The traditional English pub is dead!

Of all the titles of blogs I've written, this is the hardest to write. But the sad truth is that it's true. I drink in a lot of pubs and have done for the last 50 years. I could write a million pages on my life in pubs. But the sad truth is that the traditional English pub is dead. You may well say "Ah, but my local is thriving". It may well be, but my guess is that it is not what we would identify as a traditional English pub, where people came to drink beer and chat to their mates. The only person who seems to be doing OK doing this is the Wetherspoons chain and to me, they are not traditional English pubs. That is not a criticism, it is an observation. They do not have darts teams, they don't exist at the end of high streets in sleepy villages. 

The sort of pubs that have survived in villages, tend to do food or have some other unique charm. I doubt any survive just on beer sales (what is traditionally called a wet pub). There are busy city centre pubs that make this model work, but they are ones blessed with a location that provides a brisk trade. Areas in London like Camden and Kings Cross have a few. There are quite a few high street bars, converted from shops that simply sell beer, we have one in Mill Hill, The Bridge Tavern, but I don't think anyone would describe The Bridge as a typical English pub.

One of the things I wouldn't have predicted is that in Barnet, pubs in the more upmarket areas have survived where the more working class areas, such as Burnt Oak have seen their once thriving pub scene completely disappear. Last Saturday, we went to The Three Wishes in Edgware to watch my good mate Alan Warner's band. When I was in my Twenties, we'd go to Edgware most weekends, when we didn't g to gigs. We'd do a pub crawl, having a pint in the Railway. The White Hart, The White Lion, The Masons and we'd end up in the Beehive (it was full of pretty girls). Not one of those pubs remain. Oddly, The Three Wishes is a new pub. It seems to do OK and puts on a lot of music, which is good. 

Burnt Oak has seen a similar devastation. When you read about the decline of the pub industry in the UK, there are many factors. Margaret Thatcher passed laws banning breweries from owning large chains. This broke the link between making beer and selling beer. The new pubco's that formed, realised that they could make more money selling the pubs than beer. Then Tony Blair banned smoking in pubs. Many punters simply couldn't be bothered with the hassle and sit at home drinking cans and smoking. Then Brexit removed the source of cheap, hard working labour. This occurred at the same time that Covid got us all out of the habit of going to the pub. 

I think it is no exaggeration to say Covid brought twenty years of social change in six months. I had thought the traditional pub model was saveable. I've changed my mind. Young people do not find the traditional English pub enticing and older people have got out of the habit of going for a drink with friends. What is the answer? I don't know, I wish I did. I like pubs that have character, that are not homogenous brands, that have staff who work their because they like doing it. That know the regulars and the regulars know them. Where they sell beers because they like beers and they know what the beers are like. There are still a few pubs that, to me at least are proper English boozers. My favourite at the moment is The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town. But it seems ever harder to find good pubs, selling proper beer, that have an atmosphere where you want to stay and have another pint, when you should be going home.

Anyway, I'll end with this. Back in 1984, The False Dots had a residency at The Bald Faced Stag in Burnt Oak. It was a pub where everyone knew each other. It had a bit of a reputation for trouble, but I knew many of the regulars, a fair few had worked for my Dad at MacMetals. This sort of working class pub in council estate areas seems to have disappeared from London.  Here is a video of the band playing there. Enjoy and have a pint on me to start the weekend. I miss such places