The Pub Curmudgeon

A distinctive feature of Sam Smith’s pubs is a variety of peremptory notices saying things such as: “The Brewery require all customers to l...

From time to time, the authorities have a go at trying to single out categories of alcoholic drinks that they think are consumed disproporti...

A point about this blog that some people seem to struggle with is that the fact I don’t show much enthusiasm for something doesn’t mean I ac...

Last week, there was an interesting interview on the Morning Advertiser website with Richard Westwood, the MD of Marston’s, in which he ma...

I recently wrote about my visit to the Royal Exchange in Stourbridge , where well over half the customers were happily drinking the one – ad...

The brief flurry of warm, sunny weather over the weekend reminded me of a perennial bugbear in pubs – flinging all their doors open at the s...

It’s long been the received wisdom that keg beer, while it will never scale the heights that cask can, at least offers consistency. You’re m...

Last week saw the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the blanket smoking ban in Wales, three months before a similar law became effect...

Towards the end of 2008, CAMRA set up a web forum. It was initially supposed to concentrate on specific campaigns to save pubs, but quickly ...

A point I have often made on here in the past is that a key reason for the decline in pubgoing is changing attitudes to alcohol. Whereas onc...

Many drinkers will be familiar with the jovial, rotund chap with his foaming tankard who features on the label of bottled Taylor’s Landlord....

Last weekend I had an overnight stay in Stourbridge, Worcestershire. It may not seem the most likely tourist venue, but in fact it had been ...

It’s long been an article of faith amongst many CAMRA members and anti-pubco activists that a major cause of pub decline is conversions to r...

Various items of pub-related news pop up on Twitter, and one thing that has struck me is how often pubs are described as “popular”. Take the...

There’s a growing amount of interest in the development of driverless cars . The wider subject is really beyond the remit of this blog, alth...