Long queues began to form outside many pubs in England on Super Saturday, 4 July 2020. The day brought to an end 104 days of lockdown, allowing pubs to finally open up their on-site facilities, both indoors and outdoors, for the benefit of their customers . Despite ministerial pleas to maintain social distancing, albeit in a “modified” form, hordes of people descended upon city and town centres throughout England on the appointed day. As the day progressed and much alcohol was drunk, a prevailing spirit of conviviality soon put an end to any attempts at social distancing. The revelry carried on through the night and, as is typical of weekend nights in English metropolitan areas, was accompanied by episodes of anti-social behaviour, with varied outcomes. Never mind that the majority may have behaved responsibly, but it is always a small but rowdy minority that lets them down in the end.
It soon became clear that the social distancing measures as proposed by the government could not only be difficult to enforce and to monitor, but also detracted from the very pub experience that so many were missing. The ‘new-normal’ pub experience of the day included many hitherto unfamiliar practices, such as booking a table online before one’s arrival, standing in an orderly and socially distanced queue (at least one metre apart), handing over the names of customers and contact phone numbers to pub staff at the door, ordering at the table and not at the bar, sitting at widely spaced tables, sometimes separated by Perspex screens, and being served by people wearing masks, visors and gloves within deliberately quietened rooms. Within the pub, one-way systems of people traffic, and one-in one-out systems of controlled access to toilets helped ensure that people would not mingle outside their chosen groups-up to a maximum of six people and from no more than two different households. But even the need for detailed planning and tight logistics failed to dissuade the large numbers who turned up and who had been suffering pub withdrawal symptoms.
It is not difficult to understand the desire to prioritise the reopening of pubs. The pub trade has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Even before Covid-19, in recent years British pubs have been closing at an alarming rate. But as the pandemic struck, the situation was just starting to improve. In 2019 there was, for the first time in a decade, a net gain in pub numbers as 320 new pubs opened throughout the UK. Pubs have been closing for a variety of reasons. These include high alcohol duties, exorbitant business rates, and the rising price of food. Purchases of alcohol from supermarkets and off-licences have been increasing, and beer drinking has become a less popular pastime. Many pubs have accordingly shifted their focus to food. Many so-called “gastropubs” now serve restaurant-quality food, even up to Michelin star standard. Alternative forms of alcohol, including wine, gin and vodka, are becoming more popular. But you don’t have to visit a pub just to drink alcohol. Apart from low-alcohol and alcohol-free beverages, many pubs now dispense fruit cocktails and other enticing non-alcoholic drinks.
Pubs, of which there are currently 39, 145 throughout the UK, can rightly be described as a British social institution. Whether it is a visit to one’s village or neighbourhood ‘local’, or a pit stop in a city establishment, British pubs provide a hard-to-replicate experience. This explains their popularity with tourists keen to sample the local culture. For residents, some of whom may rightly be viewed as ‘regulars’, the pub is the hub of community life. Pubs are seen as a convenient place in which one can socialise, drink, eat, and be entertained in other ways (large-screen televised sports; live gigs- music, comedy and theatre; slot machines).
Pubs come in many guises. On the one hand, you have quaint and picturesque country pubs, with their distinctive signs, and interiors that may include low ceilings, wooden beams, stone floors, inglenook fireplaces, nooks and crannies, mahogany shelves, mirrors, and artefact-cluttered walls. In some larger pubs, outdoor seating may be provided in “beer gardens”, and children’s playgrounds may add to the family-friendly character of the establishment. To remain competitive and appeal to a younger clientele, many city pubs have, however, dispensed with such “olde worlde” features. Modern pubs have been springing up in repurposed banks, factories, theatres, fire stations, courts of law and other buildings no longer in use as originally intended. Many have turned into modernistic, minimalist or industrial-looking developments that are pubs in name only.
Pubs are an part of integral British social and cultural history, having evolved over time from roadside Roman tabernae or taverns, through alehouses and coaching inns to today’s establishments. They are an inescapable part of daily life for many. You don’t just go to pubs to get drunk and become legless. There is much more on offer. Understandably, politicians have been keen to reopen pubs as soon as possible. The only question is whether pubs have opened their doors far too soon, thereby risking a potentially avoidable second peak of Covid-19 infections. Now that the deed is done, only the passage of time will tell us whether this was the best decision under the circumstances.
Ashis Banerjee