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Have forums contributed to pub closures


loriusgarrulus
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I wonder if the popularity of forums have contributed to the current pub closures. At one time if you wanted a bit of company and a natter you went down the Pub.

Now you can go onto any amount of forums be it general chat or a more specific interest forum like Pigeon Watch and "meet" people from all over and have a good natter all from the comfort of home. Have a drink and snack while conversing with loads of folks.

Particularly good for me as in a live group of folks I have trouble with my hearing (The joys of getting older) and often miss bits of conversation. Not on a forum. You can go back, read up what you have missed and have a whole social life just from your armchair. :)

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I will be in the pub later today, was in a one yesterday and will certainly be in one Monday :lol: supermarkets are killing the pubs , but also as witnessed on this forum, the ability for some to socialise face to face is lost, and they can only converse anonymously .

 

 

KW

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Maybe I'm old before my time but I've hated bars and clubs pretty much from 30 onwards, I'm now 38.

Love pubs but with the price of a pint knocking on the door of £4 in some, is it any wonder they close?

I do the occasional all grain home brew, and unfortunately buy from the supermarkets. Helps keep cash in my pocket.

Edit: So what I'm getting at is it's probably prices that cause them to close, not forums.

Edited by Muddy Funker
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I love the pub too. It's not just for a few beers as I'm always mindful of the drink driving aspect. Even the day after can be a problem. It's the social aspect. Meeting a few of my mates and have a good laugh over a few beers cannot be replaced by anything. Ok it's cheaper to drink at home but it's very rare I do it. I still have beers in the garage from before christmas. One of the problems here is the eastern Europeans in groups street drinking. At one time I felt totally safe wobbling home on my own on my mile walk but I'm not so sure now. It's now a quick call to the Mrs and she's good enough to pick me up. The best nights are when I'm off work the next day.

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I'm only guessing but I'd say a lot of people on here are over 40 like myself. We grew up in our early years with 3 tv channels and no computers (ZX81 came out when I was 11 I think). We had to go out to entertain ourselves back then where as now people/kids have a PC/laptop, iPad/Tablet or smartphone with Internet access and Sky/cable/freeview with at least 30 plus channels (still nothing on to watch though, lol).

 

People met there partners (many of who are now Ex's), had kids and settled down. Friends did the same so we lose that social bond we once had which we never really get back with them as you spend your time with your family and they with theirs with the odd night out to keep in touch. People move away for jobs, your kids grow up which gives you more free time and you take up or restart old hobbies. Do you spend £4 a pint on a night out and go to a club leaving you £50 down or as was said it's much easier and cheaper to get a case of beer on offer from the local supermarket and sit at home in front of a computer/TV. So in a way people use forums to socially interact now because not everyone in your life likes the same things you do. You can talk to people from all over the world for help or advice and swap experiences.

 

And the saving from one night out will pay for at least a 40 clay session which has gotta be more fun than waking up feeling rough as hell the day after.

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Dont fancy walking long distances to wait 15mins to buy a horrible overpriced pint then sit down with a bunch of drunks with nothing to do. Id rather stay in or actualy do something with my life. :)

Pubs<<< "yuck" chicken shed noisy. Overpriced. Full of people that I don't want to associate with. High likelihood of drunken fights between yobos. Wrong change given. Poor quality of food that is likely to give me a dose of the trots. Nah I think I will get a six pack and do as I please. The thing is that I have never had the need of other peoples company and the need to prop up a bar somewhere because I have things to do and a place to do them in. As far as I am concerned the sooner the local pub shuts its doors the better it will be and it is bulldozed. No more noise, no more stinking bbq's. no more ho-downs, morris men,beer festivals, terrible amature singing festivals, dense drifting smoke hog roasts and any other attempts at fleecing the local nit witts.>> I think I will go to the fridge and get a beer now and salute the local pub.

