritating name 'eating houses' where hordes of families eat frozen then microwaved food and think they are in a restaurant. What happened to 'singsong' pubs like the Rising Sun in Sudbury, Middx, they had a bloke on the piano and the whole pub would be singing all the oldies. I find that pubs are so soulless that you might as well use the supermarket. I know there are still some great country places but you know what i mean, pubs used to be a meeting place for a laugh with your mates but i just see people looking as bored and as miserable as hell when i go in one now. p.s. I still think there is a big demand for a 'knees up' type of pub its just that we have been told what we can have!

Edited December 6, 2011 by unapalomablanca

[Cottonseed]

Or they're 'vertical drinking' places for ****heads! I alrgely agree. But it's all down to cheap supermarket booze you can drink at home, people worried about their jobs, prices going up, the breathalyser, no reliable taxis and, of course, the smoking ban. I still visit my old local, but the missing faces these days are the ones who smoke....

[Blackpowder]

I remember pubs from 30years back. You had pubs where people stood ten deep at the bar drinking and laughing.

You had jukeboxes, pool tables, darts, bar billiards, crisps and peanuts. Then back in the late 80s the tories allowed pubs to provide hot meals and i think they have gone downhill ever since. They have the irritating name 'eating houses' where hordes of families eat frozen then microwaved food and think they are in a restaurant. I never eat in one of those places, and find that pubs are so soulless that you might as well use the supermarket. I know there are still some great country places but you know what i mean, pubs used to be a meeting place for a laugh with your mates but i just see people looking as bored and as miserable as hell when i go in one now.

Around here the country pubs have either closed or become restaurants, the ones of the latter catagorie which I know of provide excellent home cooking and a varied menu. Across the Border in North Northumberland I can think of five pubs within a 10mile radius which are at the moment closed, and have been for a year or two. I recognise what u.p.b.a. is saying about pubs of the past, a game of darts or dominoes , a bit chat and banter youcan still find that in my home town but on a much reduced scale since the death of the fishing industry which provided much of the quay side custom.

 

 

Blackpowder

[jerico]

If there's no music, no sport on the TV & no standing at the bar then you may as well be at home

[jacksdad]

I don't drink but do miss The Pub, it was a second home, you could spend an evening in my local, playing pool (about 12 tables), snooker (2 full size tables), pinball, cards, darts, arcade games or you could go in the Lounge and sit down with friends, and watch "The Turn" at weekends.

Trouble started when prices went up, the building was HUGE and had its own massive car parks and beer gardens, all needing upkeep etc.

As prices rose, we stopped going out midweek and only used it at weekends, the decline was well underway. Nowadays, the prices are keeping people away, its just too expensive, even I can't afford it, with soft drinks costing as much as ale!

Also I think younger people don't need to go out to meet up, with mobile phones and the internet, so the pub just isn't the same sort of place as a lot of us remember!

One thing round here thats made it worse is the growing Muslim population: most don't drink and don't want to integrate!

[Rupert]

And we are all a bit older now

[Chard]

Or they're 'vertical drinking' places for ****heads! I alrgely agree. But it's all down to cheap supermarket booze you can drink at home, people worried about their jobs, prices going up, the breathalyser, no reliable taxis and, of course, the smoking ban. I still visit my old local, but the missing faces these days are the ones who smoke....

 

 

I agree about the smoking ban. As far as I'm concerned, that's what finished proper pubs off. Not the same for smokers if they've got to go and get **** wet through if they want a fag. Most smokers I knew, stopped going to the pub almost immediately and just drink at home or don't bother.

 

And no, I don't smoke.....

 

I also don't start spluttering and coughing like a mincer if somebody lights a cigarette on the opposite side of the street like most ***** do these days.

 

Pathetic

[the last engineer]

as one for the Devils Advocate on smoking in Bars, i was a smoker and hated it, over here we dropped smoking the summer of 03 in bars and restaurants, outcry there was, fuming loads of rioters,,,,,,, not really a bunch of whining,,,,, a number of foot voters,, bar takings dropped for at least a month or two, the nhigher numbers were posted across the board, personaly i find it a much better enviroment, cleaner, less smell, and i can see buddy across the bar rather than cut a hole in the air.......

