Pete Robinson: Grotty backstreet boozers

There's a lovely old song that begins: "Every street that you meet is a Coronation Street; There's a Rover's Return where the folks all like to meet..."

Of course the Rover's Return isn't a real pub. So like Coronation Street it will survive with it's role-playing customers happily adapting to the smoking ban. So long as the health police don't ban Betty's hotpots the Rovers will continue to thrive, busier than ever, presenting a warm image of the Great British pub.

Sadly that image may be all that remains in a few years time. All over the country it's the thousands of small landlocked pubs that will be falling like dominoes, closing faster than our nation's bingo halls. Community pubs that were once considered the backbone of the industry.

Surprisingly there are some who won't mourn their passing. One commentator referred to them as 'grotty back street boozers'. Whilst some may prefer the more refined, artificial ambience of their local wine bar others truly appreciate the more common atmosphere of a 'real' pub full of ordinary, common people. Every 'grotty back street boozer' is someone's home. It's also a second home to it's local customers. Some of us like pubs like that.

I think it's pretty spiteful that many anti-smokers would rather see those pubs close, taking with them another part of our culture and heritage. Indeed they believe closing these pubs will be a good thing, strengthening the businesses of 'new' pubs that are prepared to take advantage of 'the new opportunity'. It's assumed these future-proof pubs will attract migrating customers like a magnet.

But will they really? Somehow I can't imagine those middle-aged beer drinkers legging it down to the high street to sip Yates' draught champagne with a Thai dish-of-the-day. Or sampling a pint of Bumblingtons-Banana-Bull-Stout at their local Wetherspoon's. Or attending a 'female-friendly pub beauty promotion' of the type Punch Taverns are recommending.

No, when their local pub closes it will simply mean an important part of their social lives shuts down with it. Many of those pubs witnessed the passing of two World Wars. It's a tragedy that today they face defeat by the forces of political correctness.