tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post8232270290256815409..comments2024-03-29T08:01:51.705+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: The old man and the pubCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-6251238227351588612017-07-12T06:57:27.819+01:002017-07-12T06:57:27.819+01:00Yes, I saw that article and commented on Twitter h...Yes, I saw that article and commented on Twitter how the "elephant in the roomn" has, as so often, been completely ignored.<br /><br />An estate pub is rather like an elephant in that you know one when you see one. But I'd say it's a purpose-built pub from a period between about 1920 and 1990, designed specifically to serve an estate of new housing, usually, but not always, council housing. It's also generally on a site allocated by planners for a pub.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-63345690753074800222017-07-11T23:20:28.182+01:002017-07-11T23:20:28.182+01:00If You had not noticed
Today The Grauniad has pub...If You had not noticed<br /><br />Today The Grauniad has published an article decrying the decline of Estate Pubs in Manchester. Correctly they have pointed the decline to demographic changes, social media and supermarket sales: but no mention, AT ALL, of the smoking ban. 20% of people may have smoked in the general population but in those pubs it was probably 40%, maybe much higher.<br /><br />What is an Estate Pub anyway? Only a pub built alongside public housing? I can think of a pub built in the 1930s only because of local private semi and detached housing being built.<br />KJPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-11297716718453200592017-07-11T23:17:21.362+01:002017-07-11T23:17:21.362+01:00Spoons are the most cross-generational beer shops ...Spoons are the most cross-generational beer shops you can get. And quite possibly the most mixed-sex as well.The Maltese Penguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13693275203620288419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-22860754113052335932017-07-11T23:14:52.927+01:002017-07-11T23:14:52.927+01:00Bandied about nowadays? It's been bandied abou...Bandied about nowadays? It's been bandied about for at least the last thirty years. And just because a pub had a largely older clientele didn't necessarily make it an "old man's pub" either. It was a certain kind of place and whilst often spartan it did not equate to being rough or back-street. And definitely not to having good beer. If they had a defining characteristic, it was inertia.The Maltese Penguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13693275203620288419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-3211573542998059142017-07-11T22:47:53.113+01:002017-07-11T22:47:53.113+01:00As it was me who brought up the term “old man pub&...As it was me who brought up the term “old man pub", in a comment on your Smoking Ban post Mudge, it’s only right I should write a few words about the use of this rather derogatory term. <br /><br />When I first started drinking, my friends and I referred to some of the rather more basic pubs as “muck-pits”, fit only for older drinkers (anyone older than 30?). It was only after I became interested in beer, and traditional cask ale at that, that I realised good beer was much more likely to be found in these down-to-earth, basic boozers, than the trendy, tarted-up, theme-pubs, designed to appeal to the younger generation.<br /><br />Somewhat perversely then, I spent much of my student days frequenting some very basic, back- street locals in areas of Salford, such as Higher and Lower Broughton. Excellent beer (mainly Boddingtons back then, but also the odd Robinsons and Hydes).<br /><br />I wouldn’t say that today’s “old man” pubs are the equivalent; and despite age creeping up on me, they have nowhere near the same appeal as those old, basic, back-street boozers did.<br /><br />Isn’t life strange, as the Moody Blues once sang?<br /><br /><br /><br />Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-85038234069225500602017-07-11T17:13:32.759+01:002017-07-11T17:13:32.759+01:00You don't have to be "pro" something...You don't have to be "pro" something to not want to ban it. But, if you do want to ban it, then you are clearly "anti" it. An important distinction.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-78438060778693676552017-07-11T16:37:16.468+01:002017-07-11T16:37:16.468+01:00Dave,
The sort of pubs i visit will never make the...Dave,<br />The sort of pubs i visit will never make the GBG,and are more than likely never visited by anyone but locals and me.<br />If you went to some of the more rough areas of London,you will still find plenty of proper pubs,i went to Liscard in Wallasey and all pubs apart from the Wetherspoons and one micropub were proper pubs no food and all down to earth,most only had John Smiths Smooth or Extra Smooth a few Worthington Cream,the Camra types which includes peter who does this great tho pro smoking blog and Cookie would never go in pubs like that.<br /><br />@Cooking Lager<br /><br />I always read this blog and got a little fed up about reading that there are very few proper drinkers pubs left in the Country,when there is,but they might not appeal to a lot of readers of this blog.<br />I do agree that pubs have closed down due to the smoking ban and i also think a lot have closed down since the Beer Orders were implemented and the poor people running pubs had to put up with the Pub Co's that were fleecing them for every penny they could get.<br />Yes Cookie i have got the theme of this blog but i do not agree with all that is posted on it.Alan Winfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13143831341388857795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-22718158584924749242017-07-11T02:16:09.177+01:002017-07-11T02:16:09.177+01:00Alan, I read your blog so I think I have some unde...Alan, I read your blog so I think I have some understanding of where you crawl. I am curious if these pubs are not visited or they are visited and just don't make it into the GBG? Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04039590363732278703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-84721322399407143722017-07-10T18:48:35.586+01:002017-07-10T18:48:35.586+01:00You not got the theme of Mudgies blog yet, Al? Pub...You not got the theme of Mudgies blog yet, Al? Pubs are dying & it's all down to smoking bans.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-87474874463271114432017-07-09T23:31:32.607+01:002017-07-09T23:31:32.607+01:00That quote on fun pubs back in 2013 "An apolo...That quote on fun pubs back in 2013 "An apologetic handpull remained dispensing ill-kept Webster’s Yorkshire Bitter so it could be criticised on CAMRA pub crawls" is a minor classic line.