The rise of clubs 1905 - 1930

One of the principal effects of the 1869 Licensing Act was a steady erosion of the number of pub licenses. Which it seems had been one of the Act's intentions.

Clubs, on the other hand, were regulated differently. And that difference could be seen in the growth of the number of clubs. In the quarter century between 1905 and 1930 their number doubled. With the majority of that growth coming in the last decade. I suspect that WW I slowed down the growth between 1914 and 1920.

Over the same period the number of pubs fell by 25%. Meaning that the percentage of clubs in the total number of on-licences rose from 6% to 15%. This, along with the fact that in many districts clubs had their own brewery, must have had an impact on brewers.

Though, as we'll see later, clubs became important outlets for some big brewers.

The rise of clubs 1905 - 1930
Date	Full	Beer / wine	Total Pubs	Registered clubs	total	% clubs
1905			99,478	6,589	106,067	6.21%
1910	64,129	28,355	92,484	7,536	100,020	7.53%
1914	62,104	25,556	87,660	8,738	96,398	9.06%
1915				8,902
1920	60,021	23,411	83,432	8,994	92,426	9.73%
1923	58,887	22,100	80,987	11,471	92,458	12.41%
1924	58,610	21,810	80,420	11,780	92,200	12.78%
1925	58,336	21,524	79,860	12,138	91,998	13.19%
1926	58,103	21,227	79,330	12,481	91,811	13.59%
1927	57,896	20,907	78,803	12,775	91,578	13.95%
1928	57,896	21,524	79,420	12,755	92,175	13.84%
1929	57,465	20,356	77,821	13,526	91,347	14.81%
1930	57,525	20,080	77,605	13,947	91,552	15.23%
Sources:
1924 – 1972: The Brewers' Society Statistical handbook 1973”, page 50.
"Brewers' Almanack 1971", page 83.