Save our Pubs

byron

byron

RIP
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As you know Pubs are closing down by the dozen. UKIP are running a Campaign to stop this. The Germans have already undertaken the same steps to halt the decline in their licensed trade as have the Spaniards.

If you wish to sign their petition you can do so here:-
http://www.savethepub.co.uk/petition.html

Signing does not indicate you support UKIP.
 
Without wanting to seem argumentative, I'm afraid they're not closing down just because of legislation and taxes, it's a changing public and availability of cheap booze in supermarkets with the power to use loss leading sales of alcohol as a means to get people through the doors and drinking at home instead of going out. Taking one pub in the Suffolk area as an example, the brewery gave up and said they would have to close it down due to it costing them more than it was earning to keep it open. There was a public outcry which involved the local MP and press, and the place was packed when the press went along to a meeting to talk about it. The brewery agreed to keep it open, and surprise surprise, the place has gone quiet again. Very few people wanted the place to close, but not many, certainly not enough, were willing to support it by going out for a pint.
The tax and law changes haven't helped at all, but unless people go out more often, like they used to, the old pub is going to close regardless of any petition
Oh, don't worry though, I have signed it, but I also support my local every chance I get. But then I like a good beer from a pump instead of a can :rolleyes:
 
not that many local pubs left, and if they are still going, normally a drug infested flea pit is what meets you when you get thru the door, i agree that the supermarkets are taking the trade, and we always go for the cheapest option in this country to the detriment of the local pubs..
 
"not that many local pubs left, and if they are still going",

My "local" is over 25 miles away and is a proper country pub,open fire decent basic food (no over priced poncy gastro grub),from local farms and well regarded local butcher,motor cyclists welcome and very slightly down at heel, with a friendly welcoming landlord who knows his beer.

Things have been getting very difficult for several years and his main complaint is that despite all the theme evenings,running a morning post office etc staying open 25 hours a day 95% of locals have never been even near the pub.

As with most things its fine moaning about loss of library/school/post office/shops and pub but if locals actually used the things they would still be open.
Interesting discussion on R4 last week when a representative of CAMERA actually said "there are still too many wet pubs and many more will close.
Is just a case of if the pub is any good and offers want people want it will prosper,to many pubs were cold unwelcoming male dominated hideyholes with beer soaked swirlycarpet that stunk of fag smoke.:)
 
The real killer has been the draconian smoking ban. Germany has recognised this and has relaxed their laws. The cheap Supermarket booze hasn't helped but folks would still prefer a jar down the local. The Brewery trade has been stating this all along but the anti-smoking Nazis make sure you don't hear that part of the argument.

Quite simple. Either allow pubs freedom of being a smoking or non smoking pub or at least have a room for smokers. Then watch the customers come back.
 
pubs were cold unwelcoming male dominated hideyholes with beer soaked swirlycarpet that stunk of fag smoke.
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And packed to the rafters ;)

I think i have been in two pubs for a few pints since the smoking ban came in . Why should i pay three / four times the price of a pint and have to stand in the garden :rolleyes:
 
"I think i have been in two pubs for a few pints since the smoking ban came in . Why should i pay three / four times the price of a pint and have to stand in the garden :rolleyes:"

Cos we like looking at you lot standing outside in the rain freezing while we snuggle next to the fire and far more importantly get to the bar a lot faster to buy our designer bottles of V.expensive foreign German lagars,which the landlord actually wants to sell as opposed to people who buy half a pint of real ale (horrid muck with bits in it )and then make it last all evening in between going outside for a fag every 5 mins.:)
Gotta go just off down to me "local" for a pint or two.
 
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Half a pint ? Youve never been to the pub with me have you

sorry should I have said....... half an pint AND two straws please ! :)
 
Cuchilo said:
And packed to the rafters ;)

I think i have been in two pubs for a few pints since the smoking ban came in . Why should i pay three / four times the price of a pint and have to stand in the garden :rolleyes:
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Whats up with you lot?

There is nothing finer than mooring up outside a good pub on a sunny day, and enjoying a good pint (or two) before heading off for the next pub and repeating the process.

The smoking ban is just a bonus, no more shall we have to inhale the filth of others smoke (well not from the fags anyway just from the smokey old diesel engines instead)
 
As an ex-smoker (now 'clean' for 34 years), I certainly find the non-smoking pub a much more pleasant place for the occasional visit. But recognising the needs of smokers, I still think a separate Smoking Room would have been a totally practical compromise. But the will wasn't there and the fact that staff would have been forced into passive smoking was used as a somewhat tenuous argument in support of a complete ban.

What utter bolleaux. I was in a pub in Rotterdam recently where they had such a room with access to the main bar. It was mechanically ventilated and the whole room was maintained at slightly below normal atmospheric pressure to ensure no smoke escaped even when a door was opened. Staff did not enter the room (unless they wanted a fag!!) and smokers bought their drinks at the main bar and carried them back into the room. Since the walls of the room were glass panels, smokers could still see the 60" plasma on the wall of the main bar so could watch the footy with the rest of the clientelle and had their own extension speakers for the commentary.

No great cost, no loss of trade and only marginal segregation. Simples!!
 
Now that most people travel quite widely they have come to see just how bad English pubs are. They also provide poor or no service apart from a drink in a glass, for cash, at the bar.

1) "Rounds": I have never fully understood the mechanism of rounds. It seems as if it is a ploy to make a group drink at the rate of the fastest member (too fast) and to drink a number of drinks that is a multiple of the number of people in the group (too many).

I want to drink the amount I want at the rate I want.

2) Having to pay in cash, as you go along. Some places it is possible to run a tab, but usually only if you are ordering food.

I want to settle the bill when I leave. If in a group, we can sort out who pays what at that point.

3) Having to traipse to the bar to order drinks and food.

I want someone to come to the table to take and deliver orders. I am not ruling out sitting at the bar, but I don't want to be forced to it in order to drink and eat.

Imagine this:

A group of you go into a pub, sit in comfortable chairs around a decent size, clean, table. I waiter(ess) comes over, puts out clean beer mats and glasses of water and a plate of nibbles and asks what everyone wants, says something like "on a tab?", goes away and reappears with the order. Are there any pubs in England where that would happen?
 
Thats my point , you want to be served and have a few pints .
It Just aint British ! Pubs are for getting rat arsed in with yer mates and trying to pull the bar maid :D
 
shmoo said:
Imagine this:

A group of you go into a pub, sit in comfortable chairs around a decent size, clean, table. I waiter(ess) comes over, puts out clean beer mats and glasses of water and a plate of nibbles and asks what everyone wants, says something like "on a tab?", goes away and reappears with the order. Are there any pubs in England where that would happen?
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Yep ;)

But they also serve the traditional way in order to suit individual tastes :cool:

The East coast has a few gems hidden away :D
 
"Thats my point , you want to be served and have a few pints .
It Just aint British ! Pubs are for getting rat arsed in with yer mates and trying to pull the bar maid"

Followed no doubt by a decent fight,a quick heave onto the pavement,a lot of slamming of car doors,a good row with the wife/girlfriend,much over revving of engines and a screech of tyres as you drive into the car parked in front.
Leaving empty crisp packets,broken bottles or tinnies and fag packets in the gutter as you go is entirely voluntory.

As seen by resident who shall be nameless but with two very popular pubs within earshot and two more in staggering distance.:)
 
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Ah the joys of UK pubs.......

We rarely, if ever drink during the week. However come the weekend it is a rare occasion that we have not visited at least one pub (usually by boat) and got rat arsed come midnight on saturday. Wouldnt be boating without the booze and pubs.
 
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