Pubs, Wine Bars & Carveries

I left Coventry in 1970, but I remember the Black and Tan and Brown and Mild but my favourite was Ansells Bitter and if I was out in my car I would water it down to a Bitter/Shandy.

Whilst on that subject, did you hear the news this morning? It used to be one a day, but now there are two pubs closing down every day. Is the country going to the dogs, or is it merely cultural changes over time? For example, we no longer have the death penalty, languages like Manx and Cornish die out, the Romans used human urine in the laundries to wash clothes (rich people like the wine merchant Vettii brothers paid for camel's urine which is stronger - well, Persil and Bold had yet to be invented). About once a week I saunter into a hostelry. It might be the London office, or Kenilworth, or Leamington, or even Coventry. When I left school pubs were full of teenagers and youngsters. Now they are full of old men and women. Even my grandad's local, the Albany, has been closed for extended periods.

A couple of Saturday nights back I had to drive from Bedworth to Burbage to collect my wife. It was about 9.30pm when I left Bedworth which was giving its usual impression of being a ghost town. Reaching Burbage a little later I found the place to be absolutely alive with groups of young and not so young people moving between the village's pubs. I found it difficult to park, even the double yellow lines were full. Burbage is a large village on the edge of Hinckley, it has a population of 8,000. The businesses there must be doing something right. Bedworth is just like Coventry with pubs closing down either to be converted into shops or demolished to make room for more houses.

The shame of pubs closing is that a social network is being destroyed. You could communicate with diverse social strata from factory worker to business man, entertainer, sportsman, etc. on an equal footing and that cross section would inform about subjects and problems that you would not be aware of without that interaction. The danger is that information is now communicated through 'official' channels and you cannot trust the veracity of what you are told, and see. I find myself in the position where unless I can check news, information and events myself, I don't trust them. (Present company excepted.)

The decline of pubs is due to multiple issues, some of them avoidable, some of them not. Allowing supermarkets to sell booze started the ball rolling. Banning smoking (although I prefer it). High taxes, etc. government policies. But people have changed the way they interact too, especially the young. There are other ways to relax with their mates and pubs don't sell them... Well not at the bar. People still mix with a wide group of people but online, instead of the real world. However it favours like minded people, rather than the random mix you might find at a pub. Opinions are reinforced rather than debated. Sure the official channels only tell you one side of the news but the internet can be just as biased and even more boldly inaccurate. I'm not sure what can be done to save pubs.

Can't really comment on the UK but here in Perth (Oz) there has been a big growth in the number of small bars and easing of licensing laws to allow small eateries to sell alcohol (the demise of BYO that was what we had to do 30years ago). Many pubs have closed and a number have survived, I think by keeping pace with the times by updating decor and providing different spaces to different social groups just like the old days of Bar, Lounge and snug. If you want to keep me OUT of a pub fill the walls with bloody TV screens showing 20 different sports

Helen F, you have very valid points, as you say, multiple issues. I wonder how many of those who frequent the pubs are of a similar generation to many here? Not just pubs, but the good old workers clubs (the big factory works clubs, CIU and sports clubs) have virtually all gone. The very few pubs I visit these days, seem to charge for parking, though many (not all) will waive the parking fee if you give them your vehicle reg. I also wonder how much of the destruction of actual social networking opportunities was accelerated during, and has continued to decline since, the lockdowns. Factor in to that, we're being increasingly forced down the online purchasing activities, another loss to social networking, visiting the shops to buy and yes, socialise!

That is correct. And here's the proof. I was aware of this trend over a decade ago, in the days when I liked an alcoholic drink (in moderation of course). My favourite lager was Stella. It was not cheap - its average price was almost £3 per pint in pubs. Ok, the pub has overheads, rent, rates, insurance, wages etc. Then one evening I popped into the Nisa small local supermarket in the High Street. A four-pack of 568cc (= 1 imperial pint) of Stella was priced at a mere £3.85. That worked out at less than a pound a pint! So I bought a four-pack and was able to enjoy Stella in the comfort of my own home. After that I stopped buying Stella in pubs. And millions of people up and down the country did the same. So that proves it.

This is why I like to go to my London offices, the Coach and Horses in Greek St, and the French House in Dean St. No TV. No gaming machines. Proper pubs where people are friendly, polite, have an interesting conversation and you can hear what is being said. No loudspeakers generating noise (dream-world people call it music). Many is the time complete strangers have insisted on buying me a drink. Polite: I'm sitting on my chair at a table with four chairs and spaces. Customers will wander over and say "excuse me, may be borrow this chair/stool?" or "excuse me, are these seats taken?". Unlike the midlands, where, having spotted a completely empty seat and spaces, it's typically "you can't sit there mate, that's Alec's seat, he's coming in soon and he always sits there". And in the French House, mobile phones are banned for speech purposes.