Another one gone

[dingbattigger]

Mrs D here, I'm a non smoker, never smoked in fact. Used to hate pubs because the smell/smoke in the air would make me cough and my clothes would smell. However I think the total ban is wrong. Landlords should be the ones to decide whether they are a smoke free zone and those like me who don't smoke should just avoid the smoking pubs. It's not rocket science, if you don't like it don't go.

[Weston Super Saint]

Personally - as an Ex landlord with over 12 years running pubs / restaurants - I think a lot of you are over simplifying the argument!

 

Running a pub / bar / restaurant is FECKING hard! Running a successful one is even harder!

 

Smoking ban or not, doesn't really make a huge difference. IF a pub / restaurant is good and has a good reputation, driven by the manager / owner / licensee and his / her team, then people will come. Doesn't matter if there is smoking allowed or not. Conversely if the pub is poorly run, the staff don't want to be there and the manger isn't interested, then they won't!

 

Sadly, a lot of these closures are down to people thinking that running a pub will be easy. All you have to do is get beer, sell beer, drink a little beer and count out lots of pennies in takings! It isn't that simple. Lots of factors at stake to determine success, not least would be rent / rates, beer ties etc, all determining how much money leaves through the back door once it has come in the front door. A lot of people really underestimate how these factors will influence their business when they take on a lease from a large company offering them untold riches and limitless pots of gold!

 

Add to this 'drinking' habits that have changed and the price of alcohol from supermarkets and you get even more closures!

 

My prediction : in a few years time, the traditional 'boozer' will no longer exist. They will be replaced by the nameless, faceless corporations like Wetherspoons who have enormous buying power and can afford to buy cheap and sell for tiny margins but with enormous throughput.

[dune]

because you can't actually have experienced it when you could smoke in pubs and know what it was like 5 years ago (or when ever it was)

 

When has lack of experience ever stopped him from knowing it all.

[Jonnyboy]

Some Hollywood bloke is trying to sue the Hobbit over breach of copyright now.

[Saintandy666]

because you can't actually have experienced it when you could smoke in pubs and know what it was like 5 years ago (or when ever it was)

 

For what it is worth, I had been to smoking pubs and restaurants and venues even at 14... Pubs don't ban kids if they're with parents. Also, just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't talk about why pubs will die in the future if they don't change because they aren't attracting people of my age and also just smoking in general, as I'm sure every person in this country has experience of that.

[Saintandy666]

Personally - as an Ex landlord with over 12 years running pubs / restaurants - I think a lot of you are over simplifying the argument!

 

Running a pub / bar / restaurant is FECKING hard! Running a successful one is even harder!

 

Smoking ban or not, doesn't really make a huge difference. IF a pub / restaurant is good and has a good reputation, driven by the manager / owner / licensee and his / her team, then people will come. Doesn't matter if there is smoking allowed or not. Conversely if the pub is poorly run, the staff don't want to be there and the manger isn't interested, then they won't!

 

Sadly, a lot of these closures are down to people thinking that running a pub will be easy. All you have to do is get beer, sell beer, drink a little beer and count out lots of pennies in takings! It isn't that simple. Lots of factors at stake to determine success, not least would be rent / rates, beer ties etc, all determining how much money leaves through the back door once it has come in the front door. A lot of people really underestimate how these factors will influence their business when they take on a lease from a large company offering them untold riches and limitless pots of gold!

 

Add to this 'drinking' habits that have changed and the price of alcohol from supermarkets and you get even more closures!

 

My prediction : in a few years time, the traditional 'boozer' will no longer exist. They will be replaced by the nameless, faceless corporations like Wetherspoons who have enormous buying power and can afford to buy cheap and sell for tiny margins but with enormous throughput.

 

Thank you! A good contribution... as I said earlier, my local was dying under previous ownership, but is now flourishing under the great new ownership and it is rarely not busy.

 

What will kill pubs is supermarkets and the fact that younger people aren't interested in them as much so as my generation comes through, that'll hit the pubs as well.

[Turkish]

Thank you! A good contribution... as I said earlier, my local was dying under previous ownership, but is now flourishing under the great new ownership and it is rarely not busy.

 

What will kill pubs is supermarkets and the fact that younger people aren't interested in them as much so as my generation comes through, that'll hit the pubs as well.

 

Isn't it great hearing opinions from people with experience who know what they are talking about young Andy?

 

Tell me, why arent supermarkets and the lack of interest from your generation in pubs not effecting your local which is flourishing?

