What has become of the village pub?

[eyeshade]

Mr ES and I visited the newly refurbished local hostelry last night, it has been taken over by new landlords, (who looked 19 and 21) and turned it into a "new age gastronomical diner". It consists of lots of small tables with state of the art lighting and effects, one long bar (no stools), a wine library (?) no vegetarian options on the menu (?) but it is actually a glorified steak house! What happened to our village pub? Apparently the owners don't want to have the "locals" using it as a "local" they want to infuse new age dining into our small village. (That'll go down with farmer Giles). The drinks are vastly overpriced, no real ale (!!!) but it does boast a large wine library (the prices of which have been removed!). Being a mere country yokel, I daresn't ask if I could bring the pooch in with me, so Rover is not too pleased either. I feel all the community spirit has gone now as everyone used to meet at the local pub and I fear that now we may visit maybe once a year if we can afford it. It also makes me feel a bit like a second class citizen. I think it is very sad, what does anyone else think, have you lost your local to a disaster like this?

[CheekyChops]

I totally agree with you eyeshade, there are very few 'local pubs' left nowadays. They have all realised that there is more profit in food and turned into places where you can go for a meal but not really for a drink.

There is no atmosphere in places like that and I don't think you get the same sense of 'community' as there are no regulars from the local area as such, just people from far and wide who come for a meal and then leave.

[spudqueen]

I feel so sorry for you eyeshade, a true local is a fantastic place. In the village I live in we have three pubs, one concentrates on food, one is always struggling (on the third set of people since May I think!) and has tried to turn its self into a tapas bar, but the third pub is a real local. It has real ale, including real mild (a rarity these days), proper food, Wednesday is curry night and Thursday is quiz night. I usually go down to the quiz and actually last night we were discussing how friendly the pub is, the landlord, landlady, bar staff and customers, and how everyone of all ages mixes. I talk to people who are my age, are old enough to be my parents and even to the young ones where I'm old enough to be their mother! Lets hope that the pub where you live is not exactly a success and someone else takes over that knows what their doing.
There's nothing wrong with wine bars and trendy bars and trendy eating places, as long as there's a choice. Not much good if it's the only pub in the village!

[spudqueen]

Why do I always notice spelling mistakes after I've posted? it should of course read 'know what they're doing'!

[Hapus]

Oh hurrah for my local pub - there are 4 in town - 1 is posh, 1 is worse than satan's buttox, 1 is full of young folk listening to loud music, and the other is my local where I sit in MY chair, with my mates and chit chat about everything. I've known the owner for yonkers and all in all its totally ace.
As an aside - a new "Bistro" has opened in town - with a shepherd's pie on the menu offered for the princely sum of 14 quid!!! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?

[eyeshade]

Spudqueen I want to live where you live!! So some do still exist but for how long? I tried to make my voice heard last night although difficult as drinks were free all night so had to make the most of that one! (suffering now though) but I can't imagine going back there for some time which is a real shame.

Hapus, that surely must be a price mistake?? Someone must have added a 1 in front of the 4 in error, either that it is damn good shepherds pie - praps it contains real shepherds?