Good cheer
THERE are several causes of the much-reported demise of the pub. Changed drinking habits, demographic developments, the availability of cheap supermarket alcohol, the smoking ban and the recession are all regularly cited as possible factors.
But while there may be many reasons why people have stopped going to the pub, the reasons why so many do still go there remain the same: the chance to join friends and family over good food and drink in surroundings that cannot be replicated at home. And it is those landlords who take this basic formula and develop it in their own unique ways who will keep the pub alive and ensure its long-term survival.
These are the people who are being celebrated in the first competition to find Yorkshire’s Favourite Pub. Indeed, so high has the standard been that selecting the final 12 has been a very difficult task, albeit one which suggests that, in this region at least, reports of the pub’s death have been greatly exaggerated.