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[Jacko]

There all dead in the week because of weatherspoons, pubs can't compete

[distancetraveller]

Sadly the traditional drinking pub is becoming an endagered species not only in Alty but countrywide.

Theme pubs are taking over plus the smoking ban has seen the demise of traditional pubs over recent years.

To make a living in the pub trade these days you have to serve food otherwise you will fail...

Supermarkets selling cut price beers and spirits  are the biggest culprits of  pubs going under and the reason market towns are becoming empty ...FACT....

[Dougals Dad]

And as for the lowlifes and druggies comments,i bet these people are happy enough to drink and eat with the great and the good on ashley road at a weekend amongst the wealthy drug dealers and rich kids that shove half of peru up their hooters,and as for turning the bridge into a gastro pub,every other pub is gastro pub nowadays,what if i just want a pint after work? Why should i share my space with people having a family meal.

I can think of only 2  words that begin with gastro: gastro-pub and gastroenteritis.

Coincidence? I think not!

[fuertes]

Country pubs are dying on their arse/morphing into restaurants that happen to sell beer because drinking and driving is now frowned upon.

Urban and suburban pubs are dying because alcohol in supermarkets is so cheap (smoking ban is unhelpful, but it's only right that smokers are asked to do it outside).

Sad stuff. As for Wetherspoons, there are pros and cons. Some people make out it's the Tesco of the pub world, taking over the world and crushing the little guy. However, the fact remians it has renovated a number of fantastic building that had been lying dormant, whilst they offer support to craft brewers in a world where utter, utter sh*te mass-produced in Milwaukee by huge corporations is top dog. Unfortunately Wetherpoons in Alty is hardly its finest example. I actually prefer the one in Sale - can't remember the name of it now.

When asked to describe where I'm from down here, I always make the point that Altrincham is where Cheshire meets Manchester, and you can tell. That is, there are the leafy bits and the posh restaurants, but there's also a bit of a grittier, more down-to-earth side. We have a football club, not a polo club. We have a working men's club by the town's market. The town has an industrial heritage around the Broadheath area. All that stuff. What worries me a bit is the way in which the town, seemingly like all other towns, is becoming an identikit city suburb like any other. I don't know how to combat that, but I'd have thought encouraging people to work/shop/eat/drink in the town rather than f**k off to Manchester every weekend is a good start.

[thegazelle]

However it is a working mens conservative club!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fuertes]

However iot ios a working mens conservative club!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, but deferential Tories are quite different beasts to upper class, snooty Conservatives. Like I say, a grittier vibe.

They're still traitors to their social class though 

[thegazelle]

I was a member of ACWMC for years a GREAT CLUB KILLED BY THE INTRO OF ALL DAY DRINKING.
There is a tale of a new member being interviewed and being asked if he objected that part of his annual subs went to the conservative party.... his reply "" i dont give a f**k as long as i can play snooker in the afternoon""
British pub culture is dead as my generation know it. the new night out is sit at home and be able to smoke whilst drinking cheap beer and spirits from tesco. then go out smoke spliffs in the toilet  and fight everyone and throw up in the puib. if the landlord objects to this then fight him as well.
pool darts etc are dying as people dont come out in the week because they can smoke at home and drink cheap lager for 22p a tin and the wife can knock back a bottle of chilean white for 2.99.

when was the last time you saw people playing cards other than poker in a pub . in fact how many of you know what a game of don is? or even crib?

my generation are the last (possibly 10 years younger ) to have the mentality that you go to your local at every opportunity .
Railway Hale is possibly an exception but having been landlord there and regular since 1980 i walk in now and dont know anyone its full of wannabees and about 20 of the old crowd still hangimg on.

supermarkets and no smoking ban have killed our heritage


rant that could go on

[Mick]

I agree.....as non-smoker I say repeal the smoking ban.....just banning it in restaurants would have done the trick for me

[thegazelle]

i dont smoke
well not since jan 18th
what is to stop giving uis the choice to go in a bar that has the option to smoke. bar staff can sign to say they smoke or/and are aware of the consequence of passive smoking and are happy to work i a smoking bar .
if you dont like smoke dont go in there !!!!!

[B. 4D]

What annoys me is that a new development starts, and we can't finish the last.
George street is worse than it was.
All that money spent, and the street is just an H+S nightmare.
If that was privetly owned it would be shut down.
What is the councell doing about this, seems to me NOTHING.
Pete Hughes  is spot on about The Bridge pub.
A working class pub.
There, long before Tesco, and new developments.
JUST REMEMBER, WORKING CLASS PEOPLE KEEP THIS CLUB GOING.
NOT THE NOMADS THAT COULD'T GIVE A SH12 ABOUT OUR CLUB.
COME ON ALTY

[Hulme Robin]

Belgium has the right approach, if a pub sells food - no smoking, no food sold- smoking is allowed

a good compromise. Belgium has nothing like the pub closure rate we are experiencing.

Any ways, hands off the bridge.

[Jacko]

the word working mens clubs/ pubs is a very loose term these days, im sorry but half of them that go in these places dont work!

as for the bridge well is that really a working mans pub? BTW i do think it should stay becuase without it we are blanking out a major part of peoples social life the town is getting overrun by horrible chains and coffee shops!!

[RocketDan]

a good compromise. Belgium has nothing like the pub closure rate we are experiencing.

yes but is there really a need for 3 belgian bars in Alty?

[SW]

A topic close to my heart this as a staunch supporter of pubs. There are many reasons why pubs are struggling, entertainment these days is significantly more varied than years back, including at home, the drink drive issue, the fact that many town centre pubs cater for binge drinking kids, pubco companies charge sky high prices to supply beers which the tenant has to pass on to survive, pub owners who decide a pub is "unviable" because they want to maximise income and run down a pub to get planning for flats, political correctness about alcohol units, and not least problem neighbours who move close by and then whinge.

My only comment or solution is, if you have a local or more than one, get in there a couple of times a week, use it or lose it.

[fuertes]

A topic close to my heart this as a staunch supporter of pubs. There are many reasons why pubs are struggling, entertainment these days is significantly more varied than years back, including at home, the drink drive issue, the fact that many town centre pubs cater for binge drinking kids, pubco companies charge sky high prices to supply beers which the tenant has to pass on to survive, pub owners who decide a pub is "unviable" because they want to maximise income and run down a pub to get planning for flats, political correctness about alcohol units, and not least problem neighbours who move close by and then whinge.

My only comment or solution is, if you have a local or more than one, get in there a couple of times a week, use it or lose it.

There's a man singing from the CAMRA hymn sheet