 

but thats just little ol me,, a hapy clean bar goer

Martin.

[shaun4860]

My local is a "proper" pub, mainly locals (99%)

 

most strangers walk in and straight back out although its a very friendly place

 

Im in the better for "non smoking" camp

 

nice to go home not smelling of stale smoke, and ive been in eateries where the the smoke drifted all over the place whilst you were eating,

 

i dont know of anyone who stopped going to pubs because of the ban.

 

[HDAV]

A lot pubs round by me have the bogs in the cellar and badly done plumbing.... You used smell stale smoke now its **** and worse............

 

But time money and needing to drive are what keeps most people away i think I have friend in the "leisure industry" Bingo halls etc their takings took a hit but now are on the up, cheap beer, cheap food and good facilities. Wet pubs are by gone thing but city bars are seemingly still going strong in most places

Edited December 7, 2011 by Zapp

[the last engineer]

laughed at that one that is something i do not miss about ol Blighty, the stinky ****house, big ol trough splashing your boots, or buddy next to you lathering your pant leg,,,,,, keep it mate..

 

Martin.

[guest1957]

The ridiculous taxes on booze mean most pubs need to serve high margin food to stay afloat. As a result you lose the 'classic' pub atmosphere.

[ME]

The pub nearest to my house has been taken over by a Nigerian bunch.

 

They have painted the place in lots of different really bright colours, at first we thought it was gonna be a kids day nursery.

 

It is now the weirdest place ever, with a hotch potch of themes and theme nights. They advertise "Italian" food - I havent dared try the food - "A Nigerian take on Italian"??

 

All the locals reckon it must be a front for some kind of organised crime. There are rumours that it is gonna apply for a late licence and become a lap dancing club. We have just sold our house so not a problem for us!

[kdubya]

plenty of good "proper pubs" my way, good ale, good banter,can have some sport without starting world war 3 ( called taking and giving it) perhaps that's the prob elsewhere? told this before and perfectly true, my wife's family live mainly in Bedfordshire, I went out for a drink with the brother-in-law, pub in Sandy, got talking to the barman turned out the pub ran its own micro brewery, got a trip around it plus more than a fair share of free samples, brother-in-law was well miffed said he had been in there many times never got so much as a free glass of water, whinged about it back at his house, don't think he's twigged yet the bit about "communicating"

 

KW

[Fisherman Mike]

I remember pubs from 30years back. You had pubs where people stood ten deep at the bar drinking and laughing.

You had jukeboxes, pool tables, darts, bar billiards, crisps and peanuts. Then back in the late 80s the tories allowed pubs to provide hot meals and i think they have gone downhill ever since. They have the irritating name 'eating houses' where hordes of families eat frozen then microwaved food and think they are in a restaurant. What happened to 'singsong' pubs like the Rising Sun in Sudbury, Middx, they had a bloke on the piano and the whole pub would be singing all the oldies. I find that pubs are so soulless that you might as well use the supermarket. I know there are still some great country places but you know what i mean, pubs used to be a meeting place for a laugh with your mates but i just see people looking as bored and as miserable as hell when i go in one now. p.s. I still think there is a big demand for a 'knees up' type of pub its just that we have been told what we can have!

 

 

Couldnt agree more...there are one or two still around here...The Keepers Arms near Fairford, The Smoking Dog in Malmesbury... great memories for me growing up in the middle of nowhere. The pub was the centre of the community..if you wanted anything done there was someone in the pub who could do it...If you wanted to Join the local Cricket or Footy team they met in the pub...If you need a lift, or a part time job, or to borrow a tool or arrange a shoot, there was always someone in the pub...I remember organising my first wedding...the vicar was always in the pub!...I met my first Boss in the pub, my second wife in the pub ..and gave my gramp a good send off in the pub.

