Re: Pubs in trouble.

Thanks for that Losos. I think I'm just a traditionalist at heart and don't like to see things go that hold so many good memories for me, also the loss of so many bar staff I knew well who were loyal to their employers and respected their customers and now have no work through no fault of their own. In all the years I've used public houses in this City I never saw any trouble, only friendliness and laughter, when my local goes I will miss it like an old friend.

Re: Pubs in trouble.

no pubs shutt here were i am in ontario

Re: Pubs in trouble.

It's so sad, Jem. It is the same here and I feel sorry for the publicans, as well as their customers. I used to love going into the pubs in Dublin - for a pint of Guinness and a wee hauf! It was cheap then though!

It is a shame to see those folk who have to go outside for a smoke! They should bring back the "smoke" rooms and put in good air conditioning.

I hope that something is done before we lose our British pubs for good.

It is a good place for some people to go in for a natter, although I don't but that is my choice and feel it would be a shame for them to close!

Good post Jem!

Re: Pubs in trouble.

I know we've spoken about this before at length, but the pub dates back to the middle ages where folk would go for a glass of ale or mead, sit around roughly hewn benches and chew the fat with friends, whilst having a smoke - which old Walt Raleigh introduced to Britain in the late 1500s.

Okay, so the look of a pub has changed now, and not always for the better as some re-decorated to suit the younger generation, some of them themed, with a giant TV in the corner, and most of whom will sit all night with a bottle of some sort of WKD or whatever they're called these days.

However, there are still old-fashioned type pubs which suit the older generations and, if a little thought had gone into the smoking ban, many pubs would still be in operation, if they'd introduced the old-fashioned Smoke Rooms, but installed industrial fans.

In the big plan of things, this would not have been very expensive, considering the paying customers they would have kept for many more years.

I haven't been in a pub or club for over 5 years now, but I can clearly understand the owld stalwarts who have frequented the pubs.

After the smoking ban came in, it greatly saddened me that the old men in wheelchairs had to go outside for a smoke in the freezing weather, and there'll no doubt be some nasty comments about that, but the old chaps I'm talking about had fought for their country in WWII and the only pleasures they had left were a pint with the lads on a Saturday night, and a smoke.

For myself, I found it quite degradubg to have to clod meself outside when I'd taken the trouble to dress nicely, only to have leering men come at me as if I was a street-corner lady of the night and having to listen to the men f...ing and blinding!

All this crap about passive smoking is just that - crap. I'm 63 and have been smoking since I was 16 and I've suffered no ill-effects whatsoever, nor any other smoke-related illnesses. My mother smoked through her three pregnancies and we were all healthy babies, and have never had bronchitis or other lung or chest defect.

Babies and toddlers are more likely to suffer from breathing difficulties through being pushed around in buggies at exhaust pipe level, the contents of which contain more carcinogens than cigarette smoke, and they end up with inhalers from a young age.

Re: Pubs in trouble.

Isn't Eire broke? don't you think that has more to do with the dire state of the hospitality industry? Hospitality is a discretionary spend and that is the first area people cut down on when times are hard.

They have a smoking ban here and inspite of the tales of doom the AHA regaled us with the clubs and pubs are doing better than ever. People who never went to a pub or club because of the stench of smoke now go.

A couple of quotes from the report made 2 months after the ban came in:

Before the complete ban on indoor smoking, 21.6 per cent of NSW adults were visiting clubs at least once a week. Now that figure stands at 26.7 per cent.

Furthermore, the proportion of NSW adults visiting their local pub or hotel at least once a week has jumped from 19.4 per cent to 21.4 per cent since the ban.

I don't think the facts bear out your assertion they indicate that banning smoking makes clubs and pubs a more pleasant place to go. As I say I think your country's parlous financial state has a lot more to do with their demise.

The simple fact is that, at the moment, our economy is booming yours is dying hence the difference. Our economy is slowing as commodity prices decrease so that may not be the case in a year's time but I fear blaming the smoking ban for hotel closures is a complete furphy.

Re: Pubs in trouble.

Odd thing that not all pubs are failing. JD Wetherspoon has 866 pubs, is making record profits, and has just announced opening another 30 pubs in 2013. As they say in America, "Go figure"....

Re: Pubs in trouble.

Well simple Barry, it is money that has done it, real big business.
It is money that has spoiled the pub, they have got greedy along with the government who take the biggest slice.
The Inn started way back in time, when folks brewed their own, and some fellow thought I could make some money out of this, and started charging, that was the birth of the Inn, and of course the brewery.
I believe there are places in the Somerset area where the lads get together to taste each others cider.
Price has killed the Pub not the smoking ban.

Re: Pubs in trouble.

Sorry Arthur I do not agree. The smoking ban has killed the pubs for sure. They should have always given pubs the choice so we had pubs you could smoke in and pubs that you couldn't. I would far rather ban children in pubs than smoking any day. Who wants kids running around or babies crying when you are trying to enjoy a nice quiet drink with friends or family. Smokers now have to go outside which in the winter isn't much fun. I agree wth Jem all the way having visited Dublin before the ban when the pubs were buzzing and it was a great atmosphere.

Re: Pubs in trouble.

I think not many pubs can survive now on beer sales, it's food where the real money is...

Re: Pubs in trouble.

That is true.

Although I still frequent the pub for a drink I understand a lot of people can't afford it and would rather buy cheap drink from the supermarket and drink at home.

It is a shame that we are losing more local businesses because of the poor state of affairs in terms of money.

If only everybody used their local as much as they do in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders everything would be great.