tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post562349362283899448..comments2024-03-25T18:49:00.608+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: A sobering contrastCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-78092138413155213102017-01-27T07:40:56.231+00:002017-01-27T07:40:56.231+00:00Yes, the post I linked to above referred to the ri...Yes, the post I linked to above referred to the rise of televised football, alongside Sunday trading, as amongst the reasons people had got out of the habit of the Sunday lunchtime pint.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-70689192056792353672017-01-27T07:32:27.926+00:002017-01-27T07:32:27.926+00:00Whoosh! Point spectacularly missed there.Whoosh! Point spectacularly missed there.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-22618521382336288852017-01-26T22:52:14.781+00:002017-01-26T22:52:14.781+00:00Humans are creatures of habit. Once they break a h...Humans are creatures of habit. Once they break a habit the non-participation itself becomes the new habit. Taking the question of Sunday lunchtime young males who formerly were the mainstay of pub trade have lost the habit of regular visits. The scheduling of live football on Sundays means that many will choose to attend the games or watch at home with cheap supermarket beers. That, coupled with the the increased costs of keeping teams going and worsening facilities due to council cuts means there are far less Sunday League football teams nowadays = a lot less players looking to slake their thirsts post match. Birkoniannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-13507795785809192102017-01-26T22:03:27.529+00:002017-01-26T22:03:27.529+00:00I'd give up smoking, I like pubs and beer too ...I'd give up smoking, I like pubs and beer too much.Citrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07362292814716606046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68322250347733958662017-01-26T16:15:21.607+00:002017-01-26T16:15:21.607+00:00I've just read that old blogpost. I accept you...I've just read that old blogpost. I accept your point that there are wider issues at play than just pub quality but I still think it plays a big part in pub's general decline. <br />For what it's worth I think Spoons are part of the problem, but I won't go into that now.Kieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68014603118226063282017-01-26T12:10:08.111+00:002017-01-26T12:10:08.111+00:00It's an interesting question as to what extent...It's an interesting question as to what extent the overall health of the pub sector would be increased if pubs were, on average, better run. I addressed the subject in <a href="http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/who-wants-customers.html" rel="nofollow">this blogpost</a>, which strangely has never received any comments. My conclusion was "not very much", as the decline of the pub trade has largely been driven by wider social factors.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-19508640793297188322017-01-26T11:11:53.597+00:002017-01-26T11:11:53.597+00:00Apart from anything else I think that getting the ...Apart from anything else I think that getting the basics right is the most important thing.<br />This means<br />1. good drinks offer<br />2. appropriate food<br />3. friendly service<br />4. comfy nice decor<br />5. clean toilets<br />6. open when you say you will<br /><br />Amazing how many can't do thisKieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-20445854932421054792017-01-26T08:21:13.619+00:002017-01-26T08:21:13.619+00:00Sounds like the seventh circle of hell to me!
Als...Sounds like the seventh circle of hell to me!<br /><br />Also worth pointing out that much of the Sunday lunchtime drinking crowd in my local pub used to consist of mixed groups. It certainly wasn't a case of the blokes jugging back a few pints while 'er indoors cooked the Sunday dinner.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-47894512302426441572017-01-25T16:23:27.289+00:002017-01-25T16:23:27.289+00:00One of our locals is quickly heading downwards. Fe...One of our locals is quickly heading downwards. Few customers and a worrying lack of cash. A real shame, but its not hard to see why, and the landlord has had plenty of advice from punters on how he might turn it round, but whether through obstinacy, apathy, or because the pub operator ties his hands, nothing changes.<br /><br />Change the beer offer, offer some simple food, give the place a lick of paint, change what you show on the telly. All this would have helped.pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-73068177444314517732017-01-25T11:45:41.065+00:002017-01-25T11:45:41.065+00:00''...that pub..would have been pretty busy...''...that pub..would have been pretty busy. Now it isn’t, and it tends to become a self-reinforcing cycle..''<br /><br />This is a good point. I'd go further and there is a downward spiral sometimes where a pub will be less busy for whatever reason, opening hours are shortened because there is less money for staff, or standards slip, or the gaffer stops caring etc etc. Once in the spiral there's often only one way it will end up - usually closure.<br /><br />I really believe that more people would use the local pub if they had a good pub to use. Sometimes there is a badly run pub nearby and sometimes no pub at all. <br /><br />The responsibility rests with individual licensees for the most part. Pub owners also. Kieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-28087869695564475112017-01-25T10:55:10.872+00:002017-01-25T10:55:10.872+00:00Lets be honest, the big difference between now and...Lets be honest, the big difference between now and 40 years ago is that it is no longer socially acceptable for men to leave their wives and kids at home and spend the day in the pub. Nothing to do with smoking, nothing to do with prices. I could easily afford to spend the weekends leaning on the bar with my mates, I just have other responsibilities.<br /><br />U25s have been driven out of pubs by draconian anti-drinking policies, 25-45 year olds are all at home with the kids, which is why pubs are by and large full of old men wondering where everyone else is.