TV pubs and what they say about us

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Okay, obviously Eastenders and Corrie and the like are all transparently fictitious and implausible and like most telly its all about the suspension of disbelief and so forth etc etc etc.

But one of the things we are usually meant to accept as realistic is the idea of The Pub as community centre where everyone knows one another and you can always walk in on any day or night of the week and be guaranteed a drink with one of your mates and so forth. But as far as I can tell, with the exception of a couple of small village pubs and one local near me which always has the same six old men sitting in the same seats, the vast majority of pubs are nothing like this.

Or are they? Were they ever? I'm personally inclined to think not - that the notion of The Local as defined by the Queen Vic is some kind of attempt to recapture feelings of local community that don't exist in todays world (in big cities at least). But is it something people yearn towards? If you had one pub where you could go and be guaranteed of a drink with mates or at least friendly acquaintances, would you ever bother go anywhere else?

Do people in general still gravitate towards notions of community in the same way? Is ILX a 21st-Century manifestation of this, with (only marginally) less drinking? Can you have a satisfactory social life if you have lots of individual friends, but no group of friends?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't know there's one pub in hackney that i go to in which i often see people i know - i don't like any of them, though...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

If you had one pub where you could go and be guaranteed of a drink with mates or at least friendly acquaintances, would you ever bother go anywhere else?

yes, and in a way this is why something like ILX appeals too - i'm guaranteed to find some interesting topic to contribute to in whatever way a large portion of the time

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Locals do exist but are quite hard to get 'in' on - the naure of community is unfortunately to be exclusive of those "outside" the community. My Dad's local was like that, you could go down at any time and be guaranteed to know someone you would be able to talk to and would know your name. Friendly and fun (and serious sometimes).

There has been one local in Islington I frequented which was like that and after two years I was more or less in on, but the point is you have to put the time in. Its easier inheriting the relationship (as I did with my Dad's pub) that hanging around on your own lots...

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

in big cities at least

I think this point is U&K. There are a number of pubs in Oxford where I think the spirit Matt describes still exists and it certainly exists in villages. I have never encountered it in London or Bristol, so maybe Oxford (which has between 100,000 & 200,000 inhabitants) is at the upper popn limit for it to exist. The combination of this small-community feel combined with a largeness that ensures that all the facilities I need are here probably goes some way to explain why I've stayed here so long.

― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Locals do exist but are quite hard to get 'in' on

good point, Pete. The pubs where I've encountered it here are those I went to in order to do the pub quiz. I think that being in some kind of team, be it a quiz, darts, or whatever, is the way 'in' which is largely barred to those who just walk in off the street and start talking to ppl.

― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

it's worth noting how the Queen Vic and the Rovers return are really places for extreme pub rockists. no TV, no pool etc. - a fruit machine or jukebox if you're lucky. that's all fine, also the clientele of both pubs seems to have a majority of over 30s - you never see gangs of 16 year olds trying to get served in the Vic, or a bunch of lairy Man City fans in the Rovers. they're 'proper pubs' for 'decent people'. of course these places do exist here and there i think (especially the East End of London which, if going by the stereotypes, has a stronger sense of tradition and community than many places, and some northern regions too i.e. equivalent area of Manchester in a similar way) but may be dying out somewhat for whatever reason. can't say either would appeal to me if they were actually real pubs but i appreciate their ethos.

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:50 (twenty-two years ago)

A friend of mine who lives in Morpeth has a 'proper' local pub. The nearest I have to one is being shut down next month and being turned into a poxy style bar full of bottled lager and alcopops :-(

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 22 September 2003 14:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i am actually an "extreme pub rockist"

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

EXTREME PUB ROCK! Like Status Quo gone goth!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

i like taverns

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

It's occurred to me that for a lot of people the closest they may have come to the Queen Vic equivalent is their student bar of choice.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

So what you're saying, Matt, in the main question, is that sometimes it's nice to go, where everybody knows your name?

The real reason pubs like that are in the soaps is that they're the lazy writer's best friend. Need person A to run into person B? Off down the boozer for both of them.

There was a TVGoHome show which was soap opera conducted via SMS, wasn't there?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Matt DC - zigzackly - the first thing that popped into my mind was student unions.

― j0e (j0e), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

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