Depressing news out of the UK yesterday: village pubs are closing at a rate of four per day.
Telegraph: Low sales force four village pubs to close a day
Traditional local pubs have been squeezed by a decline in beer sales – almost half of what they were in 1979 – and a significant increase in bills for heating, energy and wholesale beer.
Last year, 1,409 pubs closed, almost seven times more than in the previous year, and beer sales dipped below 30 million pints a day – down 49 per cent on the peak of 1979 and the lowest since the 1930s.
The decline in sales has been blamed on a combination of high taxation, the smoking ban and unfair competition from supermarkets.
Alas, I’m on the wrong side of the Atlantic to try to help out. I’m a bit envious of Britain’s pub culture; it’s certainly not like that here. (The one bar here in town is a “Pub” in name only; scary place.) It would be a shame for this trend to keep going. That’s a lot of culture and history to lose.
Stories like the Telegraph’s really annoy me, as they obscure the real picture.
The statistics rarely take into account the fact that when a pub closes, it normally re-opens under new – and more often than not better – management.
Also, the fact that the sector as a whole has contracted in recent years does not mean our pub culture is “dying”.
That’s good to hear.
Why, do you think, are they not reporting on (re-)openings? What are other news organizations reporting?
Britain’s had 2000 years to perfect its pubs. The idea was brought over by the Romans in AD43 and they’ve been getting better ever since. They’ve always been more than just a place to buy a beer – they’ve acted as community centres, a place where wages were paid, employment exchange, bank and venue for meetings of the new political and friendly societies.
But the sign outside is probably the most historic thing about the place. Pub names were inspired by royalty, religion, heroes, love and scandal and, between them, they chart the history of Britain. Part of the problem of pub closures is that these unique records are lost, the pub often being re-branded under a new name.
Whilst British pubs have always adapted to the changing times, lets hope they don’t disappear altogether.
Elaine Saunders
Author – A Book About Pub Names
http://www.completetext.com
Al – the british press are just a miserabilist bunch!