The lights are going up, Santa's sleigh is back from its annual service, and the elves are going through their final refresher course before it all begins. Meanwhile all across the country pubs and bars are gearing up for what they are hoping will be a busy few weeks. Yes, it's that time of year again, although sadly all is not well everywhere....
We say it every year, but Christmas does seem to begin earlier all the time. OK, the shops have been full of it for weeks, bagged up Christmas trees welcoming you to every supermarket, but the general mood out there does seem to have started to feel a little bit more festive earlier. Now you could also say that there seems to be a collective willing of the coming of Christmas as it allows people to escape from the reality of their daily lives, and with the current state of things out there, you can't really blame them.
Last Friday I went to a Christmas do, still in November, which would have been deemed too early not that long ago. And as I arrived in Leeds and left the busy station and landed in City Square I was faced by the stalls of part of the Christmas Market, which has returned to the city after a gap of a couple of years, and which was doing a roaring trade. Now our do, which started off in one of those loud and busy places with bench tables and expensive drinks (although to be fair there were beers from Kirkstall and Northern Monk available, at a price of course!). Too loud for conversation, tables packed too tight together for comfort, it is a familiar format of today's city centre bar scene, but hardly conducive to enjoying the Christmas spirit for an aging blogger. But to a younger audience out on their Christmas do with better hearing and slimmer frames, this is all part of the fun, a place to sink a few drinks, enjoy the party vibe, chat to colleagues and co-workers you never speak to all year, and who knows where the night might end up?
And so I went off-piste and call in a place nearby that our Tom had recommended called Brew Society. Situated on Aire Street, close to the western exit of the station, this is an attractive bar a few steps up off the street in a solid-looking corner building. It was busy, in fact all the tables were taken, but it wasn't uncomfortable, and it wasn't too loud either. The bar is up a couple of steps and to the left as you go in, the room featuring exposed brickwork and dark-painted walls. There is a corridor-type area with polished floorboards and a few tables which leads to a larger room with more tables and the odd settee.There are 4 hand pumps on the bar and a range of keg beers, dispensed from taps on the back wall, all the details listed on a large board to the right of the bar. My spirits were lifted by the sight of a Two by Two beer on the board, and so I ordered a pint of the Citra Azacca off the keg lines, which was well good. There was a nice relaxing atmosphere to the place, and whilst it wasn't particularly Christmassy per se, it had the kind of ambience which would put in you in a great frame of mind at Christmas and any time of the year. The bar was set up as a relaxing indie coffee and beer house within Leeds City Centre that serves speciality, high quality drinks. It's open every day apart from Sunday, and based on this visit, I will be going back soon.
The Christmas feeling wasn't too prominent on the evening in Leeds, I have to say, despite the trappings. But the signs are around. The Christmas markets are everywhere. The town centre of my place of residence, Brighouse, was a no-go for me last weekend as the annual festive market was taking over the local streets, whilst nearby in Halifax, the Christmas lights were officially switched on on the Friday, with stalls and rides in the magnificent Piece Hall. This meant that the local bars were all busy with shoppers proudly clutching their purchases as they ordered their glasses of mulled wine in amongst the usual beers and wines. For some, calling in the pub was simply part of their normal routine that they follow throughout the year. For others though, they were making a rare visit to the pub, a place where they hardly venture throughout the other periods of the year, an unfamiliar place where the routines and rituals of pub etiquette are a complete mystery. How to order? How to address the workers behind the bar? How to behave? How to handle the effects of the alcohol when out in a public place?
If some of these infrequent visitors were to take the time to visit their local pub during other times of the year they may find there is actually something to draw them there. Now obviously there will be exceptions, such as where a pub has sold its soul to the kitchen and the needs of drinkers have been completely overlooked in favour of diners. There are also places particularly in busy town and city centres that are just too busy, with a constant churn of customers and too many staff to ever really get settled. But it depends what you are looking for, the right pub for you will be different to somebody else. For some it is simply a place to meet, or a place to include on a circuit as you go out with your mates. For some it is a place to escape for a short time from a hectic schedule. For some the quality of the drinks on offer is the pull. For others it is a nice place to call in on a Friday evening at the end of the week for a couple of drinks with the other half. For some it is a place of refuge from an otherwise miserable and lonely life. A pub can mean many things to different people.
