English pubs are a national treasure and yet they are dying. People who are watching their pennies go out far less than they used to do and will now often buy their alcoholic tipples from supermarkets. I imagine them drawing their curtains and watching crap on their flatscreen TV's instead of venturing to their local to socialise. Those days seem to be disappearing and far too many English pubs have closed their doors for the very last time. It is tragic.
When I am out and about, rambling through the Peak District or hidden corners of South Yorkshire I will often photograph pubs. A good pub is like a home away from home. A place to meet, to play darts, to chat and crack jokes or just read the daily paper. I will happily contend that no other country in the world has pubs like ours. All the more reason to bewail their decline. Here are five random pubs I have snapped recently:-
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| "The Duke of York" in Elton, Derbyshire |
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| "The Three Swans" in Selby, Yorkshire |
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| "The Crown Inn" in Monk Fryston, Yorkshire |
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| "The Griffin" in Selby, Yorkshire |
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| "The Fat Cat" in Sheffield |
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| "The Greystones" in Sheffield |
Yes I agree that your pubs are unique AND a bit of a national treasure. We love them and the feeling of community they encourage. I love the way a conversation can involve everyone and the fact that you can sit and eat your meal, or have a pint at the bar, or sit down for a coffee/hot chocolate on your way home or after dinner with a random group of people from your little village.
ReplyDeleteI think village pubs are the best and seem to be thriving better than the suburban ones in the bigger towns as the community feeling is still alive there and it is dying in the towns where people shut them selves in their homes after work and watch TV.
Wish we had them here.
It's a difficult problem. Years ago small pubs were often only viable as a second income stream to a family. Then they tried to become restaurants, started opening all hours, admitted children. Little wonder that folk stop at home.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness there are still a few good pubs left.
1 of those looks like where jamie oliver learnt his tricks of the trade.
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HELEN It is true that a good number are thriving - adapting to changing times but the graph of closures keeps heading downwards.
ReplyDeleteADRIAN I think there are many reasons why pubs are in decline - local, cultural, national, financial, historical. It's quite complicated.
AMY JACQUES Thanks for calling by. I don't think Jamie Oliver will have worked in any of those pubs as he is a Londoner and we don't usually allow them Up North.
Last time I regularly frequented an English pub' (in Shropshire), bitter was 50p a pint.
ReplyDeleteThey are all great looking places on the outside. I'm guessing they are inside as well. If we had anything like that around here, I would be a frequent customer. It is great fun getting a little buzz on and then talking. Everything is interesting then!
ReplyDeleteCRO MAGNON Were there cars on the roads back then and had the flushing water closet yet been invented? Who was on the throne?
ReplyDeleteDAVID OLIVER "A little buzz on"? You mean slight effects from drinking alcohol? If I encountered you in one of our English pubs I would challenge you to an arm-wrestling contest.
haha Mr. Pudding, you're on! I'm skinny but wiry. That's supposed to mean something but I dunno. The last time I arm wrestled was in elementary school. We must be reverting to our childhood. Isn't it fun?
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