Brewery Tap closed

[Laughing Gravy]

Another one bites the dust. My local recently went the same way after over 200 years of service (it was a really decent pub in a lovely building which no doubt will now be carved up into flats). Pubs are closing at an alarming rate and these important social meeting places and parts of our heritage are not seen as worthy of government intervention to try and save them. Many small villages have seen thei only boozer close along with their post office and other shops. They're not much more than satelite dormatory housing settlements now. I hate to sound like a rose-tinted Little Englander but this nation really is going to shit.

The Goverenment are not going to help. Its there fault that all the pubs are shutting in the first place. The tax on booze is killing pubs. You are lucky to get 3 pints for a tenner now.
Its just too expensive.

 

[Public Pervert]

The Goverenment are not going to help. Its there fault that all the pubs are shutting in the first place. The tax on booze is killing pubs. You are lucky to get 3 pints for a tenner now.
Its just too expensive.

It makes me livid mate. One of the few things that still sets us apart from anywhere else in this globalised world is our pubs. Once they're gone they're gone for good in the vast majority of cases. Those we do have left are increasingly being forced into becomming gastro pubs or gastly theme bars.

 

[Bwian]

3 Pubs where I live have closed in last 12 months, Leeds a couple of weeks ago seemed to have more closed pubs than open..........................and we have a binge drinking epidemic which wil be solved by raising tax on alchohol.

From the same people that said the smoking ban wouldn't affect pubs!

Those unemployed bar staff must be breathing much easier as the jog their way down to the Job Center Plus.

So you're blaming the government for The Brewery Tap and pubs just like it closing down by making them far nicer places to be by being smoke free?

I think your blame should be directed to the likes of Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's where Specials on beer discourage anyone but die-hard pub users from going to their local. I can buy 12/18 or 20 bottles of good imported beer for about a tenner most weeks. Bottled real ale can be bought much cheaper than in a pub. A decent pint in a pub is near three pounds or more. It isn't hard to figure out why poorly run pubs are closing down-and they're the ones that are closing. Factor in the fact that hardly anybody drinks and drives any more and it's amazing that there are still pubs to go to.

 

[Bwian]

It makes me livid mate. One of the few things that still sets us apart from anywhere else in this globalised world is our pubs.

Those pubs I used to go to when I lived in Canada must have been imagined then.

 

[The Modfather]

sad to see yet another 'proper' pub closing.

Unfortunately, the pub culture in this country is changing regardless of the smoking ban.(incidently, not one of my smoking friends have stopped going to a pub because of the ban).

Most people in there late teens, early twenties are not interested in going the the pub during the week, unlike when I was that age. Therefore, these pubs have to survive solely on the weekend takings. A pub such as the Brewery Tap is pretty much reliant on the cash it takes over the counter the 3 hours prior to an Albion home game. Obviously, totally insufficient to maintain the business as a going concern.

 

[Public Pervert]

Those pubs I used to go to when I lived in Canada must have been imagined then.

Sarcasm really is the lowest form of wit.

I'm not saying nowhere else in the world has pubs but nowhere else in the world has the amount, variety and number of historically significant pubs as the British Isles.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

This. That no-one realises that there's a big gap in the market for a half-decent slightly poncey pub with food in an area not short of a few quid is a bit baffling really.

Talking of boozers in that area, any news on the Dyke Road Tavern btw? There's a site with a lot of potential.

It's a strange one, isn't it? Westdene/Withdean is effectively served by the ridiculously rubbish Sportsman and there isn't another pub for miles.

 

[The Spanish]

So you're blaming the government for The Brewery Tap and pubs just like it closing down by making them far nicer places to be by being smoke free?

