I'm happy pubs are dying out

[Raymondsam]

In my town at least.

Maybe decades ago the argument could be made that they're social hubs for people to unwind, meet and have a good time on a weekend.

Nowadays they're just hovels where mostly retired old boys go to binge drink in the daytime and cost the NHS billions in the various cancers strokes and host of other comorbidities that crop up.

The three biggest ones in my town are the typical chain owned leasehold places. Big companies that own hundreds of pubs all over the country. They treat the leaseholders like crap, if they start to turn a decent profit they up the rent.

This too

As @Bumblebee72said if you really want to reduce the impact of alcohol on crime or cost to the NHS then ban supermarkets from selling alcohol.

85% of alcohol sold in the UK is sold by supermarkets. Pubs and restaurants only make up around 10%.

I don't use pubs for regular venues but always have been thankful when was single for a quiet pub corner where I had lunch and a pint, no man bothered me even though I was a catch. LOL

I suppose people who don't have friends or relatives can just go to the pub or for birthdays, the interior makes nice pictures , again people who are home shy to invite others, can have any non alcoholic drink also

then you have family pubs also and gold club houses which are kind of modern looking pubs really

Yep. Plus jobs. I wonder what the op does that she wouldn’t mind if people said the same.

Not to be a Debbie downer but as someone who works in finance in these sectors most of those people haven’t got a hope of keeping the business going. The whole problem with pubs is that the financial model just doesn’t work anymore

When was the last time you went to the pub? You seem to have based your opinion on your perception of a few boozers in your neck of the woods? Pub culture is a fabulous thing and provides work, opportunities to socialise with people you know and those you dont, entertainment, and er, what's that other thing? Oh yes, FUN!! Its all still happening. Its not something from yester-year. As for closing establishments that cause obesity and disease shall we start shutting down take aways, fast food joints, restaurants generally, vape shops, bakeries, pizzeria, sweet shops, etc... ???

well said 👏🏻

with a side of absolutely no compassion for job/business loss of the people concerned!

That’s a shitty thing to want to happen. Why are you bitter ?

This

I dont drink so am not a prolific user of pubs but people work there, so I couldn’t be happy about people losing jobs

YABU
The "day" drinkers tend not to be there in the evening. And a lot of pubs don't even open until the early evening anyway.

The best years of my life were spent running a pub.

One of the worst days of my life was having to tell my entire team they were being made redundant (and losing my job myself). I had worked with some of those people for ten years. We had regulars that had come for longer than that.

I don't even drink.

YABU.

Couldn't agree more!!

completely bonkers Post
When was the last time u went in a pub? pubs are really lovely family friendly social places. Great food great atmosphere. Good place for people to go and have a drink when they’re on their own and chat to the bar staff
maybe you can move house and get out a bit more

I'm glad people drink less alcohol, but I would be sorry to see the pub die out. The pub really is a British institution. If you read the literature of this island, you see the pub reappear again and again. The first great work of British literature, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, opens in a pub. And one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, Falstaff, virtually lives in the pub. Pubs also appear in Dickens, and even George Orwell wrote an essay on them.

That said, I've always preferred the continental bar. French bars, with their elegant beer glasses, always seemed so much more attractive to me than the British pub with its oafish 'pints'. And there is nothing I hate more than 'laddism,' which also revolves around the pub.

Looking back to the 1990s, the public drunkenness was out of control. An American friend used to find it shocking. She would often remark on how polite the British were all week, but then how vile they were at weekends – all because of alcohol. I remember going for a drink with her on a Saturday night and seeing girls urinating in shop doorways and young men fighting in the middle of the road. God it made me so ashamed.

Sounds fab!!

This x 1000

They are part of our social heritage and you are being very small minded regarding the 3 chains near you. I happen to live in a semi rural area where old farmers and villagers meet, and mix amongst the younger community. Many a widower will sit with his paper and his pint. It could be the only conversation they have all day. And there are some awesome buildings disguised as pubs. I'd hate to lose them, really hate it.

i don't think there's much 'almost' about it.

How miserable. It’s an absolute tragedy that so many pubs have been lost. Any avenue that allows a mix of people to get together is positive, not to mention the employment opportunities. Perhaps balance out pub-related alcohol misuse costs to the nhs against the cost of poor MH caused by loneliness and isolation to those with no accessible community outlets. You don’t have to drink alcohol in the pub OP. Unclench and widen your horizons.

I think you must just live in a shit area

it’s totally opposite where I live we’ve got micro pubs popping up everywhere couple of the big chains busy all week as they serve food
we’ve lost a few independent pubs but the rest have entertainment quizzes and things like that

Yes you are unreasonable -Pub culture is an integral part of British culture.

Im very sad that British society has been changed to such an extent that we are seeing so many pubs closing down.

We should be encouraging more people back into pubs to keep this valuable tradtion alive. I would love to see some tax breaks to help this along.

I'm sorry but I dont like "traditional" pubs and working men clubs. Miserable smelly shitholes full of gross old men. I understand they're probably important to the community blah blah blah but I hated them ever since I came to this country. Horrible cheap places, from the sticky carpets to the smell, gossip, bingo, meat raffle and shitty beer. Also, often really hostile to children and foreigners.

Pubs are thriving but they have changed - its mainly gastropubs and places oriented towards younger demographic.

🤣🤣

we need the laugh emoji back, with sanctions for people who abuse it!

As someone who worked in hospitality for 18 years these pubs are a life line for the older men that come in and drink, they meet their friends, we used to check up on the if we hadn’t seen them for a few days, we make sure they are ok, we used to contact family if we were worried about the,. Some of these older men live for the 2 pints that they go to the pub each day, to socialise and chat to other people, because they live alone and don’t want to bother heir families.

yeah some pubs attract a lot of trouble but they are few and far between.