Sunday 11 November 2018

UK pubs 1937 - 1952

Time for some more lovely numbers. Moving along a little, now I've done with my WW I book.

Looking at the numbers, it might look strange that there were more fully-licensed pubs in 1947 than 1939. But on closer observation, this is obviously due to beer houses (in column three) converting to full licenses. The total number of pub on-licences in reality declines from 73,572 to 73,232.

I'm surprised the decline wasn't greater. Hundreds of pubs were badly damaged or destroyed by bombing during the war. And rebuilding was virtually impossible. You needed a licence to carry out building works and these were mostly limited to what as considered essential.

The number of clubs was more volatile, dropping by a couple of thousand during the war, returning to its pre-war level in 1947, then zooming upwards from there.

Less explicable is what happened in Scotland, where the number of on-licences for pubs and hotels increased by 48 between 1939 and 1947. Hotel had a specific meaning in Scotland. They were the only licensed outlets allowed to open on Sundays. In addition to offering accommodation, they also operated as pubs.

The increase is all in hotels. Where did they come from? They can't have been all pubs becoming hotels because the numbers don't tally.

Though the total number of licences increased in Scotland, the number of off-licences declined. While in England and Wales, it increased. Again, explanation have I none.

More investigation needed.

LICENSED PREMISES (ENGLAND AND WALES, AND SCOTLAND), 1937-52
England and Wales Scotland
Year Full All Drinks On-licences Beer/Wine  Regist. Clubs Off-Licences Total Public Houses Hotels  Regist. Clubs Off-Licences Total
1937 56233 18093 16563 22109 112998 4214 1491 687 2475 8867
1938 56173 17747 16951 22052 112923 4203 1506 700 2435 8844
1939 56112 17460 17362 21995 112929 4177 1524 695 2404 8800
1940 56047 17318 16463 21884 111712
1941 56961 17249 15864 21756 110830 4125 1509 661 2281 8576
1942 55901 17191 15682 21653 110427 4101 1501 649 2247 8498
1943 55868 17137 15732 21628 110365 4098 1502 651 2214 8465
1944 55856 17109 15678 21610 110253 4105 1498 657 2218 8478
1945 55875 17085 15590 21599 110149 4080 1506 681 2188 8455
1946 56009 17017 16496 21693 111215 4084 1565 740 2204 8593
1947 56305 16927 17470 21848 112550 4103 1646 773 2257 8779
1948 56850 16534 18370 22025 113779 4111 1690 834 2313 8948
1949 58140 15282 18962 22218 114602 4115 1709 884 2342 9050
1950 59054 14429 19221 23532 161236 4118 1740 912 2366 9136
1951 59757 13664 19511 23669 116601 4123 1768 944 2380 9215
1952 60333 13035 19903 23717 116988 4111 1770 966 2387 9234
Source:
"Drink in Great Britain 1900-1979" by GP Williams and GT Brake, 1980, Edsdall London, page 380.


1 comment:

Ray (Bailey) said...

One of the conclusions we reached researching 20th Century Pub was that pubs weren't quite as badly affected by WWII as the accepted narrative had it.