<br /><br />Incidentally, I went in a pub on Sunday afternoon and it was full of people - all young couples with babies. It was like a pushchair convention. Perhaps this is the future?pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-33114613975887845892017-01-25T10:50:48.770+00:002017-01-25T10:50:48.770+00:00If you consider that after a few beers most blokes...If you consider that after a few beers most blokes piss every half an hour or so, and it takes about 3 minutes to take a piss, you probably need a toilet for every 10 attendees. I wonder if they met those ratios? Who is in charge of this thing?pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56998929108592532042017-01-25T10:47:40.938+00:002017-01-25T10:47:40.938+00:00No need to get defensive, I was just thanking you ...No need to get defensive, I was just thanking you for your explanation as to how the process is carried out.pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-7149492301795236942017-01-25T09:37:44.694+00:002017-01-25T09:37:44.694+00:00I've been going to pubs since 1970. They were ...I've been going to pubs since 1970. They were uusually very busy, vibrant places. Hugely enjoyable for a regular night out. Then in 2007 came the smoking ban. Soon pubs became dead with a few notable exceptions usually in the cities or large towns. I still go to the pub about twice a week but even on a Saturday night most pubs are fairly quiet. Smokers now are forced to drink at home or stand out in the cold. However i was in Copenhagen recentlyvand proprietor run bars permit smoking inside. Needless to say they are packed !Lucretius1https://www.blogger.com/profile/18213610249777895917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-9420581407146910232017-01-25T07:10:57.124+00:002017-01-25T07:10:57.124+00:00I have no involvement in running it. All I was goi...I have no involvement in running it. All I was going on was that it seemed pretty busy to me, and one of the organisers said that attendances were healthy.<br /><br />If I had one criticism, it would be that (yet again) toilet provision was inadequate. They really need to hire in banks of Portaloos - it's not as if there isn't room.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-60901138111390265892017-01-25T07:08:23.635+00:002017-01-25T07:08:23.635+00:00"if you really like pubs" - only CAMRA m...<i>"if you really like pubs"</i> - only CAMRA members actually "like pubs" in the abstract. Most people simply like the experience of going to pubs. If that experience is made significantly worse for them, then inevitably they're going to go less often, or give up entirely.<br /><br />I mean, if you had to stand out in the freezing cold and pissing rain to drink your pint, would you really go to pubs quite as much? Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-56137882677712824212017-01-25T02:07:09.816+00:002017-01-25T02:07:09.816+00:00Which elephant is that? That not all males like sp...Which elephant is that? That not all males like sport?RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-68987224318971556772017-01-25T02:06:27.070+00:002017-01-25T02:06:27.070+00:00What a silly comment! I am one member: I am not CA...What a silly comment! I am one member: I am not CAMRA (there are 180,000+ other members, you know). It failed in the customer service part of the scoring, which had several categories. I judged the beer and all other categories using the prescribed criteria.<br /><br />What a pity! I was beginning to think you had begun to grow up, Py.RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-19680737742944894632017-01-24T23:49:46.627+00:002017-01-24T23:49:46.627+00:00The festivals 'healthy attendance' was app...The festivals 'healthy attendance' was approx. 10% down on last year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-21173186355255551772017-01-24T23:46:49.281+00:002017-01-24T23:46:49.281+00:00I had similar experience in a multi-room pub which...I had similar experience in a multi-room pub which had a TV in every room. The others were sparsely populated too so no need at all to turn our TV on. I emptied my glass and left.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-44259702257394812102017-01-24T22:24:21.476+00:002017-01-24T22:24:21.476+00:00Odd, innit? I sometimes feel that my drinking comp...Odd, innit? I sometimes feel that my drinking companions and I are very odd: we go to the pub to talk (and I sometimes go for peace and quiet with a book), whereas some people seem unable to cope without a row.stymasterhttp://www.piglet-net.net/pigblog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-18702617173046860982017-01-24T21:39:53.298+00:002017-01-24T21:39:53.298+00:00@ Citra
Because there isn't a great deal of p...@ Citra<br /><br />Because there isn't a great deal of pleasure to be had when instead of enjoying the quite delightful combination of a pint, a ciggy, and good conversation, you have to abandon your pint, abandon the conversation, and have to go outside in the pissing rain and freezing cold to have a smoke. I would have thought that was blatantly obvious, even to a non-smoker.nisakimanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563041282703559939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61716289892540468932017-01-24T21:38:06.368+00:002017-01-24T21:38:06.368+00:00You might also like to read this blogpost about Su...You might also like to read this blogpost about <a href="http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/sunday-lunchtime-through-years.html" rel="nofollow">Sunday lunchtime through the years</a>. Not about the same pub, but the experience is much the same. And those customers haven't been displaced to other pubs, or other sessions - they've simply vanished.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-4685683272010171052017-01-24T21:21:30.781+00:002017-01-24T21:21:30.781+00:00Well, I've been going in pubs for forty years,...Well, I've been going in pubs for forty years, and over that time I've seen with my own eyes the wet trade outside of Friday and Saturday evenings steadily diminish and thin out. The fact that on-trade beer volumes have halved since 1997, and are only about a third of what they were in the late 70s, rather bears this out. Vast numbers of pubs have closed, and those that remain, unless they've gone over wholly to dining, are often as quiet as the one I described.<br /><br />Yes, there are still some busy pubs, but a lot fewer than there used to be, and I'd challenge you to find a single busy wet-led pub in my neck of the woods on a Sunday lunchtime, where once most of them were.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-59398741871233360242017-01-24T20:34:15.659+00:002017-01-24T20:34:15.659+00:00Re the previous comment, Good and busy boozers, ob...Re the previous comment, Good and busy boozers, obviously.Citrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07362292814716606046noreply@blogger.com