Chit Chat
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The fabric of our society & communities is being ripped from us, with ca. 30 pubs per week closing 
, who is to blame? I'm sure there are plenty of candidates.
What could we do to reverse the trend? Are you doing your bit?
2014
There were 99,000 pubs in 1905 but just 77,500 by 1935, as a result of a series of government policies including deliberate suppression, restrictive opening hours, stringent regulations and higher taxes, many accelerated by the First World War. The industry saw a temporary recovery after the Second World War. By 1969, there were 75,000 pubs in the UK, a number that fell gradually to 69,000 by 1980, finally slipping below the 60,000 mark for the first time 11 years ago. The decline subsequently accelerated dramatically: there were still 58,200 public houses in 2006 but just 48,000 last year, an 18pc collapse in just seven years. The worst year for the industry came in 2009, when various public policy and behavioural shifts combined with the Great Recession to shut 52 pubs every week.
Mr Murdoch & Sky have plenty to answer to imo.
Smoking ban
Taxation .....
, who is to blame? I'm sure there are plenty of candidates.What could we do to reverse the trend? Are you doing your bit?
2014
There were 99,000 pubs in 1905 but just 77,500 by 1935, as a result of a series of government policies including deliberate suppression, restrictive opening hours, stringent regulations and higher taxes, many accelerated by the First World War. The industry saw a temporary recovery after the Second World War. By 1969, there were 75,000 pubs in the UK, a number that fell gradually to 69,000 by 1980, finally slipping below the 60,000 mark for the first time 11 years ago. The decline subsequently accelerated dramatically: there were still 58,200 public houses in 2006 but just 48,000 last year, an 18pc collapse in just seven years. The worst year for the industry came in 2009, when various public policy and behavioural shifts combined with the Great Recession to shut 52 pubs every week.
Mr Murdoch & Sky have plenty to answer to imo.
Smoking ban
Taxation .....
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"There has certainly been a massive backlash against alcohol in the UK, with per capita consumption declining by 18pc since 2004, one of the most interesting figures that I have come across in a long time. But that alone is only one of the many reasons why the pub trade has suffered so badly. The decline in alcohol consumption has been driven primarily by a slump in beer sales: in 2003, the average adult drank 218 pints per person; by 2011, they consumed just 152 pints, an astonishing 30pc drop."
The youngsters of today are obviously lightweights! |
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The smoking ban didn't help at all imo. I'm a smoker and can't stand the thought of having to stand outside to have a ciggie; it is almost a stigma to smoke these days. I feel that each town should have special smoking licences for 2-3 or even 4 pubs to be smoking pubs. If you don't smoke, then don't go there. I guarantee these pubs would be packed out every weekend!
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Absolutely right, Aspro - and every non-smoker who wanted to be where 'the buzz' is would flock to them and wouldn't give a fig about the smell.
Well, not quite, they'd still bloody moan - but they'd still go there! |
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I'm a non-smoker (and have barely ever smoked) and felt the smoking ban destroyed pubs.
Plenty more reasons than the smoking ban though. |
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And the Woolpack, Queen Vic and the Rovers Return are unnaffected
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A typical pub Sky subscription costs about £15,000
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In the famous words of John McEnroe... "you cannot be serious!"
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Darlo, there may well be more reasons for the demise in pubs than the smoking ban - but that's the main reason for their decline.
I consider myself a smoker, even though I've been on the Vapes for over 4 years now (totally harmless water vapour is all I breathe in and blow out now). What people have to remember is; smokers are risk takers by nature, therefore are far more fun, interesting and good to have around rather than the sterile, penny-pinching conformists, without a good tale to their name. That's why the pub trade has taken such a hit, as why should smokers be forced into oblivion - and the cold outdoors - when they (mainly) produced any life to the places, which all non-smokers benefited from? It's all very well looking at facts and figures, public health and so on on a piece of paper (computer these days) but real, live, flesh and blood people with (or without) a brain in their heads, with ultimate character are all that matter. Deny them a place to socialise - and the whole pack of cards come tumbling down. |
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The pubs near me are an absolute joke, a couple of them are proper old fashioned boozers but the vast majority are basically gastropubs. A tenner wouldn't pay for 2 pints and a bag of crisps.
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The no smoking ban is a facade to suggest how clean and moral us lawmakers are
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We will never see again pubs full like they were in the eighties. Used to be great. Just awful places now. Like going to McDonald's .
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"What people have to remember is; smokers are risk takers by nature, therefore are far more fun, interesting and good to have around rather than the sterile, penny-pinching conformists, without a good tale to their name."
Err, hold on a minute. I think you'll find that there are an extremely large number of risk takers that are non-smokers, particularly on a site like this one! I have seen no evidence whatsoever that smokers are any more (or any less) fun, interesting, or good to have around. How anyone can defend inflicting disgusting habits on others in public places beggars belief. You stink, as do your and our clothes after a night with you "fun" people. I don't miss selfish b'stards in pubs at all, nor do I wish my health to be put at risk. Risks of passive smoking Passive smoking can damage your body because secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are irritants and toxins, and some of which are known to cause cancer. Passive smoking from all forms of tobacco is harmful, including: cigarettes cigars pipe tobacco hand-rolling tobacco shisha pipes (also called hookahs or waterpipes) Frequent exposure to other people's smoke can increase your risk of lung cancer, even if you're a non-smoker. Passive smoking also increases your risk of coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease can cause a heart attack, angina (chest pain) and heart failure. It also increases your risk of stroke. http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/2289.aspx?categoryid=53& |
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What happened was they banned smoking ,Now I smoke I used to go to the pub an average of 4 nights a week being at the Dogs another 2 ,the ban came in I decided to take time out ,I didn,t return and I dont miss it , I might go the pub for a couple
of drinks twice a month these days, if that ,agree with Slip mostly gastro shyte these days with people sharing a bottle of wine ,atmosphere is zero ,The locals as they were known and Loved are few and far between ,most pubs now ran by companies Gone are the Days when the Guvner helped people out in bad times ETC ,you can have you smoke free Zones Stow ,I and thousands more like me wont be returning ,your Lungs and Clothing are safe  If as your name suggests you live in north London I might keep an EYE on Air quality as well |
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I agree with the earlier suggestion that we could have a few smokers pubs in each town, perhaps with only smokers working in them.
