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23-06-2014, 22:32
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A simple question, and the answer is undoubtedly yes. But there's one particular way in which we're loosing them that's a little sneaky.

Beautiful pubs 100s of years old are being destroyed - by being modernised too much. Not just in the 'gastro' fashion - maybe a strange colour paint or the patterned carpet being torn up for cheap-looking wooden floor.

On the one hand it's good that the pubs are being given a new lease of life, but sometimes recently I've just thought it's worse that all that heritage has been thrown out to make a venue that can feel justified in charging you £4 a pint.


http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/275/27561196.jpg (http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/840x460/275/27561196.jpg)


In what way is this a pub?



Granted, I've only really noticed it recently, driving around this beautiful part of Yorkshire, exploring the county I now call home. But a fantastic looking black and white pub in a small village, I feel, looses something when the pub sign looks more like interpretive art, or when it proudly displays a 'pub and kitchen' type sign next to it's name.

Immaculately clean, tidy and presentable but not that vintage charm you expect in a country pub. Just because it works well in chain pubs on the outskirts of towns doesn't mean it works well in a village down dale. They feel cold and impersonal - the exact opposite of a pub.

Gone are the dust gatherers - the 100 or so bottles of beer long since forgotten on the shelves, or toby jugs dangling from the ceiling. Horse brasses, postcards, old pictures of the pub throughout the years, all thrown in the skip to be replaced with art for sale and easy-clean furniture.



http://churchillarmskensington.co.uk/~/media/63D9F3E3844C42E2B4F26957C4A8C377.ashx?as=0&h=595&w=892 (http://churchillarmskensington.co.uk/~/media/63D9F3E3844C42E2B4F26957C4A8C377.ashx?as=0&h=595&w=892)


Too much for some? Still better than none!


Pubs are different to other alcohol shops - hotel bars, beer festivals, whatever. They are warm and cosy, personable, indeed they have a personality of their own. To treat them in such a cold-hearted matter is just rude. It may well work for a few years. Then the fashion will change again.

Whereas those who understand pubs, who retain their simple rustic charms and focus on doing the basics well will be around for 100s more years. The Cover Bridge is my local example of this. A stand alone pub a mile away from the nearest village, that granted has a small neat beer garden with the river running along the bottom. But it is always busy - with locals willing to walk the distance, ramblers, campers, cyclists, and those locals who stop for a pint on the way home from work, catching up on the day's news.


http://www.thecoverbridgeinn.co.uk/images/accommodation2.jpg (http://www.thecoverbridgeinn.co.uk/images/accommodation2.jpg)


The Cover Bridge Inn



A pub with no house within a mile that always has at least 7 ales on - and I have never had a bad pint whatever day or time I pop in. It does simple, basic home-cooked food, but try and get in the door after 1pm on a Sunday and you won't get a shoe in. It's still got carpets, coal fires, dartboard, and no wifi or phone signal.

We talk about pubs closing and the 'heart of the community' being lost. Sometimes the pub doesn't have to close for that to happen. A pub is more than 4 walls and a bar with power points to charge your mobile and 'gourmet burger' on the menu. A pub is where people interact - where anyone could walk in and be your friend for the evening, or where you will always feel welcome. And these places are sadly becoming ghosts of their former selves for short term gain.

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