LOL – love our local

Reports from the British Beer & Pub Association reveal that in the past 12 months, 2,377 pubs called time on trading (52 closures a week!), causing 24,000 job losses and leaving a chasm in many small communities where the local boozer was traditionally a place to meet and interact as well as sup a pint or two.

The smoking ban, tax hikes on alcohol and changes to the Licensing Act have all contributed to the decline with the recession being the final nail in the coffin for many. People are opting to stay at home instead and crack open a tinny – when my local charged £2.85 for a pint of lime and lemonade last week, you can kind of understand it – however, pubs are as much a part of the British culture as fish and chips and Coronation Steet and some closures are generating social repercussions on a par to the Post Office closures of 2007/08.

Imagine, where would the residents of the Street be without the Rovers? How would Dot Cotton cope without her daily tomato juice and a gossip at The Queen Vic? Some residents like those in Mersham, Kent are getting physically hands on in the quest to save their local, doing everything from investing cash in the Farriers Arms to installing new plumbing after the sudden departure of the previous landlord.

Pubs offering food are faring better but then you generally can’t take your whippet into those or keep your pewter jug behind the bar or sneak a cheeky lock-in. It’s these curious freedoms that make our British boozers great and we should cherish them as extensions of our own home, stained patterned carpets and all.