When Christopher Hutt give his lament that title in 1973, he didn't fear the pub's total extinction. Just the disappearance of pubs as they had been before the 1960s. It seems pubs now face a more existential threat. At least, if my recent visit to the UK is anything to go by.
Me and Mikey regularly pop over to Folkestone in his car. To drink beer, east fish and chips, have a curry, buy cheese and crumpets to bring home. I've drunk in the town's pubs pretty often. Believe me, pretty often. I have a point of reference.
It had been a while since our last trip. Two and a half years. But it was quite a shock to see the changes in pub life.
First night there, Thursday, we went to the Royal Cheriton on Cheriton High Street*..Three customers. A mother and her ten-year-old daughter, dressed for Halloween, and an old chav in a corner nursing a pint. When we left after a couple of pints, we were the last customers. I've never seen the pub that quiet at any time of day.
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| The interior of the Royal Cheriton with empty seats and a sigh saying "Blackheath". |
Next day, Friday, we're in Dover for some shopping. (At Iceland, don't judge me.) A new shopping centre close to the docks. I notice a pub right next to it and think "That's a bit of luck for that boozer, having a load of shops built right next to it.
Mikey has something to do, so I think what I always think when I have a free moment and there's a pub nearby: "Let's give that pub a try."
Totally deserted.
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| A pub bar with empty chairs and only a barman behind it. |
That evening, 8 PM in the East Kent Arms. A down-to-earth sort of place that's usually pretty busy. A dozen drinkers, clustered around the bar.
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| The bar of the East Kent Arms with Halloween decorations. |
Harvey's an hour later: ten customers, at most.
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| The bar in Harveys with an old man watching football on TV. |
This was a Friday night in a town centre. The lack of punters was truly scary. What's it like on a wet Monday?
I fear for pubs as an institution. As a part of everyday life every where in the country.
Only one pub we visited that night was busy. You can probably guess which. Wetherspoons. Where the beer was 1.99 a pint.
Yet more sadness. None of the pubs mentioned (other than 'Spoons) had any cask beer. While they had before, except the East Kent Arms. I'm guessing a sign of falling sales generally.
London and touristy spots like York will doubtless keep a reasonable number of pubs. Maybe even mostly sustained by visitors.
What about less fashionable towns? How many pubs will survive in them?
* We also ate Sunday dinner here. Under nine quid for a proper home-cooked roast. Dead good. I can totally recommend it. There were a fair few other customers, but on our previous visit we struggled to find a seat. I feel very sorry for the landlady because it's a well-run pub.
My local has been transformed in the last couple of decades from a smoky boozer selling cheap beer to a more upmarket place focussed on food. I popped in on the way back from another pub on a Thursday night just before ten o'clock the other week and it was completely deserted, not even a barman. He must have spotted me on CCTV as he then appeared from the back, served me a pint and when I'd finished it and was leaving began locking up an hour before the advertised closing time. It's not much busier on a Friday night, but go on a weekday late afternoon or early evening and it's full of families with kids eating there.
ReplyDeleteUK pubs are being destroyed by the price of beer ,amoungst other things.At 5 pounds plus a pint who can afford to go out every night and drink 5 or 6 pints.Also many are not pubs anymore but restuarants that sell beer .Not my preferred sort of establishment
ReplyDeleteHad a similar experience in Watford last year: Saturday night, Man City playing the Champion's League final, big pub, big screens, about six punters.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many problems about todays pubs is that they are being run by pub companies that dont know the area where the pub is and ruin it. Our local pub was a typical village pub bar one side and lounge bar the other. Bar meals available but no reastaurant. PubCo gets their hands on it and strips it out into a one room venue with lound music and designer bottles instead of the hand pumps and bring in a manager who previously ran a bar in a busy 2 university city and obvisly thought what he did would work in a quiet village. Within a fortnight the pub was empty and is now a private residence. In conclusion what I am trying to say is that a lot of pubs are ruined and people stop going because of what these pubcos are doing to these pubs introducing totally inappropraite practices just because it worked in one pub they think it will work in all.
ReplyDeleteKeeping food to the lounge is a good idea.
DeleteOscar
Hi Ron. Next time try to get to Canterbury, a half hour drive. A different picture there. Plenty of real ale and reasonable prices if you know where to look.
ReplyDelete'Old chav in a corner' is a(n assumed) cracking typo
ReplyDeleteThat's not a typo. Chav was the standard term for bloke in Newark where I grew up.
DeleteAh! Wonder when it became a slightly derogatory term elsewhere? Thought you'd meant old chap. Made me smile either way.
DeleteThis article on the decline of pubs was interesting to me, although as an American I have no idea how valid it is. It talks about how some are changing - the description of Desi pubs is interesting. But I can also see how the pressures it talks about are real, and I can see how the simple fact of rising rents is a big challenge.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.esquire.com/uk/food-drink/a46624300/british-pub-future/
It used to be that the pub was a nicer version of your living room; warmer, and more comfortable. Is it now? Generally not. And it's cheaper to drink at home. Plus On Demand TV. Plus people drink less than in the 1970s-2000s. The only pubs that survive are the cheap ones, which means Wetherspoons and social clubs, the tourist pubs in places like York, as you mention, specialist "craft beer" bars for the beardies, and the food-led "pubs" that are really casual restaurants.
ReplyDeleteMy local still is like that.
DeleteOscar
I've lived outside of the UK fir 13 years now. I miss very little about it, but every so often I imagine a pub if the mind with all of the great things about British pubs. Alas, the times I've been back I've found expensive, badly kept beer, dirty tables often with plates and cutlery uncleared, surly bar staff, and loud, obnoxious customers getting pissed up on lager. Sure there are great pubs but there are still a ton of shit ones. If I lived in the UK, I'd be buying my beer at the supermarket and staying home with Netflix and the iPlayer.
ReplyDelete