Recognise these names? Yes, of course, they are all pubs in my home town of Deepcar on the outskirts of Sheffield. Having visited a number of these establishments during my week-long visit back home, I can definitely confirm the slow death of a great British Institution – your local (pub).
If you’ve been to the UK, you will know how many pubs there are and the fact that a large part of the local social life takes place in the pub, think of it like a second living room. In this day and age of internet, mobile phones, Netflix , gaming and the like and, of course, CHEAP booze in supermarkets people are choosing evenings in – maybe with a takeaway, a couple of cans instead of an evening out socialising with mates in the local. In short the 1st living room, at home is replacing the pub as the place to spend the evenings.
This reflects in the number of pub closures in Britain over recent years. According to figures I read 854 pubs closed across Britain last year alone and the amount of beer sales in pubs has fallen from 5.7 billion pints in 2007 to 3.6 billion pints this year.
To buck the trend, pubs are becoming a lot more imaginative when it comes to ways of getting more customers through the doors ranging from themed evenings/events, quizzes, discounts and, of course, pub grub. Will it be enough to save them? It remains to be seen but at least the figures give us reason for hope as the number of closures are slowing year on year. Yippee! SAVE THE LOCAL! I say.
If you’ve ever asked yourself what the most popular pub names are and where the name comes from, why not check out the article in https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/the-5-most-popular-pub-names-in-the-uk/
I’ll be in the Castle this evening because I love the long walk home through the countryside – by the time I got home I had always sobered up again. Cheers ! Have a great weekend.
on the outskirts of (Vororte), establishment (Lokal), to confirm (bestätigen), to take place (stattfinden), in this day and age of (in der heutigen Zeit), booze (Alkohol), takeaway (Essen zum Mitnehmen), can (Dose), mate (Kumpel), to reflect (wiederspiegeln), closure (Schließung), according to (Laut), figures (Zahlen), to buck the trend (sich dem Trend wiedersetzen), imaginative (einfallsreich), discount (Rabatt), grub (Essen), it remains to be seen (Es bleibt abzuwarten), to sober up (nüchtern warden)
Ban of smoking and increasing prices have done their bit, I guess, forcing more and more landlords into closing their pubs. Really sad, especially with the pubs‘ reputation as places of traditional cosiness where all ups and downs life offers take place. Not to mention the famous quizzes and in terms of Irish pubs the great music.
So, enjoy yourself in the Castle tonight!
You’re totally right Jenny. Thanx I did, I have a little headache, this morning!