Landlord's pub closures warning
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By Hayley Robinson
The days of the traditional British
pub are numbered, according to one of Sittingbourne’s
longest-serving landlords.
Mick Page, who runs The Ship in East
Street, spoke out after Derek Lee, landlord of the nearby
Wheatsheaf pub was declared bankrupt at Medway County Court last
Friday.
The 67-year-old, who took over The
Ship in 1975, blames a change in people’s social lives for the
demise of the pub trade and predicted at least five pubs will close
their doors for good in the Sittingbourne area in the next three to
four months.
He admitted his could be one of
them.
Echoing fears he raised in the
Sittingbourne Messenger last year, he said: "The licensing
situation in Sittingbourne has gone to pieces, people are just not
using the pubs.
"Some of it is down to cheap booze
coming from the supermarkets, then the smoking ban came into effect
– although people adapted to it, but the biggest change is people’s
social lives.
"They are spending more and more
time at home.
"Your old 19in TV screen is now
42in and you can hire films.
"People call their friends and say
‘come round bring a crate of beer and a pizza’ and they sit in,
there’s no need to go to the pub, it’s completely changed.
"I can assure you in the next three
to four months five pubs will shut and The Ship might be one of
them.
"I’m saddened by it but I
understand the circumstances – it’s not a case of someone doing
something against you deliberately, it’s just that life has
changed."
Pub life is in Mr Page’s blood.
He was born at the Rose and Crown
in West Malling in 1943 and married a landlord’s daughter.
In 1973 he moved to the Swale area
and took over the Golden Fleece before taking on The Ship.
At one time he also ran The Halfway
House in Bobbing.
Mr Page is so synonymous with The
Ship that people refer to it by his surname.
"Sadly the days of the great
traditional pub have finished, but at the same time you’ve got to
move on," he said.
Friday, February 05 2010
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