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-41862129974506355252017-07-09T21:07:44.473+01:002017-07-09T21:07:44.473+01:00The craft beer pubs tend to have a younger demogra...The craft beer pubs tend to have a younger demographic, with the oldies preferring the bitter they've drunk for years! There's also a massive geographic divide between locals pubs and the like - accidentally walking into a locals pub can definitely be more off-putting than wandering into an old man's pub. Tabithahttp://artigiano.uk.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-6484975447298594602017-07-09T18:16:55.433+01:002017-07-09T18:16:55.433+01:00Unfortunately, 'old men' who enjoy going t...Unfortunately, 'old men' who enjoy going to the pub and also enjoy smoking are less inclined than the youngsters to feel that it's acceptable to be forced to stand outside in the pissing rain to have a ciggy. So they just don't bother going anymore.nisakimanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563041282703559939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61914600642163199822017-07-09T18:04:20.490+01:002017-07-09T18:04:20.490+01:00The trouble with fun pubs, which I disliked even w...The trouble with fun pubs, which I disliked even when I was the right age for them, is that the clientele grow up very quickly. 18-years olds soon become 22-years olds, often wanting different things in general, not just from pubs. There's nothing more old-fashioned than last year's trend.<br /><br />RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-59537653671040512842017-07-09T17:59:54.849+01:002017-07-09T17:59:54.849+01:00You all seem so negative about pubs on this blog,
...You all seem so negative about pubs on this blog,<br />There are still loads of proper pubs but the Camra types will never visit them so they think that there are none left.<br />If you did a pub crawl with me you would soon find out that there are lots of proper pubs out there.<br />Please brighten up a bit as reading all the negative thoughts on the future of pubs must make people who do not live in this country or believe what is said on this blog will think that all proper pubs have closed down,they have not.Alan Winfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13143831341388857795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-50362158942272970522017-07-09T17:27:01.278+01:002017-07-09T17:27:01.278+01:00My local old man pub, the wonderful Holden's B...My local old man pub, the wonderful Holden's Brewery Wheatsheaf in West Bromwich, is halfway through a six week refurbishment to make it 'more family friendly' judging by the pictures on the Twitter feed of the brewery, that will mean central West Bromwich will lose its last genuinely two roomed boozer.@WestBromELnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-71439626370456050462017-07-09T15:52:55.987+01:002017-07-09T15:52:55.987+01:00The new breed of micropubs would seem to fulfill s...The new breed of micropubs would seem to fulfill some of the criteria. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-13892452883947608672017-07-09T14:39:57.148+01:002017-07-09T14:39:57.148+01:00You're probably all too right there, Cookie :-...You're probably all too right there, Cookie :-(Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-12810359565156783002017-07-09T14:39:25.370+01:002017-07-09T14:39:25.370+01:00For various social cultural reasons, historically ...For various social cultural reasons, historically women have not tended to go to pubs on their own - but in fact, they tend to have alternative and more supportive social networks than men, hence men falling back on the pub.<br /><br />I'd say there's a reasonable smattering of female customers in the Boar's Head, either alone or in pairs.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-32741572785653676072017-07-09T13:44:39.199+01:002017-07-09T13:44:39.199+01:00The only people that use pubs are old men. When yo...The only people that use pubs are old men. When your generation croak it, old bean, that's the end of pubs.<br /><br />We'll still have informal pub styled restaurants, though.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-78054692619628758502017-07-09T13:26:50.544+01:002017-07-09T13:26:50.544+01:00"Where do old women who like a drink go …?&qu..."Where do old women who like a drink go …?" They certainly used to go to the pub, as episodes of Coronation Street in the 1960s showed. When the programme began, Violet Carson, playing Ena Sharples, regular milk stout drinker in the Rovers Return, was 62, and the actresses who played her friends and pub companions Minnie and Martha were 63 and 46 respectively.Martyn Cornellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16843357962176591317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-42343925176473346022017-07-09T12:59:44.779+01:002017-07-09T12:59:44.779+01:00Spoons are the Old Men's Pubs of the future.Spoons are the Old Men's Pubs of the future.Ian Wordennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-84465788018334051782017-07-09T12:54:57.137+01:002017-07-09T12:54:57.137+01:00"Is it such a bad thing that they exist?"..."Is it such a bad thing that they exist?" No, it is good they exist. I wish there were more places where people over 50 can hear one another speak. Most newer places are so loud it is difficult for people with even decent hearing to talk without shouting. There is a lot of value in this aspect of these pubs.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04039590363732278703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-76116725389174227202017-07-09T12:54:07.427+01:002017-07-09T12:54:07.427+01:00Where do old women who like a drink go considering...Where do old women who like a drink go considering, on average, they live longer?Mark Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02281817055643194129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-50248252371693054122017-07-09T12:22:39.902+01:002017-07-09T12:22:39.902+01:00Following on from that rather morbid quote from th...Following on from that rather morbid quote from the pub-goer, folk of retirement age and up represent an increasing demographic. I hope that the more older people there are, the more they frequent the pub to keep them going. We might see the trend reversing or maybe that's wishful thinking. Have "Old men pubs" have closed more rapidly than others over the past couple of decades? I think so as there are fewer pubs I'd call "old men pubs" about. Maybe a solution would be to get our ageing sisters into pubs more. They'd double the customer population.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921858416849788564noreply@blogger.com