893 British pubs closed last year. Here are some of the recent victims of this trend which are all within a few miles of where I live.

Many different reasons have been given for the demise of the British pub including:

- High tax rates for “on-premises” beer sales
- Unfair competition from supermarkets who sell alcohol as a loss leader
- Smoking ban
- Decreased spending due to recession
- Demand for land to build apartment blocks or fast food outlets – it's cheaper to sell up
- Drink driving laws
- Cappuccino culture
- Loss of culture of using pubs at lunchtimes
- Excessive rents charged by breweries
- General poor management by brewery chains
- Loss of differentiation between pubs and restaurants

I don't suppose that every pub closure has exactly the same reasons, but do expect that some combination of the above is to blame in most cases. What is clear is that if we keep losing them at this rate, it won't be long before there aren't any left. Something needs to be done. I'm personally doing my bit to keep our local pubs afloat, but I think it needs more sustained effort from those who have genuine power.

Excellentes photos de très jolies maisons !!!:)) nadoune · 2010-10-16: 17:50

super ! photodeclair · 2010-10-16: 17:51

How interesting set. Didn't know about that plague... Why a group of PB members in UK cannot take a pub? Find a cool name and run it in common... uh? Gosh... don't bury any animal in the walls as good luck eh! and maybe it will be haunted by london's links... just to soften their jaws and chains with beer ;-) ????? · 2010-10-16: 18:17

Shepherd and Dog....that's the pub we used to visit occasionally when we lived in Hollesley. Very sad to see so many are closing....we have nothing like that here really. A pub turned into a McDonald's? How distasteful! lookagain · 2010-10-16: 21:32

Something definitely needs to be done. It's happening all over. What the hell happened to historic preservation?! I just get so pissed off about this kind of stuff. Lovely photos by the way. ????? · 2010-10-16: 22:12

Oh.... Should do something for this!! huiching · 2010-10-16: 22:46

Oh, this truly would be disasterous to the English culture and identity! 24 hour-Hamburger joints instead of the pubs with their weird hours of operations...that was the first thing, by the way, what they taught us, international EFL students when I first went to England, back in the 70-ies... pubs were flourishing back then! atszabo · 2010-10-16: 22:55

sad :( MARETKA88 · 2010-10-17: 08:23

Interesting!!!! wildduck · 2010-10-17: 09:25

it is sad :/ Although my friend that is in london till February is loving the British pubs! they are a bit different than ours! onlyricky · 2010-10-17: 10:40

At least one article in a recent Economist mentioned how pubs had adapted to café culture to become "il pub" trattorias of a sort. The best things never really die; they adapt. You can add to your list of woes a bizarre tied house system which prevents individual initiatives and keeps all the pubs in the system hostage to the breweries' bottom line. As a parent, I'm sure you're relieved to know it's much harder to light up a fag when pissed doing 60 in reverse in front of a school. (Americans might need some help translating that remark.) revenant · 2010-10-17: 12:20

Very interesting!!! nikito · 2010-10-17: 16:14

The pubs over here have the same problems and for the same reasons......... it's a shame. The first evening i was in Southend, many, maaaaany moons a go, we spent the evening in the Golden lion :-) eternity65 · 2010-10-17: 21:36

It's a very sad state of affairs, although two of the pubs round here which closed last year have now re-opened which is wonderful news. girafferacing · 2010-10-18: 05:16

Tagged: pub pubs close closed closures