Reply to: Plan b - buying a pub

[minestrone]

…and immediately falling over backwards while chundering all over his suit.

Actually we should get William Hague down so we could see what the man ends up like drinking his 14 pints

[EternalOptimist]

It strikes me that the type of people who relished the thought of stopping you having a fag in the boozer before going to the bookies, are exactly the same type of people who are relishing the demise of the pub.
They will be loving this.
And dickhead Darling puts more duty on ale, knowing that it will actually result in a reduced tax take.

[Mich the Tester]

It is becoming a big issue of populist politics and a certain vote winner. I’m sure we will see Dave down at the local pub soon, downing a yard of ale

…and immediately falling over backwards while chundering all over his suit.

[minestrone]

I'm sure the opposition will be dreaming up something to say about this soon. They cannot do anything now as it will leave them open to a "well, at least this government looks at the real issues" attack.

It is becoming a big issue of populist politics and a certain vote winner. I’m sure we will see Dave down at the local pub soon, downing a yard of ale, telling everyone he backs the local boozer and will reduce tax on the pub pint.

[wurzel]

Pubs are the heart of a community, especially in rural areas, and they’ve been viciously attacked by governments who seem determined to regulate every aspect of our lives.

Couldn't agree more. My local was the life and soul of the village and now it's gone. Perhaps there's a more sinister sentiment behind this though (and I'm only half joking) in that a pub is a place in which information and ideas are exchanged and ,God forbid, a place where dissent could breed. Couldn't have that now could we?

[Mich the Tester]

An interesting article in today's Telegraph on this very subject.....

Link

It’s pretty shocking and it’s happening in the Netherlands too; here the small landlord run pub has always been popular, but since the smoking ban they’re falling like skittles. In some towns and cities, landlords are rebelling en masse and putting the ashtrays back on the bar; the government refuse to listen and just keep blurting out ‘stricter enforcement’ and so on. Our local is allowing smoking in the hope that his extra turnover covers the fines. To be honest, if a local policeman (which we don’t actually have due to budget cuts) were to walk in and try to stop the smoking, he’d probably lose all his friends, so they don’t bother. The landlord’s worried though; he’s spent 20 years building his business and turnover collapsed through no fault of his own; the only thing keeping him from bankruptcy is his decision to break the law.

Pubs are the heart of a community, especially in rural areas, and they’ve been viciously attacked by governments who seem determined to regulate every aspect of our lives.

[wurzel]

An interesting article in today's Telegraph on this very subject.....

Link

[Stan.goodvibes]

OK then. To summarize - the pub trade is dying because :-

• a. the smoking ban has meant smokers prefer to drink in someones house where they can smoke
• b. the breweries have killed off the pubs with excessive prices
• c. various other factors - sky, cultural changes etc have contributed
• d. anecdotally I thnik that the availabilty and popularity of cheap eckies and other drugs is having an effect on the younger drinking set

So the question is... is this the end of the great British way of life, or does the pub/brewery trade need to adapt to bring in a new generation of pub-goers?

Opinions?

I have noticed (being a smoker) that I now frequent smoker-friendly pubs i.e. ones that have a nice covered outdoor area. I actually prefer people not smoking inside the pub itself, and don't mind nipping out to the smoker area, as long as I can have my pint (or wine) in hand. Some of the pubs here even have an almost fully enclosed (by plastic windows) all-weather smoker area. It can be done.

I suspect that with drinking rates still going up, plus the fact that drinking in a social environment is a hell of a lot more fun than drinking at home, the pub is not dead. Some enterprising individual will come up with a way of changing the formula to suit the times.

There's money to be made there somehow...

[OwlHoot]

Like cinemas there are too many crap pubs that are now going to the wall ..

I remember a ramshackle old pub in Birmingham back in the '70s where the floor sloped drastically, several degrees, and it was quite a challenge just walking across to the bar especially after a few pints.

You really did have to ignore what your feet were telling you and "go towards the wall"

Carrying a tray of drinks was quite an ordeal too, and one felt like that space hostess in the film 2001 who painstakingly walked round the side of the airlock. Come to think of it, the place would have been great for training astronauts.

[minestrone]

Yes. I am soooo in trouble. I will take a different route home tonight and sleep downstairs, just in case. Phew! Just remembered that my passport's up to date.

I am actually going to the pub.

[Bob Dalek]

Well if you are going to argue against a set of evidence you produce then you are in real trouble.

Yes. I am soooo in trouble. I will take a different route home tonight and sleep downstairs, just in case. Phew! Just remembered that my passport's up to date.

[minestrone]

I would - being crap is no bar to the Bar!

Well if you are going to argue against a set of evidence you produce then you are in real trouble.

[Bob Dalek]

Well it's a quote from the evidence you produce.

You would not make a very good lawyer.

I would - being crap is no bar to the Bar!

[minestrone]

The Film Council. That non-partisan group? I see.

Well it's a quote from the evidence you produce.

You would not make a very good lawyer.

[_V_]

I'm tempted to go with what my Landlord friend tells me and the evidence of mutitude of pubs that have started shutting down in the last year or so. These pubs being of the traditional boozer variety (not some theme bar) and busy not so long ago. I don't think the availability of cheap alcohol over the last 10 years has all of a sudden caused the decline and the smoking ban being coincidental to that. Of course I take the point another poster mentioned, some Breweries are making life hard on top of the loss of trade.

There are 3 pubs within easy walking distance to my house. All are showing for sale/to let signs. Traditional boozers. They have been deserted since the smoking ban.

The credit crunch is the final nail.