The importance of pubs

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Pubs are great, I don't trust anyone that can't appreciate the simple pleasure of a pub.
Many different types of pint to be enjoyed:
The sneaky pint- just nipped out to shop, but snuck in for one.
The solitary pint- a splendid pint, peace and quiet on your own with a beer and your thoughts.
The accidental big night--pop in for 1 but it turns into one of those nights.

It's not an expensive night out either. I was out on Sunday, £16 for 5 pints, which does me these days.
Imagine meeting your mates for a coffee? Or going to a restaurant with them?
 


cluffy said:
Smoking ban kicked off the decline although it would be beyond weird if they unbanned it! :lol:
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Smoking ban just found out a lot of pubs which were minging as fuck. Provide somewhere for your cancer suckers to go and you're fine.
One of the biggest things to cripple some pubs was supermarkets using alcohol as a loss-leader. 3 crates of beer for £20 or whatever? No pub can compete with that.

The one thing the pub has over the supermarket is the surroundings, the people and the quality of what they offer.
I went to Bargain Booze the other night - a novelty that I've found round the corner from our new house - and picked up 6 ales for £10. A couple of which I've never had before which was a bonus.
There's no way I'd be able to get 6 pints for a tenner, but I don't have the set up for beer on draft in my house either.

In the time I've been in Westhoughton, I think 4 or possibly 5 pubs have shut. Some have been turned into other things which has benefitted the community. Meanwhile 2 other bars have opened, 1 pub has re-opened and there are plans for a wine bar and another brewery tap to open. It's not as bad as it looks.

Whoever said politicians have a romanticised view of the pub are right. Many probably go in once in a blue moon, sip the top off a pint for a photo and leave.
Teed said:
Pubs died with the smoking ban.
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Totally disagree, but I knew that argument would be brought out.
 
Teed said:
Pubs died with the smoking ban.
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I think this thread has proven otherwise Teed lad (that reason would conclude its mainly smokers who sup).
Keawyeds said:
One of the biggest things to cripple some pubs was supermarkets using alcohol as a loss-leader. 3 crates of beer for £20 or whatever? No pub can compete with that.
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Aye but IMO its much better paying a few quid more and supping in a pub, in the same way getting some bait in isn't as good as going to restaurant. Its also better from a pump than a can/bottle usually.
 
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dangermows said:
I think this thread has proven otherwise Teed lad (that reason would conclude its mainly smokers who sup).


Aye but IMO its much better paying a few quid more and supping in a pub, in the same way getting some bait in isn't as good as going to restaurant. Its also better from a pump than a can/bottle usually.
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Smoking ban started a chain reaction imo.
Also the fees for having a pub skyrocketed at some point iirc
 
cluffy said:
Smoking ban started a chain reaction imo.
Also the fees for having a pub skyrocketed at some point iirc
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Possibly. I much prefer them now tbh. Went into a bar in Berlin, where smoking was fine, and it was absolutely stinking. Could hardly see the bar for smoke. We did a u-turn and straight back out. Looked cool mind.

Hadnt thought about it til this thread but its technology that has been the main killer.
 
dangermows said:
I think this thread has proven otherwise Teed lad (that reason would conclude its mainly smokers who sup).


Aye but IMO its much better paying a few quid more and supping in a pub, in the same way getting some bait in isn't as good as going to restaurant. Its also better from a pump than a can/bottle usually.
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It's not just about drinking man, the whole atmosphere changed, mind I should have said, that the ban put the last nail in the coffin, they were closing before the ban came in, to many young bloke under the thumb now anarl. having to sit there on the couch with their lass, watching Strictly and all the soaps, Blokes watching ballroom dancing, man..... 🤭 that's what me nanna used to do.
 
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dangermows said:
Possibly. I much prefer them now tbh. Went into a bar in Berlin, where smoking was fine, and it was absolutely stinking. Could hardly see the bar for smoke. We did a u-turn and straight back out. Looked cool mind.

