The Pub Curmudgeon

Here’s another trenchant article by David Atherton about the decline of the pub, and its causes: Pub closures mean we’re losing the last of ...

Rather gratifying results from this poll following on from my post here . 90% of respondents don’t see sitting or standing at the bar as the...

Martyn Cornell has done an excellent blogpost entitled Moral panics, Tim Martin and motorways about the hysterical overreaction to the news...

Some surprisingly positive figures from the latest BBPA Quarterly Beer Barometer , which shows a growth in overall beer sales for two consec...

Rather depressing, but not entirely surprising, news that Holt’s brewery have put the Royal Oak in Eccles up for sale at a mere £170,000. I...

The increased promotion of intentionally cloudy/hazy* beer (*from here on I use the term “cloudy”) in the craft ale sector has been much dis...

On Oh Good Ale , Phil wrote of his experience in calling in to the Cocked Hat (ex Pack Horse) on Stockport Market Place: It struck me as ...

There was a rare eruption of home truth in the Daily Telegraph earlier this week in a piece by Peter Oborne entitled The smoking ban killed...

A phrase you often near nowadays in relation to pubs is that they represent a “controlled drinking environment”. The implication is that the...

The pub has a unique legal and psychological status. In one sense it’s a private house, but in another it is open to the public. It’s someth...

My latest poll collaboration with Mark Wadsworth has attracted an impressive response of over 300 people. For once, the results show a fa...

In the early years of my drinking career, it was noticeable how a lot of pubs managed to strike a good balance between drinkers and eaters. ...

In my last post I mentioned Portrait of Elmbury by John Moore. The section about pubs is one of the best pieces of writing on the subject I...

Boak and Bailey recently did a fascinating blogpost revolving around a book called The Renaissance of the English Public House , written by ...

In recent years I’ve seen a few slightly exasperated comments from those opposing anti-drink proposals that “it’s claimed that this will bri...