The Pub Curmudgeon

My local pub was built in 1939 and its fabric remains little altered since then. Around the walls of the lounge are a series of little push-...

When the new restrictions on how pubs could operate were imposed in the middle of September, many people expressed the view that their comb...

Last Sunday I tweeted the following from one of my local Wetherspoon’s, which was met with a surprisingly vituperative response. Just encou...

On Monday, the government set out a system of tiers of lockdown restrictions to standardise the various local rules in place across England....

The bar counter is a key element in a pub. It allows it to showcase the products that are available and highlight any new launches or lines ...

The official NHS test and trace app was launched last Thursday, and has reportedly already been downloaded more than 10 million times. It is...

I’m conscious that this blog has turned into a running commentary on the government’s Covid policy, but given the way it has dominated the n...

To listen to some in the media, you would think that the pub trade is out of the woods now. Drinkers have flocked back since they reopened o...

In a further blow to the embattled pub trade, the Scottish government have decreed that, from Monday, customers in hospitality venues will b...

I was working on a general post about how the pub trade was still nowhere near out of the woods, when the unexpected announcement came that ...

Anyone who thinks the licensed trade in England has been badly done to might consider casting a westward glance across the Irish Sea. Regula...

Pubs in England have now been able to open for nine weeks, and during August the food-serving ones at least were buoyed by the “Eat Out to H...

There’s now only one day left to take advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which finishes next Bank Holiday Monday. This government-...

Sad news that the well-known Jolly Angler pub just off Manchester city centre, having reopened after lockdown, has announced it is to close...

Last week, it was announced that the British economy had contracted by no less than 20.4% between April and June this year, one of the worst...