PUB LIFE! (Is the British pub experience still worth while?)

Member Name: tange

Product:	Is the British pub experience still worth while?
Date:	30/04/08 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pubs are an important part of the community.

Disadvantages: Factors are conspiring against the licensees.

According to a recent survey carried out by CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale) figures showed that around 56 pubs are closing every month around the UK. Even more alarming is the news that every month 1,300 more are also faced with the threat of closing for good. This means that some communities, both urban and rural, are in danger of not having a pub at all.

This may not sound like earth shattering news, but for some villages and housing estates there will no longer be a focal point or meeting place for people to socialize. Many community pubs also double as Post Offices, Village shops and there is even one remote rural pub that I have visited that has a mobile hairdresser in every couple of weeks!

Pubs are also the base for many local sports teams (for example football, darts, rugby, dominoes, etc) and are often the focal point for fund raising activities for charities. Many of my local pubs are very involved with local charities - fund raising programmes take place throughout the year with fun runs, quizzes, race nights and all manner of other events involving lots of the pub customers.

For the people who take part and the charities benefit from these events the British pub experience is still vitally important to their lives. The British pub experience is definitely still worthwhile! They enjoy taking part in these activities and the pub has been instrumental in bringing them together - it is doubtful if these people would have come together if their local pub wasn't there. They wouldn't even have met at all! There are villages and estates without pubs where people living in close proximity have never spoken with their neighbours. Contrast this with the villages and estates where there is a pub! Some people are fiercely protective of THEIR local!

To illustrate the importance of the British pub in the local community let me use the example of one of the pubs that is quite local to me. When we went into The Britannia at Tupton (which had recently reopened) near Chesterfield around August last year with my husband's relatives (who have lived in Tupton pretty much all of their lives), they were surprised to see people they hadn't spoken to in years.

Everyone commented that is was nice to have a place to go to talk and meet other people from the village. They had maybe said hello on the street from time to time, but they now had a safe (and comfortable) environment to meet friends in a social setting. Since then they meet regularly, take part in the quizzes and have raised money for charities and the local community. Tupton had its first Christmas fair in ages last year, with a tree, lights and a carol concert - all involving people from the local pub!

The pub is also royally endorsed! Prince Charles set up "The Pub is the Hub" campaign in 2001, in conjunction with the Rural Action Programme of Business in the Community, to work with breweries, pub owners, licensees and local communities to "help retain and enhance rural pubs". They aim to celebrate and upkeep the pub's unique position in a community and also to increase the viability of businesses - perhaps by finding additional uses for the community boozer! This takes us back to my earlier paragraph about pubs often performing another function as well as a drinking and meeting place.

This just shows what some places are missing and also illustrates how important the British pub still is to a lot of people! It's not all good news though, as my opening paragraph suggests. Many pubs are struggling to keep going and increased overheads, the rising cost of drinks and the trend for stay at home drinking are all making it hard for many licensees to survive. For many licensees the final straw was the recent budget increases in the duty on beer to 4p, equating to around 20p on the price of a pint over the counter - this means that it is increasingly difficult to compete with 85p for a can of cut price supermarket lager.

Nothing, for me, though beats the experience of having a couple of pints of good quality, locally produced beer in a social setting. Meeting friends for a beer and a chat in a regulated social environment is not only a pleasure, it is also much preferable to downing a few cans of Special Brew on your own at home!

Despite the obvious impact of cheap supermarket drinks and the smoking ban, trying to keep people at home, the pub still has a draw for some British people. For many the pub isn't important until they WANT to go there. What people have to realize is that they have to use their pub, or risk losing a part of community life for ever!

==USEFUL WEBSITES==


http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=cpw
http://www.pubisthehub.org.uk/
http://www.beerandpub.com/

Summary: A great place to meet friends and socialize!