Edited 11 March, 2012 by Turkish

[Thedelldays]

Thank you! A good contribution... as I said earlier, my local was dying under previous ownership, but is now flourishing under the great new ownership and it is rarely not busy.

 

What will kill pubs is supermarkets and the fact that younger people aren't interested in them as much so as my generation comes through, that'll hit the pubs as well.

super markets did cheap booze when I was 18....even cheaper than now andy

[dvaughanwilliams]

Wseton Super Saint hints at what I consider to be one of the most important factors when he mentions rates and beer ties.

 

In this country most of the independent pubs are owned by a company like Punch Taverns who then lease the premises to the landlord. Part of this deal is that they have to buy their beer via Punch.

 

Punch Taverns is a company with an *innovative* financial structure that is so good it lead to the FT's Alphaville Blog to call it the Toxic Pub Co. It went in for that 'securitisation' that worked so well for the American mortgage industry and is absolutely stuffed with debt.

 

This means for the company to survive, they haven't been able to improve or modernise the premises whilst also charging extra for the beer. The beer may be available on the open market for a lot less, but the tie means it would be a breach of contract to buy it.

 

A few years ago when the economy was running well, the debt was cheap and it was probably a little bit easier to make money. People were much happier to go out and fling their money about. Now that people are feeling the squeeze, they are still going out but drinking more at home before they go out. Less disposable income for customers + increased costs for landlords, forcing them to increase prices is not a formula for success.

[View From The Top]

Personally I love the smoking ban, however, landlords should have been able to have a smoking/non smoking bar.

 

One great thing up this way, that all the sh it pubs are closing, the mongs flock to 'spoons where the can be corralled and there are plenty of independent pubs, run by small breweries, opening. 3 recently in our town, all are excellent and packed with people who like beer, and not the chavy lager drinking, shoes from Asda, white shirts untucked, brigade.

[Rut]

I bet most of the pubs that are closing down everywhere are the sort of pubs that the 'you smoke, I choke' brigade probably wouldn't have ever gone in anyway.

 

That said - I think it ain't just the smoking ban that has killed a lot of pubs off. Nowadays most people have more quality entertainment at home. Big HD/3D TV's, home theatres (with tons of channels & live sport to watch on these TVs), DVD/Blue Ray players, game consoles, the Internet etc etc. Ask half the kids nowadays if they fancy a game of darts and they'll go 'sure' and start to boot it up on their Playstation. Times have changed a lot in recent years...

[sotonjoe]

To be honest, if you try to detach yourself from the emotive aspects of the issue, there are areas such as Shirley High Street where there was an alarmingly high number of pubs before they started closing, and it's arguably common sense that some of them have shut down. I can't imagine a time when they would all have been full and doing good business because there were simply so many of them. The pubs that will remain will be decent establishments which the majority of people would be happy to set foot in without fear of taking a glass in the face for looking at a local in the wrong way.

[Saintandy666]

Isn't it great hearing opinions from people with experience who know what they are talking about young Andy?

 

Tell me, why arent supermarkets and the lack of interest from your generation in pubs not effecting your local which is flourishing?

 

Because it is extremely well run, and does lots of events to appeal to people and is very friendly.

 

I didn't mean that lack of interest from my generation is killing pubs now, supermarkets and badly run ones are, but that is what will kill it in the end as the generations move through.

 

And yes, it is great to have contributions from people who are experienced in the field. Have you run a pub? If not, perhaps you shouldn't say anything on this thread either. In fact, lets just not comment on anything ever on this internet forum.

[Saintandy666]

super markets did cheap booze when I was 18....even cheaper than now andy

 

Fair enough, if you are early thirties... but supermarkets in the last few years have got a lot more aggressive with alcohol pricing, and a generation ago the supermarkets weren't quite the same.

[Weston Super Saint]

Personally I love the smoking ban, however, landlords should have been able to have a smoking/non smoking bar.

 

Completely impractical though....

 

If you let pubs choose for themselves - they are a public place - this would leave the ban open for choosing for all other public places like libraries, cinemas, bowling alleys, offices etc etc.

 

Far easier to govern and police if it is a straight ban in ALL public places.

[Saintandy666]

Completely impractical though....

 

If you let pubs choose for themselves - they are a public place - this would leave the ban open for choosing for all other public places like libraries, cinemas, bowling alleys, offices etc etc.

