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| Villages suffer as pubs disappear | Villages suffer as pubs disappear |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| By Ray Furlong BBC News, Holton, Suffolk CAMRA say they will ask 65,000 festival-goers to write to their MPs | By Ray Furlong BBC News, Holton, Suffolk CAMRA say they will ask 65,000 festival-goers to write to their MPs |
| The Lord Nelson pub in Holton, in Suffolk, is plastered in "for sale" signs. | |
| The paint is peeling from the white brickwork, and the portrait of the Admiral on the sign is fading away. | The paint is peeling from the white brickwork, and the portrait of the Admiral on the sign is fading away. |
| There used to be two pubs in Holton, a village of around 1,100 people. The first closed four years ago, and the Lord Nelson shut down just a few months ago. | There used to be two pubs in Holton, a village of around 1,100 people. The first closed four years ago, and the Lord Nelson shut down just a few months ago. |
| You can't run a pub on just Friday nights and Sunday lunches Paul Shenton, former landlord, Lord Nelson pub | You can't run a pub on just Friday nights and Sunday lunches Paul Shenton, former landlord, Lord Nelson pub |
| "It's such a shame. The village is stagnant now," says Bobby Manning, once a regular. "If you walk through that road half a dozen times I don't think you'll see anybody." | "It's such a shame. The village is stagnant now," says Bobby Manning, once a regular. "If you walk through that road half a dozen times I don't think you'll see anybody." |
| Mike Game, a local builder in his 50s, echoes the sentiment. "I first went in that pub when I was three years old," he says. "I don't even like to drive past it now". | |
| Keenly felt | Keenly felt |
| The Lord Nelson in rural Suffolk is unlikely to re-open. | The Lord Nelson in rural Suffolk is unlikely to re-open. |
| The loss of the Nelson is keenly felt by those who drank, ate and shared local gossip there. But it goes beyond that. | The loss of the Nelson is keenly felt by those who drank, ate and shared local gossip there. But it goes beyond that. |
| "It was a post office as well," adds Tony Rust, a civil engineer from Newcastle who moved here fifteen years ago. | "It was a post office as well," adds Tony Rust, a civil engineer from Newcastle who moved here fifteen years ago. |
| "It was there for the elderly to get their pensions and other things Post Offices do. It was also somewhere where they could sit down and have a cup of coffee. But now they've lost that facility as well." | "It was there for the elderly to get their pensions and other things Post Offices do. It was also somewhere where they could sit down and have a cup of coffee. But now they've lost that facility as well." |
| Driving around the winding lanes of Suffolk you see a lot of pubs that have gone under. | |
| On the way to Holton, I passed two that were boarded up and another two that were advertising for new managers. | On the way to Holton, I passed two that were boarded up and another two that were advertising for new managers. |
| Declining business | Declining business |
| The former landlord at the Lord Nelson, Paul Shenton, says it's no surprise that others are struggling too.Paul Shenton found fewer and fewer people coming into his pub | The former landlord at the Lord Nelson, Paul Shenton, says it's no surprise that others are struggling too.Paul Shenton found fewer and fewer people coming into his pub |
| "It was the hub of the community, but towards the end it became hard work for very little return," he said. | "It was the hub of the community, but towards the end it became hard work for very little return," he said. |
| "The best we did was 160 beer barrels per annum, but towards the end it was 80. | "The best we did was 160 beer barrels per annum, but towards the end it was 80. |
| "When we started, 15 years ago, there was no food. By the end it was 45% of turnover. We were in the Good Beer Guide throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and in the Good Food Guide. But it wasn't enough." | "When we started, 15 years ago, there was no food. By the end it was 45% of turnover. We were in the Good Beer Guide throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and in the Good Food Guide. But it wasn't enough." |
| "The old boys who came in and used the pub died off, one by one, and no-one replaced them. On weeknights we were twiddling our thumbs until nine or ten o'clock. You can't run a pub on just Friday nights and Sunday lunches." | "The old boys who came in and used the pub died off, one by one, and no-one replaced them. On weeknights we were twiddling our thumbs until nine or ten o'clock. You can't run a pub on just Friday nights and Sunday lunches." |