Don't be deceived if all seems well as you enjoy a Christmas tipple, the pub fell with happy, smiling rosy-cheeked customers as the seasonal soundtrack plays along. So here it is merry Christmas, everybody's having fun. Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear. But come the new year, when the seasonal visitors have all gone, the decorations have come down, the jukebox is silent, and the pub is as empty as a January pocket, it is a different story. The tills, full over the Christmas period, rarely ring, the occasional punter that comes through the door hardly troubling them.
Sadly the number of pubs closing in the UK continues seemingly unchecked, often leaving whole communities without a local place to meet, socialise, watch music, or engage in activities, forcing those who would go there to visit other areas, or quite possibly, just stock up on beer from the supermarket which will no doubt be a lot cheaper and drink it at home. The pub can be the glue that binds a whole community together and once it closes, the sense of social cohesion can start to wane. As Hilaire Belloc once famously wrote "once you have lost your inns, then drown your empty selves for you will have lost the last of England". Of course there may be other facilities within a community such as the church or a sports club, but these only offer an appeal to certain groups, whereas a pub can draw people in from across the wider community.
Unfortunately the pub as an institution is not generally viewed as a valuable asset to the community by the powers-that-be. How many times can you think of when a pub has been knocked down that a replacement has been built in its place? Er...I bet it's not many, more likely never. In the 20-odd years I have lived in Brighouse there have been several new large housing developments close to my home. Has a pub ever been built? No. And the picture is the same across the country, as it has been for the past 50 years. OK, the same applies to other facilities that the community uses like schools, shops, and doctor's surgeries, where it seems to be a given that people will just have to use what exists in the wider area. Against a relentless background of throw it up and get it sold, scant consideration is given to the infrastructure and wellbeing of the people who move here. And as I said earlier. the pub that can be the glue that binds a whole community together, so how can you expect to build a true community without one?
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| They don't build 'em anymore; 1960's estate pub |
Last year you may recall a pub, Charlie's Bar in Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, put out an advert with its nod in the direction of John Lewis and the rest that struck a chord with a large number of people. The advert brilliantly captured not just the spirit of Christmas but also why pubs matter so much, not just at this time of the year but throughout. It shows an old man laying flowers on a grave and then walking into town, with passers-by seemingly oblivious to him. Lost in his thoughts, he walks into the bar where a young couple's little dog jumps up on to the seat beside him as he drinks his pint of Guinness. The couple, who are sat at the bar, realise their dog has disappeared, and when they spot where he is, they go over to collect him and end up sitting and chatting to the old man. With a soundtrack featuring Birdy's version of the Cherry Ghost classic People help the People, the advert ends with a quote from W B Yeats - "There are no strangers here, only friends you've just not met". The video went viral, being seen by over 6 million people around the world, with thousands of pounds raised for local charities.
Well, they've done another one this year, on the subject of grief. This year's video shows an older woman, Mary, who reads a letter just before Christmas from her husband John who died a few months earlier. She sits alone reading the letter, where he reminds her he's looking down on her and the family, with his stocking still hanging over the nearby fireplace. Alongside the letter in the envelope is a photograph taken in Charlie's Bar the previous year, showing Mary and John smiling with their family. Mary's son then comes in to make sure she's okay, before the family head to the pub to be together.
Arriving at Charlie's Bar, they recreate the photo from the previous year, with Mary smiling as she enjoys being surrounded by her loving family. Bar owner Una Burns explained "that although for many Christmas is a very joyous occasion, for others it's tainted with sadness. I wanted to draw inspiration from our own community, and what I've seen over the years in the bar, and the stories I've heard. In the bar you're in a privileged position where people share what they're going through, and I wanted the advert to have an actual message, and I wanted it to bring a bit of warmth and reflection to people's homes this Christmas. I think it shows pubs are more than just a drinking place, they can be a real source of comfort and hope for people. They can be a real beating heart for communities for...those who maybe do find Christmas more difficult."
And in closing, there will be many for whom the sense of loss, loneliness, or sadness will be felt more acutely around Christmas, but of course those feelings are present all year round too, be it a cold afternoon in March, a sunny morning in July, or a darkening evening in October. The pub provides a space where the lonely can go for a drink and be amongst people, even if they are on their own while they are there. And so it is important that we support our pubs not just at Christmas but throughout the year. After all, we want to hear those Christmas songs again next year....
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