Postby terry_again » Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:22 pm
Many pubs have closed, both before and since the smoking ban. Back in the 1860s the Hastings area had a pub or beer house for every 110 people and there was more of these outlets than there was days of the year.
The smoking ban has undoubtedly hurt the pub industry badly, but there are many other factors such as cheap supermarket booze, lack-lustre management, the economic downturn and a short term profit culture which leads to pubs being closed and sold for a quick profit rather than keeping them going as a sustained business. The lack of an area where smokers can go with their drinks is a definite handicap, but some still survive.
This may be good news for the pubs that remain open, however, it isn't always that simple. The case of the Marina Fountain for instance. This pub continues to do a good trade and is (in my opinion) one of, if not the, best run, safest and friendliest pub in the Hastings area, but its location in Caves Road is far from the town centre and the bus service in the evening is non existent. Even this isn't the whole story. There is only one alternative pub in its immediate area and many people have expressed the opinion that if they didn't like the Fountain, the Bo Peep (Bop Heap) is the only place left to go. Once there were two other boozers in Caves Road, giving more variety. The Bop Heap is a fine pub on the right night, but it caters for a very different 'crowd.' I'd hate it if people thought I was slagging it off, I'm not. It can be seen that this why we have areas such as Robertson Street where there are large numbers of pubs in a small area. I'll add that I rarely visit any of these pubs, so can't comment on them.
It's also true that pubs tend to follow a particular theme. ie. live music pubs, sports bars, etc. There are different pubs catering for different musical tastes as well. Whilst this 'theme' idea isn't new, it is far more defined today than ever before. Some pubs still attempt to be all things to all men, but they rarely achieve the reputation required to attract a large following.
All pubs have their regulars, but the local boozer is now more likely to contain additional people who have travelled a sometimes surprising distance to spend time with old friends and acquire new ones. Of course, this is bad news for such people's own local pub, but that is likely to benefit from people outside its immediate area as well, so it evens out.
In some ways the smoking ban has made pubs more sociable as smokers gathering outside often find themselves chatting to people they would never have spoken to inside the pub. This phenomenon has become so well known, that even non smokers often congregate outside purely for the conversation.
A non smoking friend bemoans the fact that she is frequently left sitting alone in the pub guarding a mountain of handbags and drinks while her friends are outside smoking and nattering.
Pub culture continues to evolve even though there are fewer pubs. Every pub has its own character and its own characters. This is the way it has always been, but as I pointed out above, many of these people have travelled some distance to use that particular pub, because that is where they meet their friends, where they fit in, where they feel comfortable and more importantly, safe. It is often the case that people rarely, if ever, visit their local and then protest loudly when it closes.
Most of the pubs that have closed appear to be small traditional local pubs that relied entirely on people in their immediate neighbourhood for their custom. This type of pub is rapidly becoming an anachronism, although some can provide an excellent environment, but they are often only visited briefly by people who then move on to more exciting outlets.
We are very fortunate in Hastings to have so many well run, safe and friendly pubs from which to choose. Some towns don't have any such pubs. I won't comment on modern pubs such as Yates or Weatherspoons as these are not to my liking and I rarely visit them.
A list of pubs that have closed since the smoking ban would probably be misleading as the smoking ban is rarely the only factor. However, here are a few, although this is by no means a complete list. (some of these may have closed prior to the ban's introduction).
The Smugglers (formally the Wellington). This was a friendly live music pub often used by people who simply didn't fit in anywhere else. A few regulars now use the Tubman.
The Langham. A large pub with a small bar and little going for it.
The Bulverhythe.
The Beaconsfield.
The Queen Adelaide.
The Whitefriars.
The Manor. This pub's closure surprised many, but like the Langham and the Whitefriars, it was a large building, originally constructed as a hotel, that in recent years only made money from the bar.
The Granville. A pub with all the character and charm of a fish and chip shop.
The Malvern (formally the New Broom) The only pub in a large housing estate. What went wrong?
The Royal Sussex Arms. Another surprise closure.
Crown House. Not really anyone's idea of a pub. Some of the Crown House furniture can now be found in the recently refurbished Carlisle.
There are also a number of pubs that have closed and subsequently reopened, sometimes under a new name.
There are a few areas that have never had any pubs in them due to restrictive covenants by Victorian religious extremists such as Clive Vale, although there was the short lived Forester's Arms Beer House and Wood's Beer House which seems to have lasted a bit longer. The (pre smoking ban) Clive Vale Hotel was in Ore Village and the Ashburnham and Belmont are technically outside the Clive Vale area.
