Pubs Going Down At Alarming Rate.

[marsh man]

As I no longer drink in pubs I wasn't to concerned when our local one(s) closed down , now I have moved it wasn't just my local that shut it's doors it seem like everyone's local is either closed or is in danger of closing down  .

The pub where our wild fowling  club was formed is now five houses and the pub we then moved into is now a Pizza house , it would now be easier to say what pubs are left than the ones that are no longer there .

If this is the same up and down the country the days of the traditional local pubs must be numbered . 

Are your ones holding there own ? or is it the same round your neck of the woods ? 

[Delwint]

I’d say we’ve lost 30 or more in our town since I’ve lived here, 6 are either Tesco’s or coops the rest are restaurants houses or waste land 

[Scully]

In town in the last ten years three have closed but it wasn't the lack of customers which was the cause. It still leaves six.

In the surrounding villages most are thriving, with only a very few exceptions, but we do get a lot of visitors and people whom own second homes. In the village I now live in we have a fabulous pub. It is only open four days a week through winter but even then you have to book if you want food, as it is very good. In summer it is exceptionally busy. 

[Dave at kelton]

Seem to be holding their own in Dumfries area.

[kenholland]

had another one close last week by us I have seen loads over the last couple of years pass em one minute closed the next, Birmingham and  surrounding area's.

[Wb123]

They seem ok here but two pints costs £11. I go very rarely now and then only tend to have one or two whereas I would have gone more often and had four or five ten years ago. 

[blackbird]

With the average pint of lager at £3.80 + & you can but a slab of 20 cans for £13 in any supermarket they can shut every pub in the UK as far as I am concerned.

Edited February 22, 2019 by blackbird

[mel b3]

The main road at the end of my road ,used to have 29 pubs , unfortunately, the last one closed it's doors about two months ago , all except the last one have been demolished. They'd been in decline for years ,and as the steel works closed in the 1980s , so did most of the pubs and local shops , the final nail in the coffin was the smoking ban, several of the local pubs closed within weeks of its introduction. I have pleasant childhood memories of passing the pubs in the summer , each pub bursting with customers , and everyone laughing and enjoying themselves, the smell of cigarettes and beer was amazing . The same road is empty these days after dark ,except for a few dodgy looking folks walking the streets. 

[marsh man]

Interesting to find in some places they are holding there own and sadly in others they are declining.

I had a book about pubs in our town ( Great Yarmouth ) and it stated at one time there were 365 pubs , one for every day of the year , and in our village where I moved from there were five pubs and two more at the top of the main road leading into the village , one old pub that had a bowling green in the back garden was a good place to get the worms for babbing on a wet night when the worms would come to the surface and all you had to do was pick them up before they nipped back into there hole , The pub have been gone for years now and was called The Breydon Arms , this pub was known locally as The Garping Gull 😊

12 minutes ago, mel b3 said:

The main road at the end of my road ,used to have 29 pubs , unfortunately, the last one closed it's doors about two months ago , all except the last one have been demolished. They'd been in decline for years ,and as the steel works closed in the 1980s , so did most of the pubs and local shops , the final nail in the coffin was the smoking ban, several of the local pubs closed within weeks of its introduction. I have pleasant childhood memories of passing the pubs in the summer , each pub bursting with customers , and everyone laughing and enjoying themselves, the smell of cigarettes and beer was amazing . The same road is empty these days after dark ,except for a few dodgy looking folks walking the streets. 

 

[mel b3]

3 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Interesting to find in some places they are holding there own and sadly in others they are declining.

I had a book about pubs in our town ( Great Yarmouth ) and it stated at one time there were 365 pubs , one for every day of the year , and in our village where I moved from there were five pubs and two more at the top of the main road leading into the village , one old pub that had a bowling green in the back garden was a good place to get the worms for babbing on a wet night when the worms would come to the surface and all you had to do was pick them up before they nipped back into there hole , The pub have been gone for years now and was called The Breydon Arms , this pub was known locally as The Garping Gull 😊

 

The whole of the black Country was full of pubs too , my old fellas first job at 14 yrs old , was as a beer carrier in the patent shaft steel works( they had two pubs on site) , he would take the orders from the steel workers , and have their beer waiting for them in large jugs when they had their dinner break , he said that many of them would drink 20 pints in their lunch hour 😲.

[Dougy]

The pubs close down in the villages and then the local folk moan, but they never used the service in the 1st place. 

[Mice!]

57 minutes ago, Wb123 said:

They seem ok here but two pints costs £11. I go very rarely now and then only tend to have one or two whereas I would have gone more often and had four or five ten years ago. 

That is bleeding steep! I like a pint but not at that price, where are you?

Plenty of pubs still round my way, not that I'm in them often.

[Dougy]

19 minutes ago, Mice! said:

That is bleeding steep! I like a pint but not at that price, where are you?

Plenty of pubs still round my way, not that I'm in them often.

That would be down south, and they want to bring the wealth further up north, lol,,,at that price per pint I'd rather stay as i am thanks. 

[Mice!]

like HS2 it will take 7 minutes off the journey to London?? But who wants to go 😄 when they start asking more than £3.50 a pint you need a new pub.

[PhilR]

There were four pubs in my village, now there's only one. It's a drinking pub, no food. It has live music at least once a fortnight. Local tradesmen call it 'the office' and on a Friday evening you get a fair selection in there plus farmers. If you want a job doing it's far easier to collar one in there than ringing them.

