Could Skittles Save the British Pub?

[Mary]

British pubs -- closing at record rates in a harsh economic climate -- could be saved by reviving traditional games like skittles and darts, according to a report on Tuesday.

 

Such games have disappeared from many pubs in recent years in favour of gaming machines which charge customers to play, and from which landlords can take a cut, the report said.

 

But bringing them back could reverse the steady decline over the past five years in the number of young adults regularly visiting their local pubs, it added.

 

The report, by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said the number of people aged 18 to 24 who are regular pub-goers, going there at least once a week, has dropped by as much as 11 percent since 2006.

 

But in a CAMRA survey, 49 percent of them who had heard of a traditional pub game suggested they would very likely or quite likely visit pubs more often if free traditional games were made available.

So the old ways were the better way?

[Evil Sid]

All the pubs that I frequent ( ie once a week) have dart boards and pool tables as well the electronic games. cannot say that they are overly crowded except on the nights that there is a darts match,pool match,domino match or bowls match.

 

For me it is bowls during the summer months followed by a very short break before the domino winter league starts. In the "working mens clubs" there is also the snooker leagues which run as a summer and winter league.

 

The main problem then is access to the dartboard,pool/snooker tables,bowling green as at any one time there will be either a match being played or a team practice and short of signing up for a team they may have to wait for quite a while before getting a game. this can be an advantage for the landlord as anybody waiting to get a game will be drinking and the longer tey wait the more they are likely to drink. (within reason of course).The other thing is that as the "away" team have to get to the venue, usually by driving so tend not to drink a great deal usually a pint or two off shandy or a non alcoholic drink depending on choice and off course prices charged.(there is one venue that I went to recently and ordered two bitter shandy, handed over a fiver and was asked for another fifty pence )

 

I have the notion that most younger people prefer somewhere that they can hang around with people off a similar age (no change there then) and bellowing in each others ears over the loud background music or texting their mates across the room to save on the vocal cords. (again not much different to what we certainly got up to at a similar age)

[observer]

So the reason for the demise of "the pub" is a lack of "games"? Errrm - I don't think so.

[inky pete]

We've got some bl**dy great big skittles in Warrington town centre.

 

They don't appear to be doing much to prevent that place from going to the dogs!

[algy]

Mary, I don't believe reintroducing skittles, dominoes and other pub games would help bring the public back into local pubs for the very reason that there are not them many of them around and those that do exist have done so by becoming restaurants first and pubs secondly, what has driven the public out of ale houses is : smoking bans (I'm not a smoker but do believe that people should have a choice), drinking and driving laws, excessive drink pricing, a totally different way of living, new housing developments have resulted into a total erosion of community togetherness that this country was famous for, if you were the first to walk into your local bar many years ago then were joined by your mates, as they came in you would automatically ask them what they were drinking, order and pay for the drink, this no longer happens, unfortunately I think those days have gone never to return.

[observer]

Good summary Alg.

[Mary]

Agreed Algy - I got this bit of news from the UK website. Wondered what you all would think of it!!