London pubs

There is a huge variety of pubs in London, from beautiful historic pubs to "sports" pubs aimed at people who want a drink while watching football (useful if you are not paying an expensive subcription to watch it at home).

It is very sad that so many are closing, and many of those were community hubs. By drinking in a pub, you are supporting a local business and the British brewing industry.

Hi. I like pubs. Great spaces and except in some parts of London not usually too crowded or noisy. Good for toilets - important in some places with no other facilities. Of course, big pubs cost a lot to run and maintain. Like to see more local initiatives by pubs - open part of pub for mums to meet with young children, etc. Don't knock Weatherspoons! At least they offer good spaces and a safe environment. Usually, more space for pushchairs. Planning regulations should prevent loss of pubs or require their replacement. At least in London there is a choice. In the country, many small places have lost everything - pub, shop, etc. 

Pubs are a great place to hang out. But the focus is too much on alcohol. I'm trying to drink less but still want to go to the pub to meet people. Tend to go to the same few places and pick ones where I know I can get a seat.

Pubs are expensive. In summer you can socialise more cheaply in the park but there's a lot of pressure for pubs to make money (because of breweries and the extortionate price of land in London) so of course they are expensive. When you're being charged five quid for a pint I guess most of that is going to a landlord and not to the poor staff working in the place. 

I find that most of the pubs near where I live are now expensive gastropubs. I find them expensive and noisy. It is difficult to get properly kept real ale. A glass of wine costs almost £10.

Some of the pubs that have closed eg The Corrib Rest (NW6) had good function rooms for hire that were used by many different cultures. The Queensbury which is the only decent pub in Willesden is going to be sold to developers despite communuty protests. Many of these pubs serve the community. The Carlton Tavern in South Kilburn was knocked down illegally by developers wanting to build flats. It has still not been rebuilt. Lots of council facilities have disappeared and many of our communuty facilities are sold to developers for flats to be sold overseas. People are beginning to think it is a conspiracy to stop people meeting up locally (especially as libraries and community centres have also closed) Pubs can help a community if managed well. They can run teams, provide places for meetings, parties, local events and celebrations. They can bring the community together and they are starting to provide more alcohol free drinks and many are now more child friendly (sometimes too much so!)

Community facilities are being ruined by property developers trying to speculate and build expensive flats which locals cannot afford. They are often sold off for investments and are an empty testament to poor planning and lack of care by government and speculators who are making a quick buck.

People in power don't care about community any more. 

Pubs are the only place one can socialise in Central London. Whilst I have had chats in Coffee Bars one cannot have a lengthy conversation as one cannot drinking coffee. Going to a pub facilitates a longer discussion, with more people and with a variety of refreshments. Whilst some pubs can be noisy there is normally a quiter one around.

I am fortunate to have a pub reasonably local where I can meet with friends and family and have a good evening of catchup conversation and laughter. There is only low background music, no games or gambling machines, and the clientel is primarily more middle aged to elderly so never any disagreements or threatening behaviour. The price of drinks has crept up over the years but this is more due to overheads and taxes beyond the landlords control. Closure of so many pubs across London and the country is a sad reflection of a lost heritage.

At a time when there is such an urgent need to engender respect, understanding and tolerance between Londoners of differing backgrounds, social class and age, the traditional pub offers a time-proven solution; a convivial environment in which everyone is equal and able to meet others that are different to them, share opinions and gain an understanding of other's points of view. We lose these valuable assets at our peril. 

i find the newer style of pubs better, like Weatherspoons where i can order a coffee as i don't drink by choice.  I can't see many muslims or religions frequenting pubs that serve alcohol as they don't drink either.  But it's so sad so many are closing and being turned into awful supermarkets. What a waste. They could be community places again as churches are closing and being made into converted houses. So awful, our lovely heritage is being runied by the greedy as usual.

There needs to be a process to prevent pub closures. Listing of pubs, not granting planning permission for conversion to flats and better regulation of pubs to prevent licensees being ripped off by the pub owners. Lower beer duty, change the VAT rules, replace business rates with a tax on the unimproved value of land.

Pubs have never been my preferred place to socialise - awful before the smoking ban, and better since.  I meet others in pubs at their request as they want to drink alcohol which is not my favourite drink.

If I want to meet people I go to a cafe or restaurant or park or cultural event, not a pub.

Generally a pub serves poor food, unless one seeks out a specialist foodie pub.

Some pubs are now attractive places - bright and airy and where they have kept the old fabric.  But many are dirty, dark and boring.

Many pub owning companies have deliberately adopted a corrupt business model. Prices too high, service poor, product quality low, poor facilities. Why ??

The PubCo will apply and usually get change of use, agreed by Local Authority. Why??

The freehold is more valuable if the owning PubCo can close the pub and apply for residential use age... 

When they're gone, they're gone

Two pubs in my area in SE London have been renovated in recent years from real grotty pubs I never visited to lovely warm friendly places. They host a lot of community events including nature talks, dance and yoga classes and pub quizzes. They are very responsible about shutting music down early in the evening. I feel they bring the whole area together and give it a much stronger sense of community. It has changed our lives as previously we had nowhere to go locally. Now we can just walk up the road, meet friends, sit in the garden and bump into and chat with lots of local people. It's been 100% positive change to the area.

Too many pubs have closed in my part of London. They have been converted or replaced by flats. Much needed but no replacement for the cultural centres that pubs are. Youngsters no longer go in most pubs but take drink from supermarkets which undercut them partly fuelling violence and issues with getting drunk at home or on the street. When young people went into local communty pubs there were people they knew who would exercise some control , they became part of the locality and didn't want to upset the locals. Now people do as they wish on our streets at home before they go to a central bar for late drinks and drugs. We need more community pubs like one that has been saved near to me . However, the chanis and the cost of land is prohibitive so any new developments should also have to create a cultural centre with bar, meetings space and place of entertainment. This could be partof S106 and would help bring the community back to local areas.