[krugerandsmith]

11 hours ago, marsh man said:

As I no longer drink in pubs I wasn't to concerned when our local one(s) closed down , now I have moved it wasn't just my local that shut it's doors it seem like everyone's local is either closed or is in danger of closing down  .

The pub where our wild fowling  club was formed is now five houses and the pub we then moved into is now a Pizza house , it would now be easier to say what pubs are left than the ones that are no longer there .

If this is the same up and down the country the days of the traditional local pubs must be numbered . 

Are your ones holding there own ? or is it the same round your neck of the woods ? 

Here on the Wirral we are blessed with two Micro Bars .... The Bow-Legged Beagles. Fantastic range of Craft and real ales  changing continually. My favourite ... Murder on Bold Street. 13.5% on tap.  No Pool ... No Darts  No Music ...NO TV Just good company and conversations. Fantastic atmosphere. One Bar in New Brighton and the other in Upton Village. Dogs welcome with treats for them.

[sportsbob]

Where I live most of the pubs ARE STILL IN BUSINESS   yes a few have gone and they tend to be the ones by the housing estates in the towns,  quite a few of the more rural ones have Skittle alleys and with two or three meetings a week it really boosts the footfall.  Another thing that helps is good home cooked food not the 2 for one carp you get in brewery owned pubs I`m talking about proper food (average cost £8 to £10 per meal) where its cooked from start to finish just for you, and the beer is typically £3.30 per pint for Exmore and Otter Ales .

[adzyvilla]

The village where I grew up had 4 pubs up until very recently. There is now only one proper pub, one is now a gastro pub, one a Thai restaurant and the last one closed down when the owner died and there is a big battle going on over its future. They all used to be busy and the remaining ones still are. On the plus side, the sports and social club has reopened after several years. I moved away a few years ago but still return from time to time to see my mates. My new home has over 10 pubs within walking distance so we are still well served, but there used to be over 40 in the local area.

[henry d]

Change of culture, pure and simple that is why you have massive pubs delivering cut price alcohol and tiny micro-brewery/pubs, they supply a niche clientelle. We had a brewdog open in town, full of "hipsters" at the weekend and empty throughout the week, we also frequent a really nice village pub when in tyneside called the Boathouse in Wylam. It relies on the CAMRA wins it had along with its proximity to the Newcastle to Carlisle rail line where punters hop on and off to have a beer at the nearby pubs in Wylam Prudhoe etc and even a curry at Corbridge.

Older style pubs need more than just beer to keep customers coming through the door.

[JDog]

In the past when I found a beer to my liking (Wadsworths 6x), or a group of people with whom I could have good banter I would be a regular but not frequent visitor.

Times have changed and attitudes have changed and spending priorities have altered course. To me it was obvious years ago that some pubs would not survive.

There is a pub near me in the middle of nowhere which specialises in real ale and hearty and generous food. That place does a roaring trade despite the Landlords miserable character. I suppose his demeanour is part of the charm.

[krugerandsmith]

9 minutes ago, JDog said:

In the past when I found a beer to my liking (Wadsworths 6x), or a group of people with whom I could have good banter I would be a regular but not frequent visitor.

Times have changed and attitudes have changed and spending priorities have altered course. To me it was obvious years ago that some pubs would not survive.

There is a pub near me in the middle of nowhere which specialises in real ale and hearty and generous food. That place does a roaring trade despite the Landlords miserable character. I suppose his demeanour is part of the charm.

Sauerkraut maybe?

[grrclark]

I enjoy having a pint in a pub and it's not really about the drink, it is the social environment of the pub that I enjoy.

A good pint of beer is a great thing, so a pub that has a good selection is always a draw, but really it is more about the atmosphere and the people.  I have met some great people in the pub that I would never usually cross paths with and had some great conversations.

The demise of the pub for me is sad, people are becoming ever more isolated and the pub was a great part of the community.

I also think that for a lot of people the pub is increasingly seen as being a bit low rent or common.

[matone]

13 hours ago, blackbird said:

With the average pint of lager at £3.80 + & you can but a slab of 20 cans for £13 in any supermarket they can shut every pub in the UK as far as I am concerned.

Problem is ,that doesn`t do much for the social fabric of the country! Sitting at home drinking cans doesn`t involve much interaction.

Pubs going is a major loss to society imho.

[Yellow Bear]

IMO the demise of a lot of pubs (and to some extent village halls) came about because of the change in licencing by teflon tony's mob.  At a stroke many venues that relied of live music, open mic nights, or just plain sessions or sing songs were seriously hit as many folks just ceased to go out as result.  This did not, however, apply in Scotland, who's MPs pushed it through

[krugerandsmith]

On 23/02/2019 at 08:07, krugerandsmith said:

Here on the Wirral we are blessed with two Micro Bars .... The Bow-Legged Beagles. Fantastic range of Craft and real ales  changing continually. My favourite ... Murder on Bold Street. 13.5% on tap.  No Pool ... No Darts  No Music ...NO TV Just good company and conversations. Fantastic atmosphere. One Bar in New Brighton and the other in Upton Village. Dogs welcome with treats for them.

Mistake  should read Nightmare on Bold Street ...whatever its still bloody Lovely.