 

Fridays and Saturdays you sang, and had a cigar and a and put the world to rights...Sunday Lunchtimes set you up for the afternoon roast and a good sleep...If you were unmarried or had a understanding wife you spent Sunday night in the pub ( and the wife came too )

 

Weve made progress in this life but in some ways weve gone backwards, never to be recovered.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Fisherman Mike

[Fisherman Mike]

The pub nearest to my house has been taken over by a Nigerian bunch.

 

They have painted the place in lots of different really bright colours, at first we thought it was gonna be a kids day nursery.

 

It is now the weirdest place ever, with a hotch potch of themes and theme nights. They advertise "Italian" food - I havent dared try the food - "A Nigerian take on Italian"??

 

All the locals reckon it must be a front for some kind of organised crime. There are rumours that it is gonna apply for a late licence and become a lap dancing club. We have just sold our house so not a problem for us!

 

 

Is it called "Onyebuchi,s Trattoria" :lol:

[ME]

Is it called "Onyebuchi,s Trattoria" :lol:

 

Before the Nigerians took on the lease I did talk about taking it on and running my business from there.

Mrs ME said that she was pleased to see it had living quarters, because if I did that then I would be looking for somewhere else to live!

[Fisherman Mike]

Before the Nigerians took on the lease I did talk about taking it on and running my business from there.

Mrs ME said that she was pleased to see it had living quarters, because if I did that then I would be looking for somewhere else to live!

 

:lol:

[Yellow Bear]

Another problem with pubs is the English and Welsh licencing laws brought in by the last government with respect to entertainment.

 

It is legal and not a nuisance to have a big screen tele with footy on and 100 screaming fans - But a man on a piano with a sing song is likely to cause a riot and needs a special entertainment licence. They even remove the old 2 in a bar rule that allowed 2 musicians without a licence.

 

You can't even sing carols or Happy birthday in most pubs without breaking the Law.

 

In fact you cannot even run live carols in the shopping centers for charity without a licence - madness

 

In both Scotland and Ireland these laws (even the old 2 in a bar) don't exist and many pubs run live music 3/4 times a week.

 

I for one would go more often if there was proper entertainment - not this musak/plastic pop rubbish.

[leeds chimp]

I do miss a good sunday afternoon session....talking about the weekend and things that had gone on

[ME]

I do miss a good sunday afternoon session....talking about the weekend and things that had gone on

 

We used to call it "Sunday Club".

 

If Sunday club was too good then we often had "Monday club" for the real hardcore ones.

[cockercas]

The last time I wandered into a pub I got into a fight with a yobbo dole bandit **** head over the tweed flat cap on my head. I was only going in to tell the landlady (whom I know) that I had missed one of her locals by inches. He was having 40 winks in the middle of an unlit road. I stepped over the yobbo on the way out

[jacksdad]

Aghhhh,,,not The Monday Club.....never again!!

[the last engineer]

now the other thing about Brit Pubs is the service,,,,,, or lack thereof.

 

very frustrating for a "North American" " Canadian" coming to Britain and sitting down at a table waiting to get a beer,,,,,,, NO BEER CHICKS :o :o

 

Unfortunately you get very spolit here, all bars have good looking gals running around at your whim getting you as much Ale/vino/spirit as you require to become Horizontal.

Hence the term "Vino Colapso" pourmorefor......... run a Tab, clear at the end of the night, add 15% loverly juberly

 

now enter the British Pub scene, not too sure how the tab thing would work, the guys i know back home would run it as high as poss and head for the hills

 

do get miffed at the lack of service though, Wetherspoons especialy in my old town of Staple Hill,, seems they need minders running the bar when it gets busy, the staff cant handle things without help of local muscle,,, complete Muppets as i recall seeing, will take a look next week when i pop in for a spritzer or two

 

Martin.

[Supersonic]

Come to The Greyhound in Overton. The only 'wet' pub for miles around. I.e. no food, no carpets, no Sky- just good ale, crisps, a log fire and outside toilets. Oh, darts and a pool table too. Made a schoolboy error tonight but that's another thread....