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Oh and I forgot the joys of not having to pick up the beer cans and glasses etc from the garden. The damage caused to the cars and garden fence and gate. The dog going Looney at the drunken revelers going somewhere in the early hours. I love my local.

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I think forums are a new concept entirely. They allow very specific exchanges of information and themed discussions. The pub is different, but I have no doubt that the times of the pub have changed. A lot of suburban and rural pubs have made the shift towards a gastro-pub or restaurant. There are less "prop up the bar" drinkers, but still a lot of people who enjoy the occasional meal. My friend's dad is a landlord, and he blames the decline in pubs being due to a combination of cheap, supermarket beer, and stricter drink-driving laws, even to the point where you can get done in the morning. It's just not worth it.

 

As one of the younger generation, I can empathise with this. My local pub is £3.40 for a pint of (bad quality) lager. It's gone up £1.10 per pint since I started drinking in there 5 years ago. Luckily, most of the lads in there are farmers and shooters, so there's always some conversation. It's either a 25 minute walk, 15 minute bike ride (always into the wind on the way there) , or a 1 minute drive, however my family are always extremely reluctant to give me a lift.

 

There might be a few lads my age kicking around after work, but generally speaking, you tend to prefer town-center establishments. Beer is cheaper (still under £2.00 a pint in some city centre pubs), the average age is much lower, the atmosphere is better, and there's some eye-candy. The only downside is coked-up idiots, and bouncers who seem intent on causing trouble.

 

It's before my time, but I imagine people went to pubs because there was nothing better to do. Now there's an abundance of things to do. Times have changed.

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Maybe I'm old before my time but I've hated bars and clubs pretty much from 30 onwards, I'm now 38.

 

Love pubs but with the price of a pint knocking on the door of £4 in some, is it any wonder they close?

 

I do the occasional all grain home brew, and unfortunately buy from the supermarkets. Helps keep cash in my pocket.

 

Edit: So what I'm getting at is it's probably prices that cause them to close, not forums.

 

Marston’s strong pale ale 4 for a fiver in Asda’s, pint of beer around here in the pub about 4 quid. To my mind you would have to be ####ed to pay that!! So for me and by the looks of it many others, end of the pub conversation and so it follows end of the pub! :unhappy:

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Price of beer, smoking ban, drink driving laws, modernisation, theme pubs, diversification into food, wine and cocktail bars, have all driven drinkers away which has in turn contributed to the closure of traditional pubs!

Also the Leiboor party's legislation which killed live any entertainment in pubs without special licences, and before the usual suspects complain about loud rock music, I mean even the piano in the corner type, a musician with a guitar or such, usually playing quietly mainly for their own of friend entertainment , sing songs, carols, music sessions of whatever genre. In other words the life blood of many establishments. This was done, they tell us "on safety grounds and nucence grounds" yet live footy on big screens with large noisy crowd was allowedrealmad.gif.pagespeed.ce.vcPoMCOXvP.gifrealmad.gif.pagespeed.ce.vcPoMCOXvP.gif . Fortunately I believe the last government repealed a lot of this legislation on small premises but things are slow to return. :unhappy::unhappy:

 

It is one of the main reasons I stopped going at all.

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Pubs seem to be generally tacky nowadays too. Personally I hate it when they have massive coloured "Hungry Horse", and advertisement signs, like "Pint and a burger for a fiver", as well as the massive Sky sports banners, and so on like you do in Wetherspoons. They just scream tackiness, and in my opinion just suck the class out of any establishment. There's some lovely quaint little pubs in York, and the franchises that own them are ruining them. Then again, town centre establishments have to compete with Wetherspoons, and thus serve cheap beer and food.

 

Our local landlord charges £3.40 a pint, and he admits that he doesn't care about drinkers, as there are too few nowadays. He makes his money through food and Sunday dinners, as well as the beer garden on sunny summer weekends.

 

You never know, in a few years things might pick up, and pubs might get going again.

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