I think your blame should be directed to the likes of Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's where Specials on beer discourage anyone but die-hard pub users from going to their local. I can buy 12/18 or 20 bottles of good imported beer for about a tenner most weeks. Bottled real ale can be bought much cheaper than in a pub. A decent pint in a pub is near three pounds or more. It isn't hard to figure out why poorly run pubs are closing down-and they're the ones that are closing. Factor in the fact that hardly anybody drinks and drives any more and it's amazing that there are still pubs to go to.

i would not say they are nicer places to be if they are empty, boarded up,or being converted into rubbish flats and a little bit of your culture dies with it.

crap pubs are great. the best sort. the british pub culture survived and thrived before people thought about stacking up 4 hand cut chips up into a pile and charging 14.95 for them and a piece of fish.

the property boom, tax, demographics and the fact people are utter wank ers nowadays who wont go in anywhere dirty like they are the boy in the f***ing bubble, have done for pubs.

its a real shame we will look back on this time with great regret one day.

 

[Hungry Joe]

i would not say they are nicer places to be if they are empty, boarded up,or being converted into rubbish flats and a little bit of your culture dies with it.

crap pubs are great. the best sort. the british pub culture survived and thrived before people thought about stacking up 4 hand cut chips up into a pile and charging 14.95 for them and a piece of fish.

the property boom, tax, demographics and the fact people are utter wank ers nowadays who wont go in anywhere dirty like they are the boy in the f***ing bubble, have done for pubs.

its a real shame we will look back on this time with great regret one day.

Spot on.

 

[Barry Izbak]

The Station is by far the best pre-match pub imho, although it does get pretty busy.

The post match clientelle are still rather select though aren't they ?

Oh , and the Sunday lunchtime mob, the Thursday quiznight brigade, etc etc

I'm looking forward to welcoming THPP and the exiles from down the road.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Meh, no effort to improve or even change means it went under. That area isn't exactly underpopulated. Put on some decent grub and clean the palce up a bit and it could have done alright IMO.

Let's not beat around the bush, it was a hole.

It was a bit of a shit-hole, I must admit, but the Lanlord wasn't going to spend loads on it, as it wasn't 'officially' his. So, his point of view is why spend money on it, when It might not be mine soon.

 

[BensGrandad]

In 1989 most pubs made a very good living when they were owned by breweries. However there was a change in the make up of pubs and the ownership. Under the guidance of whizz kids who were property orientated the breweries set up companies to run the pubs as property owners and demanded what they called realistic rents based on the square footbage of the pubs. What they didnt take into account was that every square foot of a pub is not occupied by customers and one customer will use up a fair amount of space walkng about, to the bar, darts board toilet etc. As a result the rents were increased to unrealistic levels that people could never pay nor could they be justified. The first of these companies was Inntrepeneur, the forerunner of Enterprise Inns, which owns The Preston Park Tavern and the vast majority of pubs that are closing. The final nail in the coffin was the ban on smoking and I must admit that I wouldnt sign a petition against it because I was one that thought that the good pubs would survive this move, and after a time go from strengtrh to strength. What we didnt calculate was that the government would increase the taxes at such a rate as to make many pubs unviable. It has now been suggested that to combat 'binge drinking' the next budget will put the tax on alcohol at such a level that a bottle of whisky will rise from an average £15 per bottle to £21.50 simarly a bottle of gin. Alcopops will rise from an average £3.50 to over £5,.00 per bottle. What nobody has realised is that this will not affect the people who binge drink but the average drinker who visits the pubs. As a result many pubs are now closed and Enterprise are selling them off to property developers for flats. What it needs are realistic rents and the pubs to revert to brewery ownership whereby the brewers earn some money from their products and some money from the property and the tenants able to earn some money out of their pubs thus making a nice little earn for all.

