Noone I know drinks in a pub, the cost of a pint other than wetherspoons is too much, other than my Daughter but I'm sure her fella does all the buying. I'll have a pint if I'm out for a meal, I try not to look at the Wine cost if the Mrs is drinking as it just puts a dampener on the evening.
We're lucky to still have two pubs in our village. One is a foodie restaurant pub, but still has strong local wet trade; the other is a quirky tiny bar with a cobbled floor attached to a youth hostel and camp site, that doesn't serve food but does do very good value for money pizzas, so they're contrasting establishments that compliment one another. I try to support both (too much probably).
My local Wetherspoons goes wild on a Thursday lunchtime! All the OAP's blowing their Giro. Pop goes the weasel!
The nearest thing I have to a local is actually miles away; it’s the pub we use on matchdays where we all meet beforehand as we are now scattered far and wide. Only other time I seem to go these days is for leaving dos or for our Fantasy Football transfer window. According to the previous landlord, matchday trade about covered his annual running costs so the locals still had a pub; looking at the fall off in trade since Christmas, that might change in the not too distant future.
We're lucky in the north east to have a good number of small independent brewers. Most pubs round here serve very good, mostly local, ales. But gone are the days when you're offered a choice of six in the same pub, They just can't shift enough now. Most will have one or two. What is a shame is that the vast majority are pale, hoppy, floral or fruity "golden" ales because it's become fashionable. At least in the smaller of our two locals they sell a selection of bottled ales from a local Northumberland family brewer which range from a stout-like almost black mild, to a ruby ale, an amber (what I'd call "proper") bitter to the ubiquitous golden ale. And they're all still under £4 a pint. I've tried to persevere with lager but it's all produced by big brand corporate brewers these days, it's loaded with chemicals, gives me a thick head and heartburn and tastes much the same. Genuine premium European lagers are alright but they're obscenely expensive and I don't drink anything over 4% these days.
Shame the Keelman is now owned by Valiant pub group. Our main pub in the village is a valiant chain pub and it's been through four managers/tenants in two years.
I am pleased to report another pub openong near us, The Old Ship at Cadmore End, Call in if you're out this way
Drink and enjoy what you can when you can because the alternative is only denial of your own pleasure. This rotten stinking country that we currently live in is aimed solely at removing every single pleasure from your lives in the hope that your hard earned money will be better served in paying for the scum of the earth.
I'll be the grown-up and remind everyone that this started out as a serious call for help & advice, not a place to recommend drinks & pubs. Take a look at the first page of posts... EDIT: @Ducbird has moved this from the alcohol-mental-health thread, so if anyone's confused (as I was, seeing it here!), I was referring back to the first page of this thread: https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/alcohol-mental-health.76254/