| Mr Shenton puts it down to a cultural and economic shift: villagers are now happy to stay at home watching DVDs and enjoying cheap drink from the supermarket. | Mr Shenton puts it down to a cultural and economic shift: villagers are now happy to stay at home watching DVDs and enjoying cheap drink from the supermarket. |
| Closing fast | Closing fast |
| Last month, the Commons all-party beer group suggested countering this by reducing taxes on draught beer - at present a third of the price - or introducing a minimum price for alcohol, to stop supermarkets selling it as a loss-leader. | Last month, the Commons all-party beer group suggested countering this by reducing taxes on draught beer - at present a third of the price - or introducing a minimum price for alcohol, to stop supermarkets selling it as a loss-leader. |
| It said pubs were closing at an "astonishing" rate of 36 a week. | |
| Others put the blame on the pub operating companies, for forcing their tenant-landlords to buy beer exclusively from them - at allegedly inflated prices. A select committee inquiry into this began last week. | |
| "The government needs to wake up to the importance of the pub," says Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland. | |
| "Instead of regarding them as businesses which can go to the wall we need to look at changing planning law to enshrine the pub. | "Instead of regarding them as businesses which can go to the wall we need to look at changing planning law to enshrine the pub. |
| "Whenever a pub is proposed to go to a different use, be closed or demolished, the local community needs to be consulted. | "Whenever a pub is proposed to go to a different use, be closed or demolished, the local community needs to be consulted. |
| "At the end of the day, who owns the pub? Legally it's the pub operating company or the landlord. But morally, surely, a community, a village owns a pub that's been there for hundreds of years." | "At the end of the day, who owns the pub? Legally it's the pub operating company or the landlord. But morally, surely, a community, a village owns a pub that's been there for hundreds of years." |
| Up for sale | Up for sale |
| The Lord Nelson was owned by Admiral Taverns, a company that owns 2,400 pubs in England and Wales - and recently put 100 up for sale. | The Lord Nelson was owned by Admiral Taverns, a company that owns 2,400 pubs in England and Wales - and recently put 100 up for sale. |
| In a statement, it said the Nelson was "unviable" but insisted that village pubs have a rosy future. | |
| "Traditional rural pubs that are at the heart of their communities, with good, motivated licensees satisfying their customers' needs, will not only survive, but thrive," it said. | "Traditional rural pubs that are at the heart of their communities, with good, motivated licensees satisfying their customers' needs, will not only survive, but thrive," it said. |
| Others are less sanguine. | Others are less sanguine. |
| Hamish Stoddart is co-founder of Peach Pubs, a small company that turns around rundown pubs. | Hamish Stoddart is co-founder of Peach Pubs, a small company that turns around rundown pubs. |
| "We tend to look for slightly bigger pubs where you can have a team of chefs. | "We tend to look for slightly bigger pubs where you can have a team of chefs. |
| "The smaller ones need to be good enough to know 1,000 people who will use them every month. | "The smaller ones need to be good enough to know 1,000 people who will use them every month. |
| "I suspect many will go - and I'd actually like to see that because the difficult thing is people trying to live their dreams by running their own pubs, and a lot get sucked into running an uneconomic pub in the wrong place." | "I suspect many will go - and I'd actually like to see that because the difficult thing is people trying to live their dreams by running their own pubs, and a lot get sucked into running an uneconomic pub in the wrong place." |
| This, it seems, is what happened to Paul Shenton. | This, it seems, is what happened to Paul Shenton. |
| 'I was very proud when I became a publican. It's all I ever wanted to do," he says. "But now I would not go back into the business." | 'I was very proud when I became a publican. It's all I ever wanted to do," he says. "But now I would not go back into the business." |
| Listen to the report on BBC Radio 4's href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/bh/">Broadcasting House website. |