 

Far easier to govern and police if it is a straight ban in ALL public places.

 

Exactly.

[Turkish]

Because it is extremely well run, and does lots of events to appeal to people and is very friendly.

 

I didn't mean that lack of interest from my generation is killing pubs now, supermarkets and badly run ones are, but that is what will kill it in the end as the generations move through.

 

And yes, it is great to have contributions from people who are experienced in the field. Have you run a pub? If not, perhaps you shouldn't say anything on this thread either. In fact, lets just not comment on anything ever on this internet forum.

 

So what's to say there won't be extremely well run, very friendly pubs that do lots of event to appeal to people in the future?

 

Actually, I have run a pub, well was bar manager in one about 14 years ago and I've been drinking in them every week for almost as long as you've been alive, I'm sure you know better though.

[View From The Top]

Completely impractical though....

 

If you let pubs choose for themselves - they are a public place - this would leave the ban open for choosing for all other public places like libraries, cinemas, bowling alleys, offices etc etc.

 

Far easier to govern and police if it is a straight ban in ALL public places.

 

Fair enough. As I said though, I'm all for it personally.

[Saintandy666]

So what's to say there won't be extremely well run, very friendly pubs that do lots of event to appeal to people in the future?

 

Actually, I have run a pub, well was bar manager in one about 14 years ago and I've been drinking in them every week for almost as long as you've been alive, I'm sure you know better though.

 

I'm not claiming to know better. But to use the age card again is a poor point. I, like many millions, am just arguing for the smoking ban. You are arguing against it. It's not as if my opinion is totally ridiculous or unheard of.

 

So, you agree that pubs are shutting down because they aren't well run? I never said that ALL pubs will die, just that they are being killed by factors I said.

[Turkish]

I'm not claiming to know better. But to use the age card again is a poor point. I, like many millions, am just arguing for the smoking ban. You are arguing against it. It's not as if my opinion is totally ridiculous or unheard of.

 

So, you agree that pubs are shutting down because they aren't well run? I never said that ALL pubs will die, just that they are being killed by factors I said.

 

I'm not arguing against the smoking ban at all, read the thread. Your experience of pubs seems to be as a little boy filled with wonder and excitement at being taken out for tea there by your parents and probably winning the quiz night at your local in your little, white, middle class town.

 

Pubs are shutting down for a number of reasons, a lot of it to do with prices, people just can't afford to go out as often as they did 4-5 years ago. Going to the pub is a social thing and when you've got to cut down on things that is the first to go.

[Saintandy666]

I'm not arguing for the smoking ban at all, read the thread. Your experience of pubs seems to be as a little boy filled with wonder and excitement at being taken out for tea there by your parents and probably winning the quiz night at your local in you little, white, middle class town.

 

Pubs are shutting down for a number of reasons, a lot of it to do with prices, people just can't afford to go out as often as they did 4-5 years ago. Going to the pub is a social thing and when you've got to cut down on things that is the first to go.

 

I don't live in a little white middle class town and am certainly not filled with wonder at them.

 

The fact of the matter is, as you say people are staying in and opting for the cheaper option of supermarket beer at home. And to add to the two pronged attack, people seem to be going more to bars and clubs to drink these days too.

[Turkish]

I don't live in a little white middle class town and am certainly not filled with wonder at them.

 

The fact of the matter is, as you say people are staying in and opting for the cheaper option of supermarket beer at home. And to add to the two pronged attack, people seem to be going more to bars and clubs to drink these days too.

 

But that doesnt seem to be the case at your local does it.

[Saintandy666]

But that doesnt seem to be the case at your local does it.

 

No, because it is well run and friendly. Other pubs nearby are always empty and lots are closing. Only the better run runs are surviving.

[Whitey Grandad]

Pubs are too expensive, they have priced themselves out of business, especially food and soft drinks.

[Saintandy666]

Pubs are too expensive, they have priced themselves out of business, especially food and soft drinks.

 

That's a big problem as well, and there's not much they can do about it unless they provide something different. The big chains which are near enough to the independents can offer a pint a whole pound cheaper.

[Turkish]

No, because it is well run and friendly. Other pubs nearby are always empty and lots are closing. Only the better run runs are surviving.

 

Nothing to do with supermarkets selling cheap booze and others choosing to go to clubs then?

[Turkish]

That's a big problem as well, and there's not much they can do about it unless they provide something different. The big chains which are near enough to the independents can offer a pint a whole pound cheaper.

