PDA

View Full Version : The Pub Curmudgeon - The future’s so bright, you gotta wear shades



Blog Tracker
19-08-2014, 16:15
Visit The Pub Curmudgeon site (http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-futures-so-bright-you-gotta-wear.html)



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JhWeYwUWWGg/U_NooKfhMsI/AAAAAAAADtE/UXVQUj93YuQ/s200/lamptavern.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JhWeYwUWWGg/U_NooKfhMsI/AAAAAAAADtE/UXVQUj93YuQ/s1600/lamptavern.jpg)
Regular commenter “py” recently posted this link (http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2782283%20http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2782283) to a collection of students’ thoughts on “traditional pubs”. A lot of the comments are along the lines of “pubs are old-fashioned” and “pubs don’t cater for us”.
What a contrast to my student days! Yes, this was in the era of Small is Beautiful, the Good Life and Citizen Smith, but our approach was completely different. Pubs were there, as they were, warts and all, and they needed to be explored and understood. We used to go on pilgrimages out to the Black Country to visit the Old Swan and Batham’s, Holden’s and Simpkiss pubs. These were generally small, basic pubs with an older, working-class clientele, but they were still interesting and worth exploring. The regulars were probably astonished at being invaded by parties of students, but they took it in their stride.
The pubs (OK not the Simpkiss ones) are still there now, but you really can’t imagine today’s students doing the same. In those days, people put a positive value on the old-fashioned, individualistic, quirky and traditional, and were prepared to make an effort to understand it, whereas now they prefer instant gratification and having everything served up on a plate.
As I’ve mentioned before (http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/a-taste-of-tradition.html), the appreciation of the past has greatly diminished. CAMRA, to its great credit, continues to maintain the National Inventory (http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/home/home.asp), but a growing number of members fail to see the point. I remember when any move by the breweries to “knock through” or “gut” a pub was roundly condemned, but now it’s often welcomed as “making it brighter and more contemporary”.
Much the same is true in the beer sphere, which maybe deserves a post of its own. And I can’t help thinking that in this relentless pursuit of modernity and innovation we’re losing something. Give me a pint of Draught Bass in an unspoilt wood-panelled snug any day!


More... (http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-futures-so-bright-you-gotta-wear.html)