has the pub had its day
- Thread starter billyo
- Start date
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I hope my local survives. Imagine having to sit home every night, having to make conversation with 'er indoors!! 
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I stopped playing poker when I realised I was no good at it and, if I continued, I'd lose my shirt
MW
without blowing my own trumpet im pretty good, just too scared to make a move up to level where you put £1000 + into 1 tournament.
Interesting topic.
I think nightclubs have suffered much more than pubs - certainly clubbing is now, for me, a thing of the past. Perhaps that's because I'm pushing 30 now and would have stopped anyway, but I think the change happened when the 24-hour licensing came in. We used to go clubbing of a weekend when the pub shut at 11, because paying £5-£10 to get into a club meant you could extend the night until 2am. Now, the pub's open even later than the club used to be, so why bother moving (and paying) elsewhere? The clubs have tried to compete by staying open until 5, 6, even as far as 8am, but staying out that late with idiots who are absolutely hammered or on drugs isn't my idea of fun.
Now the pubs themselves are suffering from the smoking ban. I personally know a few people including my ex (and still good friend) who used to call in for a few jars on the way home from work but now just go straight home and have cans in the fridge.
I'm lucky, I actually live above my local so my mates and I can just nip upstairs with our drinks when we want a ciggy.
Interstingly, it's bred a new version of a lock-in - before the late licensing, it used to be "doors locked, curtains closed, carry on drinking" - now, it's "lock the doors and get the ashtrays out", with the same peculiar sense that you're getting away with something naughty!
It would be a shame if pub culture died - I don't think it will, it'll just adapt. I'm not actually that much of a drinker any more, but there's nothing like winding down on a Friday with a group of mates in the pub and having a good old laugh.
I think nightclubs have suffered much more than pubs - certainly clubbing is now, for me, a thing of the past. Perhaps that's because I'm pushing 30 now and would have stopped anyway, but I think the change happened when the 24-hour licensing came in. We used to go clubbing of a weekend when the pub shut at 11, because paying £5-£10 to get into a club meant you could extend the night until 2am. Now, the pub's open even later than the club used to be, so why bother moving (and paying) elsewhere? The clubs have tried to compete by staying open until 5, 6, even as far as 8am, but staying out that late with idiots who are absolutely hammered or on drugs isn't my idea of fun.
Now the pubs themselves are suffering from the smoking ban. I personally know a few people including my ex (and still good friend) who used to call in for a few jars on the way home from work but now just go straight home and have cans in the fridge.
I'm lucky, I actually live above my local so my mates and I can just nip upstairs with our drinks when we want a ciggy.
Interstingly, it's bred a new version of a lock-in - before the late licensing, it used to be "doors locked, curtains closed, carry on drinking" - now, it's "lock the doors and get the ashtrays out", with the same peculiar sense that you're getting away with something naughty!
It would be a shame if pub culture died - I don't think it will, it'll just adapt. I'm not actually that much of a drinker any more, but there's nothing like winding down on a Friday with a group of mates in the pub and having a good old laugh.
the end of life as we know it
record?
record?
Yes, interesting topic indeed.
There are three pubs in the village I live in, they tend to get quiet in the week but will be busy at the weekends with entertainment etc on like bands. The pubs form quite a "hub" of the community which is good.
In the village where I grew up, there were 4 pubs; one, which had its own crown bowling green out the back, has been turned into an indian restaurant. Another has been shut for ages - there were plans submitted to flatten it and build houses on the land. There are two remaining, however up the road, adjacent to the sprawling Tesco/Aldi/B&Q retail area which appeared at the start of the decade, there is a "hungry horse" place complete with kids play area which is vying for people's custom.
To me, it looks like breweries want to close down proper "locals" and replace them with these faceless "identical-anywhere" places, with their standard "2 for 1" menus and poorly served highly priced ales (if they actually have any real beer on sale).
And prices are another thing!! Remember the campaigns to stop "happy hours" because they were considered the very fuel of binge drinking? "No more offers! No more cheap pints! Extort the maximum price from every punter and binge drinking will stop overnight!" Erm, no. Look at the offers in supermarkets on alcohol now! The supermarkets have the power to manipulate prices significantly and anyone who wants a cheap drink will stock up with their weekly shop. And binge drinking will go on.
In short, yes, pub culture is changing a lot, and will continue to as people's level of disposable income changes and we all get used to communicating with one another on facebook, as opposed to a chat over a pint. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the direction in which it is heading is the wrong one.
There are three pubs in the village I live in, they tend to get quiet in the week but will be busy at the weekends with entertainment etc on like bands. The pubs form quite a "hub" of the community which is good.
In the village where I grew up, there were 4 pubs; one, which had its own crown bowling green out the back, has been turned into an indian restaurant. Another has been shut for ages - there were plans submitted to flatten it and build houses on the land. There are two remaining, however up the road, adjacent to the sprawling Tesco/Aldi/B&Q retail area which appeared at the start of the decade, there is a "hungry horse" place complete with kids play area which is vying for people's custom.
To me, it looks like breweries want to close down proper "locals" and replace them with these faceless "identical-anywhere" places, with their standard "2 for 1" menus and poorly served highly priced ales (if they actually have any real beer on sale).
And prices are another thing!! Remember the campaigns to stop "happy hours" because they were considered the very fuel of binge drinking? "No more offers! No more cheap pints! Extort the maximum price from every punter and binge drinking will stop overnight!" Erm, no. Look at the offers in supermarkets on alcohol now! The supermarkets have the power to manipulate prices significantly and anyone who wants a cheap drink will stock up with their weekly shop. And binge drinking will go on.
In short, yes, pub culture is changing a lot, and will continue to as people's level of disposable income changes and we all get used to communicating with one another on facebook, as opposed to a chat over a pint. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the direction in which it is heading is the wrong one.
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2scoops0406
Perhaps the solution is the one in the next village along from me. A consortium of villagers bought the pub freehold thus saving it from becoming another house. Now I won't say it's heaving every day / night because it's not, but as owners they can to an extent control the rent that the landlord has to pay, rather than him being bled dry by a PubCo.
Probably as in many other things now, time to take things (legally of course) into our own hands.
Probably as in many other things now, time to take things (legally of course) into our own hands.
My local sits on the border between bentley and scawsby. Bentley is rough. Scawsby is the nicer of the two areas (i live here). This pub was always scawsby's main pub. Bentley has its own selection of pubs. However, the idiots in Bentley started acting up and getting barred from the local pubs there. They ended up in my local and started acting up. However, they all got barred from there then, and the trouble seems to have cleared up, with the murder of a particularly bad hooligan that lived on my street (he used to beat his wife, and associate with the bentley lot).
Its quiet though. The previous landlord had most of the cellar converted into kids play area, painted the walls white, had a little bar where kids could buy bottled pop and crisps, a big tube slide for the kids to get down there, spiral staircase. But the family friendly theme is no more - the cellar is now blocked to the public. Theres still a substantial beer garden and kids play area outside, but the food isnt up to much since my mum stopped working there 8 years ago.
Its quiet though.
The previous landlord had most of the cellar converted into kids play area, painted the walls white, had a little bar where kids could buy bottled pop and crisps, a big tube slide for the kids to get down there, spiral staircase. But the family friendly theme is no more - the cellar is now blocked to the public. Theres still a substantial beer garden and kids play area outside, but the food isnt up to much since my mum stopped working there 8 years ago.
2
2scoops0406
Sounds errr, lovely
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