 

Which is why weatherspoons is full of dinlows. Personally I'd pay more and drink in a decent environment.

[Saintandy666]

Nothing to do with supermarkets selling cheap booze and others going to clubs then?

 

I don't understand your reply in relation to my point. My point is that the factors I mentioned are squeezing the pub sector and so there isn't enough room for all the pubs there are at the moment and so only the better run ones survive.

[Saintandy666]

Which is why weatherspoons is full of dinlows. Personally I'd pay more and drink in a decent environment.

 

I agree, but most don't seem to take that opinion.

[Thedelldays]

Which is why weatherspoons is full of dinlows. Personally I'd pay more and drink in a decent environment.

 

like Yates...?

[Turkish]

I don't understand your reply in relation to my point. My point is that the factors I mentioned are squeezing the pub sector and so there isn't enough room for all the pubs there are at the moment and so only the better run ones survive.

 

Your point was pubs are dying because of cheap booze at supermarkets and people going to bars and clubs yet on your very doorstep in your little white middle class town is an example of a pub that is thriving and clearly not effected by the things you claim.

[Turkish]

like Yates...?

 

God that's even worse.

[Saintandy666]

God that's even worse.

 

There are some nice Wetherspoons. When I was up in Edinburgh recently, they had some newer ones which were very well done.

[View From The Top]

In my town we have a chavs Spoons and a posh Spoons believe it or not. Totally different clientele.

[scotty]

Your point was pubs are dying because of cheap booze at supermarkets and people going to bars and clubs yet on your very doorstep in your little white middle class town is an example of a pub that is thriving and clearly not effected by the things you claim.

 

Yeh, but how much does Andy actually drink when he gets there? If he's that fussy about a bit of secondhand smoke entering his nostrils, what level of alcohol is he prepared to allow into his bloodstream? I recall a landlord bemoaning the smoking ban telling me that the non-smokers might come into the boozers in greater numbers, but none of the f*ckers drink. They just nurse a pint of diet coke all night and think their socialising.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Don't quite know why people seem to be picking on SaintAndy. What so he's young and less experienced? So what. This would be a very quiet board indeed if only the suitably qualified and experienced were allowed an opinion.

[swisscottager]

Its companies like Spirit and Punch,Mitchells and Butlers who are killing it. I work for a firm on behalf of Spirit and they are driven by one thing only.. the revenue they can get from food. Wet pubs are are a dying format not because of non smoking but because people cant afford £3.20 a pint and a crap surrounding. Blokes dont do all day sessions any more and pubs are having to gear up around 'events' to get the punters in ie the football,rugby etc..

Was in Shirley High street a few saturdays ago and most of the pubs had only smokers as their customers and they were all outside soaking up the sunshine!!

Kids are'nt interested as they dont have the beer mentality that we all had in the past.

Shame but life moves on and pubs will become fewer and fewer and more specialist to suit their locality.

[scotty]

Its companies like Spirit and Punch,Mitchells and Butlers who are killing it. I work for a firm on behalf of Spirit and they are driven by one thing only.. the revenue they can get from food. Wet pubs are are a dying format not because of non smoking but because people cant afford £3.20 a pint and a crap surrounding. Blokes dont do all day sessions any more and pubs are having to gear up around 'events' to get the punters in ie the football,rugby etc..

Was in Shirley High street a few saturdays ago and most of the pubs had only smokers as their customers and they were all outside soaking up the sunshine!!

Kids are'nt interested as they dont have the beer mentality that we all had in the past.

Shame but life moves on and pubs will become fewer and fewer and more specialist to suit their locality.

 

Well there you go, its a self-defeating argument isnt it. The people that go to pubs usually smoke, youve just said it yourself.

[Brussels Saint]

I know a lot of pubs are closing, but is it not also the case a lot of new ones open?

 

What's the net effect?

 

I love great British pubs and whenever I'm back home in Cornwall or visiting friends in the Cotswold's, I find great pubs all fairly packed to the rafters.

 

Honestly, for me the pubs of today are much better than when I was a student in Cheltenham in the 90's.

Perhaps there are fewer pubs, but those that remain are often very good.

[SNSUN]

Do I miss smoking in pubs? Yes, principally because I'm lazy by nature and preferred not to have to get up and go outside to smoke.

