by
Frank Hatton

This month, I want to tell you the story of British pubs, but, before we get started, I would ask you to think about the songs you know. Not just the tunes, but the words as well. Now, dependent upon your age group, the chances are that if you are over the age of, say 45 years or so, you will remember far more of what are known as 'Old songs', than you will the newer ones. Why is this?.... Well, by way of this little article, I hope to show you. Although, it is accepted that your reason for remembering them in the USA, may be different from the factors set out here.

The British style pub has been around for a long, long time, and until latter years had not changed very much, except maybe in the price of beer continually rising, and the changing dress fashions among both men and women. Other than that, it was the predecessor to the TV, the movies, and, in the early days, even the theatre. Folk used to make their way to the pub very early on the evenings of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, solely because they knew that they would not get a seat if they left their arrival too late.

The evening would commence very quietly, with a steady consumption of whatever beverage they preferred. Then after maybe an hour or so, there would be a gradual increase in shouts of encouragement for somebody in the bar to start playing the piano, (every decent pub had a piano), and normally, the person they were shouting for would protest that the evening was young yet, and to wait a while longer. Ultimately, the alcohol would take greater affect and some groups would start singing without any accompaniment. At this point, the reluctant pianist would open the piano lid, and start to play, and the self made entertainment would commence. There were usually certain characters, who used the pub regularly, and liked to sing a ' solo' number. Invariably, these would be the same songs they sung each and every week, and these same folk never ever required any encouragement to 'do their number', .......on the contrary, they usually came over to the pianist, and asked for their song to be played. Everybody knew the songs that were played and sung, because they had been passed down through the ages...... To be sure, there were newer ones that came in from time to time, but, in the main, the songs that were sung had been sung for at least two, or maybe three generations. The younger folk in the pub learnt the tunes and the words in this way, and as they grew older, they in turn passed them on to the next generation. How do I know all this? Well for one thing, I am at the age when I remember those times, but, even more relevant, I was for many years in my youth, a ' pub pianist'. The greatest advantage of playing the piano in a pub, was the custom of folk wanting to carry on the merriment, after the pub closed (around 10.30 p.m.) and they would have a ' whip round' (a collection of money from all concerned), to buy a supply of drink to take to the home of one of their group, and, because most homes had a piano, (even though nobody played it), the pub pianist would be invited along, to provide the music for singing. All of us fortunates, who were able to 'tinkle the ivories', had a grand time. We were never short of weekend entertainment, and our drink was supplied free of charge.

The point I set out to make on this recollection, was the way in which the songs of the day were made to last for a very long period of time, because of this type of continuity in the pub, and the advent of new songs was very infrequent by the standards of modern music. The first major cause of change to this situation, was the growth of television. This provided people with the desire to stay at home, rather than go to a crowded, smoky, pub. To combat this, the pubs introduced the television set into the bar, and along with this came the 'juke box' with the up todate pop music, to encourage the younger folk to use the place. Hence, there was no longer the need for the pub pianist, and the whole atmosphere changed in a comparatively short space of time. This in turn has destroyed the continuity of the older songs being passed on, and in it's place, we have the enormous influx of new songs being introduced at the rate of a dozen or more each week. At the end of the day, it really doesn't make a lot of difference. The fact that the older songs have, or nearly have disappeared, will not cause the world to stop turning, and they were not that important anyway.

However, it is again one of the changes that have taken place in our society, from which there will be no return.

The aim of this monthly article, is to give our friends 'Over the Pond' a little insight into our way of life, but, I would not mind betting that the memories of, 'Casey would waltz with the Strawberry Blonde', and 'Moonlight on the Wabash', and 'The Whippenpoof song', and many others like them, have suffered a similar fate. For goodness sake, stop sobbing all of you!!! you're making the keyboard all wet.

The modern British pub now has to adopt a far different approach to attract customers, and probably among the foremost of these attractions, is the provision of food. In the days of yore, one would be extremely fortunate to obtain a sandwich from over the bar counter, and even then, the chances are that it would be of doubtful age, with the corners of the bread turning up, and the contents of the sandwich causing ones nose to twitch in suspicion. Nowadays, one could expect a four or five course meal, of excellent quality, and in all probability you will have to prebook your table a couple of evenings in advance, if the pub has a good reputation for it's grub. As to it's music, this is likely to be 'piped music' softly playing in the background, and very pleasant to the ear. Of course, one can still buy beer over the counter, but, the place is more restaurant than pub.

We now come to the next episode in the history of the British pub, and this is the story of it's decline. As I said, unless the modern pub has a decent restaurant, it will be struggling to survive, hence they are closing down completely at quite a fast rate of knots.

Now, the British public house will fall into one of three categories. Firstly, the managed house. This is where the pub is owned by a large brewery, and managed by an employee of that brewery. He,(the manager) has to do whatever the brewery dictates, and he is paid a wage or salary. Secondly, the tenancy. This is where the pub is owned by the brewery, but, it is rented, or leased to a tenant, who pays rent to the brewery, and although he has to buy all of his beer from that brewery, the profits he makes are his own, and he lives or falls by his own endeavours. The third and last, is the 'Free House'. This is where the pub is owned completely by the guy who runs it. He is not ' tied' to any brewer, and he buys from whomsoever he wants to. He pays no rent to anyone, and all his profits are his own.

Let's answer your question,... Why doesn't every pub become a 'Free House'? Well, the answer is simply. 'Free Houses' are very expensive to buy, and most folk wanting to get into the pub trade will not have enough money to buy one, so they settle for a tenancy or a managed house.

Why am I telling you all this? Because we are looking at the reason for the decline of the British public house. Our local pub has been going for some thirty years or so, and has been very successful in it's time. It started it's life as a 'tenancy', and because of it's success, the brewery who owned it, made it into a 'managed house', at the earliest opportunity,... obviously, to increase their profits. Now, after many years of profitable management, times changed, and by government edict, large brewers were required to reduce the number of public houses they owned. Right, now all of you folk who have been in business will see the logic in what is about to unfold. The brewers who owned our local pub, also owned a pub just down the road, which enjoyed the benefit of 'passing trade', (that is, a main road ran past the pub, and many folk stopped to call in). So, which pub do they close? Obviously, our one, because it relies on local custom. Here comes the tricky bit!!! Now, if they put the pub on the market, it will in all probability be purchased by somebody who will have it as a free house, or, by another brewer, who will put a tenant or a manager in there. In any event, it will become a competitor!!! So, what they do,(our local pub brewer) is to run down the pub as a place to go. It becomes dirty, because of lack of funding to the manager, the staffing levels are deliberately lowered, so you wait longer to be served. No maintenance is provided, so toilets don't work etc., ... everything in fact to make the place unattractive. This works, and gradually, the trade falls, and after a couple of years, the 'books' show a very unhealthy picture of profitability.

Now, having achieved this strategic position, they put the pub on the market for sale, but, any potential buyer, would look at the ' books', and head for the hills. Now, the real tricky bit!!! The only people to whom the pub would be attractive, is to a 'developer' , (one of whom bought the site), who would knock down the pub, build apartments on the site, and sell them. Hence, no problem with pub competition to the brewery, and, they achieve the market price for the site.

A real clever piece of strategy. The brewers and the developers are happy. We are the real sufferers. We have lost our local pub. If I appear to have been 'Whinging' this month, please forgive me,... but, to most of the inhabitants of this 'Sceptred Isle', the loss of a local pub, is the equivalent of chopping off one of their legs. I promise I will be more cheerful next time.

'Til the next one.

Frank Hatton

I would love to hear from you so email me.

You can find more articles in the archive under From Over the Pond