Oxford pubs: Use them or lose them (From Oxford Mail)

Oxford pubs: Use them or lose them

6:40am Monday 15th December 2008 in

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Real ale lovers are hammering home the need for people to support their local pubs as the economic slowdown bites behind the bar.

“Use them or lose them” is the warning from Tony Goulding, pubs officer from the Oxford branch of Camra (the Campaign for Real Ale), which has highlighted a number of city watering holes it thinks people should support.

The group said 15 pubs out of about 150 have closed in Oxford over the past five years, and members fear more could shut in the near future.

Mr Goulding said: “I believe we’re entering the bleakest period for Oxford pubs in the past 50 years.

“After Christmas can be a quiet time, and we’re very concerned that we will see more pubs close in the first few months of 2009.

“We have no intention of scaremongering, but have identified pubs which we believe are most in danger, going into next year.”

The Jolly Postboys, in Florence Park; the Ampleforth Arms, in Risinghurst; the Eagle Tavern, in Magdalen Road; and the Chester Arms, in Chester Street, are all good traditional local pubs which need support, according to Mr Goulding.

He added: “They’re all community locals and many are tucked away and off the beaten track.

“They need the support of their local community, and they also need people from other parts of the city to make an effort to visit them, perhaps on a pub crawl.

“If everyone visited three or four pubs once a month, there would be no problem, but unfortunately that’s not happening at the moment.

“We have already seen quite a few pubs close in Oxford in the past few years, but I believe there’s worse to come.”

Mr Goulding said supermarkets were pubs’ “public enemy number one” for undercutting landlords by selling cheap alcohol.

He added: “Some landlords also come under pressure from breweries, who charge them high rents.”

John Dunkley has been landlord of the Ampleforth Arms, in Collingwood Road, Risinghurst, for the past month, since moving from the Chester Arms.

He said: “The reception we have had from the locals so far has been quite encouraging but we would appreciate even more support.

“The pub is the only one in the Risinghurst and Sandhills area and it would be a shame if it had to close.”

Abby Needham, who took over the Chester Arms with her partner Matthew Rhodes on December 1, said: “The pub is used by lots of local residents, but it would be great if people visited us from all over Oxford as well.”

Peter Jackaman, a spokesman for the Eagle Tavern, said: “In about three weeks’ time Arkells brewery will take over from the current management, so we need to keep people coming in.”

Mr Goulding said the Corner House pub, at the junction of The Slade and Hollow Way, had closed about a month ago, and added: “It could be a sign of things to come.”

John Madden, the executive officer of the Guild of Master Victuallers in the South East of England, said: “Trade started to drop off with the smoking ban last July.

“Some pubs were able to diversify by providing food but others weren’t and some closed as a result.

“Backstreet pubs can be particularly under threat, unless they get support from local clientele.

“The credit crunch is making trading conditions even tougher, because people are buying cheap alcohol in the supermarkets and drinking at home. Pubs are closing at the rate of five a day and 2009 is bound to be a tough year.”

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