 

Do I support the smoking ban? Yes. Sat in a booth smoking, I used to practically chain smoke. Now I rarely get up to go outside, and I feel better for it. The non-smokers in my friendship group are still suffering though, as the smokers (which is most of us) will go outside for a fag, end up chatting away, leaving the non-smokers inside twiddling their thumbs. (The smoking lot are the conversationalists of my friendship group.)

 

As for pubs closing, it's a shame. The one next door to me has closed down, although the one down the road is thriving. Most people I know (including me) forego going to a pub and instead use chain bars with cheaper alcohol. Also, When I walk into a local pub that I hardly go in, I get stared down by the regulars that don't know me, almost as if they were thinking "what are you doing in my pub". In bars, nobody bats an eyelid. I feel more comfortable in bars. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to become a regular in my local, but as I can't drink the day before work, AND I do shiftwork, so I can't really commit to a regular drink, so don't get to know the regulars, and as such I tend to go on the odd binge in town, in the bars and clubs instead.

 

Who knows, perhaps it's the social side of pubs. With distractions like TV, Internet, Games Consoles and cheap drink at home, and the fact that strangers don't communicate between each other as much as they used to, maybe that's why pubs are suffering.

[Saint in Paradise]

For all smokers, read and wonder.

 

Even a social puff is a stupid idea – from now till eternity

 

By Laura Beil

0 to 10 seconds

 

As you take the first drag, smoke passes through your mouth and leaves a faint brown film on your teeth. Toxic gases such as formaldehyde and ammonia immediately put your immune system on alert, causing all-over inflammation. According to Dr Raymond Seidler, GP and addiction specialist, of the thousands of nasties found in cigarettes, around 50 chemicals cause cancer.

 

Once in the windpipe, the smoke temporarily slows your cilia, the tiny sweepers that work to clear your respiratory system of mucus and invading particles.

 

Meanwhile, airborne nicotine passes instantly into your bloodstream through the millions of capillaries in your lungs.

 

Your body gets a jolt of energy as that nicotine hits your adrenal glands. Caroline Miller, chair of the Cancer Council’s Tobacco Issues Committee, says it triggers an outpouring of adrenaline that “stimulates the body, causing a sudden release of glucose as well as an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and respiration.” This means your heart is unable to relax fully between beats – and you are now at a higher risk of having a stroke. And as you take a puff, carbon dioxide is starting to build up in your blood, limiting your body’s ability to transport oxygen to your vital organs.

You should know

 

The average cigarette is gone in about 10 puffs and five minutes, during which time 4000 chemicals infiltrate your system. No wonder they call ’em coffin (coughin’) nails...

 

5 minutes

 

Dopamine levels (which skyrocket when nicotine hits your brain) quickly plummet back to normal and your body yearns for another high – even if you’re not aware of it.

 

“Strangely, nicotine is a stimulant and a depressant,” says Dr Seidler. “It releases stress and anxiety, but also causes the feeling of withdrawal once cigarettes are eliminated.” So, if you frequently give in to the craving, your brain will get hooked and you’ll crash when you try to stop. According to Miller: “Research on drug dependence on people who start tobacco use shows almost one third (32 per cent) become addicted. This is a much higher addiction rate than for users of heroin (23 per cent), cocaine (17 per cent), alcohol (15 per cent) or cannabis (9 per cent).”

 

Now the cigarette smoke is gone, but your body will be mopping up toxic substances for the next six to eight hours.

Forever

 

The cigarette’s parting gift: gooey brown tar in your lungs, containing carcinogens that can produce tumours.

[scotty]

For all smokers, read and wonder.

 

Even a social puff is a stupid idea – from now till eternity

 

By Laura Beil

0 to 10 seconds

 

As you take the first drag, smoke passes through your mouth and leaves a faint brown film on your teeth. Toxic gases such as formaldehyde and ammonia immediately put your immune system on alert, causing all-over inflammation. According to Dr Raymond Seidler, GP and addiction specialist, of the thousands of nasties found in cigarettes, around 50 chemicals cause cancer.

 

Once in the windpipe, the smoke temporarily slows your cilia, the tiny sweepers that work to clear your respiratory system of mucus and invading particles.

 

Meanwhile, airborne nicotine passes instantly into your bloodstream through the millions of capillaries in your lungs.

 

Your body gets a jolt of energy as that nicotine hits your adrenal glands. Caroline Miller, chair of the Cancer Council’s Tobacco Issues Committee, says it triggers an outpouring of adrenaline that “stimulates the body, causing a sudden release of glucose as well as an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and respiration.” This means your heart is unable to relax fully between beats – and you are now at a higher risk of having a stroke. And as you take a puff, carbon dioxide is starting to build up in your blood, limiting your body’s ability to transport oxygen to your vital organs.