Hadnt thought about it til this thread but its technology that has been the main killer.
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Mate I hate smoking! Did it for years and am only on year four off them now.
When I walk into a pub and people are puffing outside i wave my hand sometimes and pull faces like only a reformed smoker would :lol:

What I'm trying to say is my point here isn't a plea to bring back smoking - just stating facts. Smoking ban was necessary and a good thing
 
Surely in areas with a large muslim population pubs must be dying out? It's certainly not the only reason, but young muslim lads prefer to spend their money on a 10 year old BMW to sit outdside in rather than nipping to the pub for a session.
 
cluffy said:
Mate I hate smoking! Did it for years and am only on year four off them now.
When I walk into a pub and people are puffing outside i wave my hand sometimes and pull faces like only a reformed smoker would :lol:

What I'm trying to say is my point here isn't a plea to bring back smoking - just stating facts. Smoking ban was necessary and a good thing
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I know you're not marra, im simply highlighting that the ban will also encourage those to go who dont like stinking of tabs.
 
Millview club you can get a pint of Stella for £2.40 and the pool table is 50p. Over the car park in the bell you’re looking around £4 for the same pint and £1 for a game of pool
 
daveydavey said:
Millview club you can get a pint of Stella for £2.40 and the pool table is 50p. Over the car park in the bell you’re looking around £4 for the same pint and £1 for a game of pool
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Pubs tend to offer better selection of drinks than clerbs. The MVC is alreet tbf, but pubs arent packed with blokes with massive ear lobes and balls on their feet.
 
As a teetotaller I get sick of going into places that charge £2.80 for a glass of coke or a tonic water. Absolute rip off. And some places charge more for a J20 than they do a pint!
 
Redandwhitedust said:
I like pubs.

But I do think that politicians have a romanticised view of them at times. This nice image of people drinking foamy ale and banter between locals and a dog asleep by the fire.

There are pubs like that. But they can be few and far between. A blanket reduction in beer duty and business rates will be welcome, but the real benefactors would be the big chains like wetherspoons who could just offer beer even cheaper and pile more pressure on the village local.

Beer Tax is ridiculous anyway. Even in years where it doesnt go up by a penny, the pubs always have a 5p or 10p increase in January. A cut in beer duty I doubt woukd ever make it to the pump
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It’s not as simple as that. When all overheads are taken into consideration a very high % of pubs are not producing a profit ...they are running on cash flow. In effect they are not viable. What reducing tax does is make more pubs viable. We are a long way off pubs profiteering. As for breweries their increases which the landlord passes on are generally annual increase in material costs more than anything else.

If we can make pubs more profitable we will get better training, better staffing and better investment. Hence a better experience which we will be prepared to pay more for.
 
My Favourite thing in the world was going out in the peak district and going into a an old farm or coach horse pub in the middle of nowhere. In the winter, with a log fire burning, and the summer having a drink outside with the hills in view. These pubs are really important to isolated local communities as otherwise the villagers have to travel miles out of the way. Coach horse pubs have been in decline ever since the demise of the horse as a form of transport, and drink driving regulations (and justly so), but more and more halfway houses like this are closing and we are seeing less and less choice.
 
maghater said:
Talking to my dad about this a few weeks ago, and he said that in the 1970s it cost as much to buy booze in the off license than it did in the pub. Increasing the cost of drink in supermarkets would therefor make sense, social drinking is undoubtably better for you than drinking alone.

Hear a lot of talk about the snowflake generation being more health conscious, but walk down any town/city centre of a weekend and its the young ones getting hammered. Probably paying twice as much for the privilege than they would at their local
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This is no longer true- go to Newcastle or Durham on a Saturday afternoon or early evening. Packed with 40s/50s. Most of the new bars in Newcastle are aimed at the older market supping expensive ales / gins. When I was a young ‘un almost all bars in town we’re targeting the teens/20s.
 
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