UK’s pub crisis laid bare with shops and takeaways taking over our lost boozers
The sight of a pub closing its doors for the final time to be replaced with another business has become more and more common up and down the UK.
There were 772 pubs which closed either permanently or temporarily between January and June of last year – and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) reckons 29 pubs are closing every week.
They blame increasing energy costs and the cost of living crisis leaving punters with less spare cash to spend on a pint or two.
And longer-term closures have almost doubled, with 500 reported last year compared with 251 in 2021.
The increase in pubs calling last orders has left their buildings boarded up and empty – another death knell for our high streets as shops including big names like Wilko have also closed their doors.
But a number of former boozers have been repurposed and opened their doors once again – although you won’t be able to get a pint at most of them.
While it’s a shame to lose a pub and the community it builds, there are also benefits to having fewer empty eyesores.
These before and after pictures show some of the startling changes which have been made to previously beloved watering holes.
The Anchor Inn in Tamworth, Staffordshire, was once a popular riverside pub and featured on many enthusiast guides.
Locals say the pub closed around 2008 but despite re-opening the following year, the writing was on the wall and the boozer shut for good in 2015.
Today the white-washed walls and pitched roof of the original pub remains intact but it has been converted into a Co-operative supermarket.
Down the road from the former Anchor Inn used to be the Tweeddale Arms pub and bed and breakfast, famed for its real ales and home-cooked food.
However, the pub also closed due to falling footfall and changing drinking habits and it is now a Domino’s pizza takeaway.
More and more old pubs are being converted into new ventures, with a record 101 being transformed between January and June last year.
One such pub in Bristol was the imposing King George VI pub in Filton.
Due to its location on, it became a firm favourite with locals, office workers and locals until it closed for the final time in 2011.
Now punters can order pots of paint instead of pints of beer after the pub was turned into a paint shop, ironically named ‘Brewers’.
Another pub to be reinvented is The Bell in the St George suburb of the city which had its taps replaced for tills after becoming a Tesco Express.
In nearby St Pauls, the iconic Prince of Wales pub now offers more wholesome refreshments after it turned into a trendy coffee house.
Plummeting profits sealed the fate of The Chequers pub in Kingswood and it eventually closed in 2010, only to be reopened as another Co-op supermarket.
Following the trend, the much-loved The Foresters permanently closed in 2012 and transformed into a Tesco Express.
Meanwhile drinkers in the Handsworth area of Birmingham will have to quench their thirst elsewhere after the historic The Endwood pub pulled its last pint in 2013 and was converted into a mosque and Islamic Education centre.
In nearby Small Heath, Birmingham, the former Brighton Arms used to a cherished boozer part of a local pub crawl route.
However, the pub shut in 2015 and the historic building is now home to a new multi-cuisine restaurant.
Down the road in Worcester the former Barley Mow building lost its traditional white paint for a striking matte black front after it was transformed into the Piri Co restaurant.
The Grade II listed building was once a thriving part of local life in Sidbury, Worcestershire, but it closed in 2006 after severe flood damage.
In Plymouth a demand for housing saw the Falcon pub cease trading in 2013 and its building turned into residential homes just a few months later.
Just a 100 miles north of the Falcon, the Windmill pub in Bristol was also converted to residential homes back in 2020.
CAMRA National Chairman Nik Antona blamed a ‘perfect storm’ buffeting the UK pub industry.
He said: ‘Simultaneous economic crises have meant that pubs, social clubs and taprooms are balancing on a crumbling cliff edge, with too many already lost to the abyss.
‘CAMRA is always concerned when pubs could be lost to the communities they serve, be it through demolition or conversion to other usage, such as offices or housing.
‘It is vital that these venues are marketed as going concerns and everything possible is done to secure their future as community pubs – including giving existing licensees first refusal of buying their pub.
‘Pubs are struggling to survive against a perfect storm of issues, such as spiralling costs of goods and rising energy bills – meaning that our much-loved locals are at risk of disappearing forever unless meaningful support is given to both publicans and pubgoers.’
CAMRA are now urging the government to use the upcoming budget to halt the closure of pubs.
Nik added: ‘To put a stop to permanent closures of pubs CAMRA are urging the government to announce a tax cut on pints in pubs by 20 percent at the upcoming spring budget, which would help them compete with the likes of supermarkets and the off-trade.
‘This would significantly help UK’s pubs to stay open and thrive as community spaces in the future.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.