Grandad, what was it like when pubs were still around?

A Chesterfield pub this week put out a heartfelt plea for people to support local bars, claiming the new tier 2 restrictions have effectively halved their business.
Could the pub landlord be one day just an exihit in a museum?Could the pub landlord be one day just an exihit in a museum?
Could the pub landlord be one day just an exihit in a museum?

Bosses at the Crafty Dog, on Chatsworth Road, issued the call to arms via their Instagram account, writing: "Memories are built on nights outs with friends and meals with your family at your local pub.

"I pray that when my kids are older I don’t have to explain to them what a pub was and how amazing they were."

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Now that really got me thinking. Is it conceivable that pubs might actually vanish completely, existing only in retro picture books or living history museums?

It seems so fanciful as to be not worth considering – the bar has been a part of human history pretty much since the day prehistoric man first got smashed on fermenting fruit he found at the back of his cave one Saturday night.

But then, think back to how many every-day things we’ve taken for granted during our lifetime that have since been driven down Memory Lane and illegally fly-tipped at the side of the road.

It wasn’t that long ago that every long-distance trip would include check-lists to ensure we had Ordnance Survey maps and a camera with us.

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Ask kids today what they think you mean by ‘giving someone three things’ and they probably imagine it’s something to do with The Hobbit.

The idea of going to a phone box to send a coded message, letting your mum know you’re alright via her landline, feels so old it belongs not just to the last century, but the last millennium. Which, of course, it does.

When I was a teenager, I couldn’t imagine a world without Hudson’s Records, never mind that the cassette tape, LP and CD would replace each other and then be usurped themselves by the digital download.

Who knows how we’ll be listening to music in the next five years – probably via an Apple iChip in the brain. Which will make it really hard to get rid of that annoying earworm that’s stuck in your head.

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I really hope that pubs are around for centuries to come – and would urge everyone to safely support your local, if you can. I’d hate to have to be those explaining to the grandkids what a pub was – and what they missed out on...