 

[wigman]

In 1989 most pubs made a very good living when they were owned by breweries. However there was a change in the make up of pubs and the ownership. Under the guidance of whizz kids who were property orientated the breweries set up companies to run the pubs as property owners and demanded what they called realistic rents based on the square footbage of the pubs. What they didnt take into account was that every square foot of a pub is not occupied by customers and one customer will use up a fair amount of space walkng about, to the bar, darts board toilet etc. As a result the rents were increased to unrealistic levels that people could never pay nor could they be justified. The first of these companies was Inntrepeneur, the forerunner of Enterprise Inns, which owns The Preston Park Tavern and the vast majority of pubs that are closing. The final nail in the coffin was the ban on smoking and I must admit that I wouldnt sign a petition against it because I was one that thought that the good pubs would survive this move, and after a time go from strengtrh to strength. What we didnt calculate was that the government would increase the taxes at such a rate as to make many pubs unviable. It has now been suggested that to combat 'binge drinking' the next budget will put the tax on alcohol at such a level that a bottle of whisky will rise from an average £15 per bottle to £21.50 simarly a bottle of gin. Alcopops will rise from an average £3.50 to over £5,.00 per bottle. What nobody has realised is that this will not affect the people who binge drink but the average drinker who visits the pubs. As a result many pubs are now closed and Enterprise are selling them off to property developers for flats. What it needs are realistic rents and the pubs to revert to brewery ownership whereby the brewers earn some money from their products and some money from the property and the tenants able to earn some money out of their pubs thus making a nice little earn for all.

Good read

 

[dougdeep]

It was a dump but it's always sad to see a pub close. To give you an idea about the place if you never visited it. I dropped a pool ball in there on Saturday and it fell through a hole in the floor.

 

[cunning fergus]

So you're blaming the government for The Brewery Tap and pubs just like it closing down by making them far nicer places to be by being smoke free?

I think your blame should be directed to the likes of Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's where Specials on beer discourage anyone but die-hard pub users from going to their local. I can buy 12/18 or 20 bottles of good imported beer for about a tenner most weeks. Bottled real ale can be bought much cheaper than in a pub. A decent pint in a pub is near three pounds or more. It isn't hard to figure out why poorly run pubs are closing down-and they're the ones that are closing. Factor in the fact that hardly anybody drinks and drives any more and it's amazing that there are still pubs to go to.

Yes I am, because the smoking ban has PROVED to be a significant factor that has driven pubs closer to the wall. Then there is tax on booze which has allowed the obscene discrepency between supermarkets and pub prices to arise. Maybe that has to do with c*nt MPs like Shaun Woodward.....what do you think?

There are evidently other factors too, however the Government is behind the key ones and that is a fact as far as I am concerned.

Like you I dont know why the BT has closed however as others have indicated I mourn the loss of these national institutions.

The fact that you don't seem to care indicates where you sit on this crisis...........hope you enjoy your surf and turf.

 

[8ace]

then a game old bird called denise took over but that seemed to end in tears.

She was working in Ladbrokes on First Avenue a few years ago.

 

[BensGrandad]

I believe that whole no smoking issue was attacked wrongly.

The pub owners went for large single bar pubs in the 70s/80s from the days of a public bar, bottle & jug and Saloon bar etc. I think that the government should have allowed pubs the option to revert to 2 or 3 bars and have one of them as a bar where smoking was permitted provided there was adequate ventilation. Even if, to install that cost £5k the publican still had a choice no ventilation no smoking in that bar and that be only permitted in multi bar pubs. Single bars like Wetherspoons etc should have been classed as non smoking. Would that be any worse than walking through a smoke haze at the front door to get into the pub.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Maybe not all lost though for the Tap. Apparently there's a meeting for staff there tomorrow. Hope it turns out OK for them, and indeed for us. Cos THPP for one won't be using the Crown & Anchor on matchdays. Or the Preston Park Hotel. Or the Sportsman even if it was the last pub-like venue on earth. Suppose that only leaves the Railway

 

[Bwian]

The fact that you don't seem to care indicates where you sit on this crisis...........hope you enjoy your surf and turf.

They don't do Surf and Turf in The Evening Star or in any of the pubs I use.

I think it's very naive to always blame the Government for everything that's going wrong in the pub trade. There's a lot more to it than that.

 

[BensGrandad]

As I have said it is a combination of Government Taxes, Pub Ownership companies and the general lack of money available for most people to be able to afford to go to the pub.