Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

[JamesWales]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Cocaine (Or a loose definition of it) It's rampant, it's cheap, and it's utter garbage. The purity levels are low and it's cut with some absolute poison. So many people on it these days.

Coke and pubs aren't incomparable mind are they..

[Tuerto]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Coke and pubs aren't incomparable mind are they..

No, you're right. Although i know plenty of people who sniff at home with a few beers, and a fair few who have a line or two in work.

Back to pubs-For a better understanding on why so many are closing would be to look at the changing role of the working class bloke and society, working practices and the demographics of the least affluent areas. Pubs in more middle class areas have survived because these places haven't seen the shifts that the poorer areas have.

[Divine Wright]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Drinking isn't that bad for you in moderation. Infact i have read that booze can be a net benefit and extend life. Not sure how true that is...maybe with wine at lunch
The social aspect is undoubtedly wonderful for you but hard to measure.

Binge drinking and the resulting chaos is the real killer for pub culture in Wales. Especially in cities and provincial towns.

A pub where people go for a spot of grub and two, three, four pints is a social hub. A pub, or maybe pub/club where people go to drink beyond levels that can be considered enjoyable is an anti-social burden on that part of town. It's certainly not much fun for people who live locally.

That said, I would be in favour of public funding for a traditional pub that can offer food and music, comedy, theatre events. Like a sort of community centre.

[Alan Lung]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Erm… it’d make going out to the pub more financially attractive. I’ve never seen the attraction of sitting on a settee, alone, drinking cans of beer.

What if I don't want to go to a pub,?

[JamesWales]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Binge drinking and the resulting chaos is the real killer for pub culture in Wales. Especially in cities and provincial towns.

A pub where people go for a spot of grub and two, three, four pints is a social hub. A pub, or maybe pub/club where people go to drink beyond levels that can be considered enjoyable is an anti-social burden on that part of town. It's certainly not much fun for people who live locally.

That said, I would be in favour of public funding for a traditional pub that can offer food and music, comedy, theatre events. Like a sort of community centre.

Yeah your last point is key. Pubs are an absolutely critical piece of social infrastructure. People are going to drink, it's so much better to do so in a pub, where you can talk, be looked over, have viewed shared and moderated, as well as walking around more, socialising generally etc.
It's so important.

Like so many similar things, it feels under attack generally in the internet / mobile phone age really.

That said, people travel more too now. People go on more elaborate stag dos and go to town more or other cities. I guess part of it is natural changes but I do think more understandign of how important pubs are is needed.

I'm not sure how important posh pubs are though. I always view pubs as bringing society together. But when you have a kind of modern pub, cashless, charging £6.50 a pint or whatever, they are doing that to keep people out really. I have no time for that and they are almost the opposite of what traditional pubs role is.

[Des Parrot]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Just out of interest, I went out out tonight, to the Wetherspoons in Gloucester. £2.88 a pint & I stopped counting at a thousand people, probably 1200 or so inside. 13 behind the bar, must have been coining it. 10 pints & 2 curries, less than £45

[Der Kaiser]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Just out of interest, I went out out tonight, to the Wetherspoons in Gloucester. £2.88 a pint & I stopped counting at a thousand people, probably 1200 or so inside. 13 behind the bar, must have been coining it. 10 pints & 2 curries, less than £45

Tim Martin will be the last person laughing in the industry, people can get behind causes like 'neverspoons' and supporting local pub prices, but their prices are so much lower than the majority of other pubs that they will always be a preference.

Spoons outside of central London on weekends are absolutely packed, pubs a few minutes away are not for the main. Especially those that don't put sport on.

[splott parker]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

What if I don't want to go to a pub,?

If you want a drink and don’t want to use a pub, drink in your house. The beer will be a bit dearer but if you want to drink anti socially that’s the price to pay. Having a pint socially, in good company, is a treasured thing that seems to be, sadly, slipping away. Humans should be mixing, not sat on their settee on their own on a midweek night clutching a can watching telly.

[Tuerto]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

If you want a drink and don’t want to use a pub, drink in your house. The beer will be a bit dearer but if you want to drink anti socially that’s the price to pay. Having a pint socially, in good company, is a treasured thing that seems to be, sadly, slipping away. Humans should be mixing, not sat on their settee on their own on a midweek night clutching a can watching telly.

I do agree Splotty, And i know that the topic is pubs, but there are other activities other than football and drinking that people can get involved in. Sport, Exercise, courses etc. There's loads to do

[JamesWales]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

If you want a drink and don’t want to use a pub, drink in your house. The beer will be a bit dearer but if you want to drink anti socially that’s the price to pay. Having a pint socially, in good company, is a treasured thing that seems to be, sadly, slipping away. Humans should be mixing, not sat on their settee on their own on a midweek night clutching a can watching telly.

It's enormously important 👍

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

There are plenty of opportunities to mix and socialise without going to a pub

I would rather chat in a community centre or hub than sit in a pub surrounded by people who have been drinking alcohol

After a couple of drinks most people start becoming incredibly boring

[splott parker]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

I do agree Splotty, And i know that the topic is pubs, but there are other activities other than football and drinking that people can get involved in. Sport, Exercise, courses etc. There's loads to do

Sport & local pubs go hand in hand, I equate the demise of local parks football/baseball etc with the demise of pubs. Many teams were formed by lads getting together in their local with a ‘Why don’t we get a side together and join the District or Combination League’. The landlord would be happy encouraging them back after their games, giving them a base, win/win for everyone. You’d play a team away and go back to their base sometimes. I formed friendships, that still last to this day, with opponents throughout Cardiff and beyond through sport, which all stemmed from pubs and clubs. And, importantly, not through being pissheads but through comradeship.

The demise of this has led to ‘estate isolation’ and, perhaps, unhealthy rivalry that didn’t exist yesteryear because you got to know people from other areas, not just through football/rugby/baseball etc but also skittles, darts, pool etc. All, sadly, dying because of the lack of pubs.

[Joe Gillis]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

There’s no such thing as WAG any longer. It’s the Welsh Government. The institution is called the Senedd and has been for years.

If it makes 'em feel good about themselves, bunch of amateurs

[islandblue]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Spot on about the demise of pubs affecting sports teams. Not so many years ago there was four divisions in The Barry and District league and around 50 teams, now it's just two divisions and around 20 sides.

[BLUETIT]

Re: Is it time to nationalise Pubs?

Spot on about the demise of pubs affecting sports teams. Not so many years ago there was four divisions in The Barry and District league and around 50 teams, now it's just two divisions and around 20 sides.

For demise, see darts, used to be every night of the week, multiple leagues, now you’d struggle to find one team