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Our local does much better after the smoking ban. The gaffer also got rid of Sky because of the cost so now more women and families use the pub. The days of blokey dinosaurs (Clarkson comes to mind) will soon be over.
But a few smokers pubs are a good idea where the blokey dinosaurs can ruin their own health and not other people's. |
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I believe the smoking ban is way overstated. Cheap supermarket booze is the main reason. People drink in groups at home, then go out. To make money put of a boozer nowadays you have to sell a shiit load of food. Plenty of pubs closed around here, but plenty of gastro places opening at the same time. Longer opening hours and a change to continental cafe culture also responsible.
Nightclubs are dropping at a rate of knots too, for the same reason. Crime also a big factor. All the brutalist boozers on council estates became a mecca for drug dealers and local riff-raff. Please can close a place down very easily now. |
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*police.
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"come and pay over £3 a pint and you can stand outside in the cold sh1tty shed we built for you"....
or stay at home, invite mates round, get a tinny for less than a quid and smoke where you like (for those that like smoking in a shed one is available at the bottom of the garden and it even has 4 sides!). |
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Agree about supermarket booze.
Probably about 3 times as expensive to drink in a pub that at home. Also drink driving. Also, there are now a lot more leisure options than to sit in a pub all night. Socially, not really acceptable for dads to be in the pub every night, these days, spending his wages/wife's housekeeping. Nowadays, they need to take their sons to ballet. |
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I like a tin of paint as much as the next man but I actually support the smoking ban. It has had an effect on pubs, undoubtedly, but I agree that cheap supermarket booze has had a greater impact.
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Poor pubs are closing; good pubs are thriving. It's capitalism at work.
Pub where I live, Cheltenham, opened less than 3 years ago. Won local CAMRA pub of the year twice running and now SW pub of the year. Excellent ale, no TV, no loud music . Tell them the pub trade is dying! |
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The rate of pub closures must surely be linked to the immigration rate.
How long before pubs are banned in that wonderful multicultural borough of Newham. |
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It is difficult for a small independent pub to survive without doing food these days. I do miss good boozers with no food no fruit machines and no music. In the old days the landlord often still worked and the wife looked after the pub. With overheads as they are and the breweries always wanting their pound of flesh it is not easy.
I am not sure the smoking ban has had so much affect. Smoking is an awful habit and I think the smoking ban was a good move. |
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What people have to remember is; smokers are risk takers by nature, therefore are far more fun, interesting and good to have around rather than the sterile, penny-pinching conformists, without a good tale to their name.
Possibly the biggest load of old bollocks ever written on Chit Chat. |
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In my area a few 'new' pubs have opened up. They are generally small, focus on decent beers and ciders. They are sparsely decorated and have no music, no tv, no sport.
They might sell a cob or a pork pie. They do seem to be doing OK. |
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What people have to remember is; smokers are risk takers by nature, therefore are far more fun, interesting and good to have around rather than the sterile, penny-pinching conformists, without a good tale to their name.
Great stuff Tommy. |
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Jack
Are they micro pubs? They seem to be popular and increasing in the South East. |
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Looking up the definition of micro pubs, YES!
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They are really a nod to the early days of pubs which was just someone opening up their front room and served some ale from jugs, when every xth house was a pub!
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Parispike - is that the Sandford ale house by chance?
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I'm glad my post has caused so much merriment!
Give me a pub full of smokers any day over the sterile, penny-pinching conformist without a f@g to their name! Where are they all by the way, when they were supposed to be flocking to the pubs when the smoking ban kicked in? I'll tell you where they are - saving their sheckels for an 'as much as you can eat' Sunday lunch at a pub, loading their plates to the hilt, stuffing their hodges whilst sipping a glass of free tap water - and then buggering off home. So the landlord makes nowt! |
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- and remember; I haven't smoked for over 4 years.
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Nothing worse then those huge Hungry Horse type places especially on a Sunday. Kids all over the shop and chavs queuing up for their £6 carvery. Hell holes.
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Just wondered……. what is the one, single, common, undeniable personality trait that smokers share?
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They're not afraid to take risks with their health for a bit of pleasure - and my god, how we need a bit of pleasure in this world.
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They're not afraid to take risks with their health for a bit of pleasure
Fookin hilarious |
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i'm all for tins of paint in pubs
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Wetherspoons opened a branch in Cork at the start of Sept,only in there once but the place was hopping at 7.00pm. Easy in part with them as they have some bit of bargaining power with the breweries but cheap pint (E2.5-E3.85 against a usual E5+) and very reasonable grub which looked okay. They are going to do well.
After foisting the mock Irish Pub(O Neills etc) on ye for the last few decades,it is payback time it seems and a good thing i think for the consumer. |
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went for a few jars on sunday around 1.0 clock all of 7 people in there
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