Shropshire Star comment: No need to cry in your beer
Fancy popping down the pub for a pint tonight?
Maybe, but maybe not. For one, times and habits have changed, and whereas for men in particular going to the pub was the thing to do, to have a beer, play darts, and chew the fat, somewhere down the line that lifestyle has been eroded.
And then – and this is obviously related – there are fewer pubs to go to. According to new figures, Telford & Wrekin has lost more than a quarter of its pubs since 2010. Across the rest of Shropshire, 60 pubs have disappeared in that time.
Nor do the figures tell the full story, as a lot of the pubs of today would be unrecognisable to pubgoers of past generations.
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Were they to travel in their time machines from, say, 1958 to 2018, they would be aghast. Carpets, family areas, food ... even spotless toilets. And of course no smoking.
Others would view it as a more pleasant and welcoming environment. And those who can remember some of the liquid fare of yesteryear will testify to the fact that you can now enjoy some marvellous real ales compared to the frothy, gassy, pints that you used to have to pretend to enjoy.
Pubs are businesses, and businesses need to make money, and to make money they need customers and manageable overheads.
Everybody likes the idea of there being a pub in the village, or in the town, in the same way as people like traditional cinemas, village churches, corner shops, and so on. When closure looms, they will despair and protest, but quite a lot will not have a satisfactory answer if asked: when did you last go to the pub/cinema/corner shop/church?
Two of Britain’s most popular television soaps, Coronation Street and EastEnders, are woven around bustling pubs. This device remains, just about, a credible central stage for their dramas.
Cheap supermarket beer and, thankfully, a more responsible attitude to drinking and driving, have increased the pressure on pubs, but there is good news too.
There are flourishing pubs – and not all of them have gone down the food-and-carpets route. Some have been rescued from closure by local communities. Others are a mecca for real ale lovers.
While some pubs continue to thrive we can take heart from their example, while mourning the loss of so many.
