London pubs

There is an old building in Abingdon Road W8, once a pub, that closed several years ago.

It is still there, waiting and unloved. There are too many instances of pubs closing their

doors - and the community suffers. Visitors to London, from Continental Europe for example,

love our pubs and the friendly atmosphere they create. But we need more "happy hours"

especially when it comes to the pricing of a bottle of wine. I love going to the Scarsdale on

Edwardes Square, but the wine prices are prohibitive and frequent visits are out of the question.

For me pubs are the lifeblood of local communities, places to meet, debate, discuss, celebrate. Where else is there that even comes close? They are also melting pots, open to all. Without them, communities become more polarised and people more isolated.

All the pubs around me have become 'gastro pubs' and therefore have become too expensive. Also, continuous music keeps me away. There's practically no-where where you can go for a quiet drink and a chat. I mourn the loss of the old fashioned local though I do understand economic pressures have made it difficult for them to survive.

I live opposite a pub and it is bloody noisy. I can't say it makes me want to go in very often.

Closure of pubs benefits no-one except developers. It is the first step in gentrification of an area and ultimately leads to social cleansing.

I love London Pubs but I think the price of beer is way too expensive, which is why Wetherspoons are so popular. They don’t appeal to certain ethnic minorities though, you tend to see the same demographic in most pubs which probably accounts for why some pubs are closing down as their customer base has changed over the years. Breweries could create more vegan and low/no alcoholic varieties which might appeal to people of different beliefs and ethnic backgrounds. Pubs have to potential to be great places to meet people from other backgrounds, but that isn’t happening right now and might go some way to account for the lack of mixing between these groups.

I think pubs are incredibly important for London for all kinds of reasons.

Where I live in east London, I would say there are some improvements in the surviving pubs over recent years as the ones that haven't closed have become more popular and have been taken over by quality operators. However with this has come a reduction in the range of different types of pub; while I'm happy with the newer ones, others find them too expensive, noisy or with a different crowd to them. It seems the only cheaper pubs will soon be Wetherspoons and some older / isolated people stop having a place to go and meet people near to them if they don't feel comfortable in the new trendy pub on their doorstep.

As well as going to pubs with friends and to eat or for celebrations etc, I sometimes use them for community meetings and events. However this is not always ideal as there may be people who are put off attending events in pubs for various reasons so it does mean at times other places need to be found. Perhaps if more pubs had separate spaces where people didn't necessarily have to walk through the bar, they would be more accessible for the wider community.