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PUB CLOSURES - CONTINUED<br />
issue) which should make it harder to convert<br />
pubs to shops or other uses without a<br />
full planning application being made to and<br />
approved by the local authority. This could<br />
help save many local, community pubs.<br />
An annoying issue with closed pubs is that<br />
often they lie derelict or boarded up for<br />
months if not years before being developed.<br />
Apart from being an eyesore they could still<br />
have been trading!<br />
I pass by The County Arms in Watlington<br />
Street very often and what a sad sight that<br />
is. Once a fine Morland pub, it must be one<br />
of the slowest redevelopment sites in town<br />
as it has been shut for years and is still a<br />
long way off becoming new flats.<br />
“An annoying issue<br />
with closed pubs is that<br />
they lie derelict or<br />
boarded up for months<br />
if not years before<br />
being developed”<br />
While the local boozer gets shut down, we<br />
continue to see new “venue or theme bars”<br />
opening up in our towns and cities. While<br />
they may offer something different to<br />
drinkers they are not proper pubs as I know<br />
them. However, one interesting twist on the<br />
subject is the rise of micropubs. These are<br />
small units – often closed shops – where a<br />
minimalistic pub is set up, usually with one<br />
or two people running it selling cask beers<br />
and cider; no lagers; no machines; no TVs<br />
etc., just beer and conversation. The nearest<br />
example is in Newbury (The Cow and Cask)<br />
and these new ventures often breathe life<br />
into areas where real ale has been hard to<br />
find or where the nearest pub has been converted<br />
to an eating house or theme bar.<br />
When I was in Australia recently my brother<br />
took me to his “local” which was a modern<br />
pub in a small shopping precinct (very similar<br />
to our estate pubs). This had two bars<br />
with the lounge being for drinkers with a<br />
small section of diners (pub grub). The old<br />
public bar had been converted into a bookies<br />
run by the Tote, where you could get a<br />
beer and put your bets on at the same time.<br />
It seemed to me a great idea – look at the<br />
number of bookmakers that are next to or<br />
very near a pub in the Reading area, so<br />
instead of filling in your betting slip in the<br />
pub and running next door to place the bet,<br />
you could do it all in one place. Sadly, our<br />
laws would not allow this, but if it did it<br />
might have been a way of saving some of<br />
our now-closed estate boozers.<br />
Anyway, at the end of the day the message<br />
from CAMRA is still “Use it or Lose it”<br />
British pubs are unique and admired the<br />
world over so let’s fight to keep as many<br />
open as we can.<br />
Dave McKerchar<br />
Over 96%<br />
of Britain’s<br />
real ale pubs<br />
featured<br />
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