You should know

 

The average cigarette is gone in about 10 puffs and five minutes, during which time 4000 chemicals infiltrate your system. No wonder they call ’em coffin (coughin’) nails...

 

5 minutes

 

Dopamine levels (which skyrocket when nicotine hits your brain) quickly plummet back to normal and your body yearns for another high – even if you’re not aware of it.

 

“Strangely, nicotine is a stimulant and a depressant,” says Dr Seidler. “It releases stress and anxiety, but also causes the feeling of withdrawal once cigarettes are eliminated.” So, if you frequently give in to the craving, your brain will get hooked and you’ll crash when you try to stop. According to Miller: “Research on drug dependence on people who start tobacco use shows almost one third (32 per cent) become addicted. This is a much higher addiction rate than for users of heroin (23 per cent), cocaine (17 per cent), alcohol (15 per cent) or cannabis (9 per cent).”

 

Now the cigarette smoke is gone, but your body will be mopping up toxic substances for the next six to eight hours.

Forever

 

The cigarette’s parting gift: gooey brown tar in your lungs, containing carcinogens that can produce tumours.

 

 

True, but you might get run over by a bus tomorrow. Go on, have a fag!!

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

Completely impractical though....

 

If you let pubs choose for themselves - they are a public place - this would leave the ban open for choosing for all other public places like libraries, cinemas, bowling alleys, offices etc etc.

 

Far easier to govern and police if it is a straight ban in ALL public places.

 

 

I do not subscribe to that. Pubs are not owned by the local authority they are private business's and it should have been up to the people who run the premises as to whether they implemented a smoking ban. I like the smoking ban even as a smoker but it was a law that hit the trade very hard. As ever it was a law made by people who do not go into pubs.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

In 1970 90% of beer sold in the UK was sold in pubs and bars; now it is about 50:50. That is a part of our culture being eroded and is very sad. In my opinion it is down to supermarkets using beer as a loss leader widening the price differential between on and off trade. We also have more of a BBQ culture now so any hot weather encourages us to invite people round for a BBQ rather than meet in a pub garden. Dramatic improvementsIn-house entertainment has also kept people at home. The pub is also very cash driven and we carry less cash around.

 

The big pubcos have also screwed their tenants and leaseholders so much that they cannot invest in their business's meaning that there are thousands of grubby pubs around the country that nobody wants to go in.

[Wurzel]

Going back to the link in the OP can anyone tell me where this was? Listed as Weston but I can't place it at all

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/hampshire/southampton_jollysailor.html

[ladysaint]

Going back to the link in the OP can anyone tell me where this was? Listed as Weston but I can't place it at all

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/hampshire/southampton_jollysailor.html

We have also debated the whereabouts of that pub and no one can remember it, maybe someone on here will be interested to find out where it was.

[Micky]

For all smokers, read and wonder.

 

Even a social puff is a stupid idea – from now till eternity

 

By Laura Beil

0 to 10 seconds

 

As you take the first drag, .......

 

........carcinogens that can produce tumours.

 

Total waste of time I'm afraid - if you've ever been a smoker then you'll appreciiate it's highly unlikely that any sort of literature is going to change your mind. Have you seen some of the pictures on the side of fag packets these days - and yet still people buy them. Smoking is an addiction, a low level drug admittedly - but an addiction all the same, it takes a lot of will power to overcome.

[Wurzel]

We have also debated the whereabouts of that pub and no one can remember it, maybe someone on here will be interested to find out where it was.

 

Answered my own question now. A bit of detective work locates it ................in Petersfield. So nowhere near Weston, Southampton at all then

[Whitey Grandad]

Answered my own question now. A bit of detective work locates it ................in Petersfield. So nowhere near Weston, Southampton at all then

 

So when they said it was lost...

[Seaford Saint]

I send my woman to Costco for 24 bottles of real ale £1 a pint for a good drop of stuff.

 

If the price is right and we have the space I have nipped out and bought 100 bottles. We used to have around 150 bottles of wine, too. We have cut down our consumption now.

 

I still go into pubs....LSB in Newbury is good, live music and all that....you can't beat it. So for me in my mid 50's its live music and food a la the Concorde Club. LSB etc or I will stay in.

 

Not sure how we fit into the demographics though.