by Michael King

Created on: January 24, 2010

Not long ago, when my father was his peak of health, the British pub centred a village, or a collaboration of them would make the foundation of town or even a city. I know this, not from personal experience, but from endless family tales about the rather clichéd "good old days".

Apparently, at least, pubs used to be a routine for ages alike, "fancy a pint?" was not a request, but a call to duty; The answer was not heard, simply assumed. Naturally there were always groups, clicks and gangs within any local hangout, but all united under the crown, rose or head after which their pub was named. Hoards of working class men could drain the day's toil away laughing heartily with a pint and a cigarette, all the while only three metres away from his boss, the same one that had tormented him throughout the day.

Long ago, in the early times of human civilization we drew our drive to carry on from the gods, humans believed that life was worth living, despite inhospitable conditions, because afterwards would be a swarm of pearly white angels to direct them into the afterlife, or perhaps 72 virgins, all dependant on the particular faith. However, in a modernising world of science, as religion started to decline, the humble pub took over the duty of giving shelter and motivation to the less fortunate. Any man or woman was welcome, depending I suppose on the landlord, in a pub to relax, get warm and feel amongst friends.

Nowadays the pub industry is in serious decline for a multitude of reasons:

♦ Competition from cheaper supermarket off licenses:

The practice of downing three or four pints before you even leave the comfort of your own home is throttling the economy on which the pub is based. It's understandable, for supermarket beer is usually about a quarter of the price one would pay in a standard pub.

Indeed, before poor economic circumstance helped to give the pub a halo that brought people in from far around to bathe in, however a more prosperous and economically stable Britain, despite the recession, there is less demand for the pub. More people find themselves comfortable in their own homes, not needing to escape. Others find themselves in a similar circumstance, but with a far cheaper alternative through which to spend their money on alcohol.

♦ The recent relaxation of pub licensing laws:

With this new legislation the 24 hour pub was allowed by government. It used to be that there were time restrictions in place to stop the overt drunkard from having

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