ALE Winter/Spring 2005 No. 316 : Next section

Pubs for All

CAMRA has published a new leaflet aimed at promoting the message that pubs are, or should be, for everyone. In our view the best pubs are those which are responsibly managed, attract people of all ages and play an active role in community life. CAMRA is about choice and we want to ensure that everyone can find it easy to choose a pub which suits them.

The leaflet notes the explosion in city/town centre theme bars which have turned many centres (Cambridge amongst them) into late night ghettos of binge drinking. Most of the problems can be avoided in our view by

managing drinks promotions sensibly;
offering a wide range of drinks, including real ale;
ensuring community activity; pubs which have social bonds between regulars tend to be self-policing;
avoiding overcrowding and supplying ample seating;
good pub design.

On the last point, we take the view that poor layout, huge open plan spaces and insufficient bar areas are likely to exacerbate problems of nuisance, disorder and binge drinking. The use of room divisions and separate spaces can provide customers with privacy and avoid the spread of problems. The multi-room layout of the traditional public house has many advantages in this respect over large opened-out designs. They also offer a neat solution to the smoking-in-pubs debate which is currently raging; no need to ban smoking throughout a pub if you can confine it to one or two rooms.

It's interesting that Sam Smiths, the Yorkshire brewer, is busy reinstating multi-room layouts in many of its pubs. The nearest to us is The Wortley Almshouses, Westgate, Peterborough, formerly open-plan but now with four separate drinking areas.

Copies of the leaflet can be obtained from CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans AL1 4LW or email Samantha.jones@camra.org.uk

ALE Winter/Spring 2005 No. 316 : Next section
Cambridge & District CAMRA