| British spend over a year in the pub |
 A recent survey by UKTV channel ‘Blighty’ has found that the British spend an average of 8,874 hours (over a year, 370 days) in pubs and spend over £65,000 there during the course of their lives.
During this time they’ll down 5,403 alcoholic drinks and chomp through around 1,775 bar snacks.
And 21 per cent are more likely to know their local landlord than their neighbour!
On the downside, the survey also revealed that 60 per cent of respondents had seen a local pub close in recent years too.
The research was published to co-incide with the launch of the five-part documentary series ‘Save Our Boozer’ which follows communities’ efforts to get together to revamp their stricken pubs.
The responses from a survey of more than 2,000 adults were analysed by respected statistician Dr Geoff Ellis and a team of experts in order to provide a unique insight into how Britons embrace pub culture throughout their lives.
The findings reveal the average British man will spend a combined total of more than 10,585 hours or 441 days in the pub in his lifetime while the average British woman, based on a weekly visit to her local, is likely to spend 8,154 hours or 340 days.
But the cost of visiting the pub on a regular basis for a ‘swift half’ doesn’t necessarily come cheap with respondents spending an average of £10.88 every time, which equates to shelling out £38,624 over the course of a lifetime. When the additional cost of pub food or bar snacks is factored in, this amount rises to £65,249.
Proving that the pub is still the focal point of communities across the UK, 21 per cent of people say they are more likely to know the name of their landlord than that of their neighbours. A further 12 per cent of respondents say spending time in their local is their way of staying in touch with what is going on in the area.
The findings show that when it comes to favourite pastimes the overwhelming majority (47 per cent) like to shoot pool followed by 14 per cent who read a newspaper and 11 per cent who like to stand up to the oche to beat their friends at a game of darts. But there’s a growing call for more traditional pub pursuits to be re-introduced such as cribbage (31 per cent), dominoes (45 per cent) and bar billiards (31 per cent), especially as the trend continues towards more generic public houses.
On the music front, pubs across the UK are pumping out the same anthemic tunes with two in five respondents (39 per cent) rating Wonderwall by Oasis as their most listened-to pub classic. This is followed by American Pie by Don McLean (30 per cent), We Are The Champions by Queen (29 per cent), Sweet Home Alabama by Lynard Skynyrd (27 per cent) and Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf (17 per cent).
With beer goggles firmly in place, a whopping 48 per cent of respondents have started a romantic fling in a pub; however a quarter of those questioned (24 per cent) have also used their local as the place to call time on their relationship. A fifth (20 per cent) report that they have been involved in a pub brawl while the effects of excessive drinking have also been felt by 38 per cent of people who say they have been sick either in a pub or nearby after consuming alcohol.
The results also reveal some interesting regional differences with the Welsh the most likely to be found propping up the bar of their local, with average Welsh drinkers visiting the pub 3,998 times during their lifetime compared with the national average of 3,550 visits. Drinkers in London (3,742 visits) and the West Midlands (3,582 visits) are also well above average, while those in Northern Ireland (2,686 visits) and the East Midlands (2,622 visits) are the least likely to be found at their local.
The research shows that the average Briton drinks 1.5 units of alcohol on each visit to a pub. The Scots spend the most per visit (£12.45) and consume the most units (4.16 units per visit). Drinkers in Northern Ireland are the most likely to have started a romantic fling in their local (59 per cent) while those in the North East are more likely to have ended their relationship there (37 per cent).
The snapshot research also reveals that Welsh respondents are the most likely to have been involved in a pub brawl (26 per cent) and also the most likely to have been sick in the pub or nearby (45 per cent).
Blighty Channel Head Adrian Wills says, “This survey highlights how the British pub is so ingrained in our culture despite the closure of at least 52 pubs every week. We hope that Save Our Boozer, as part of Blighty’s programming to showcase the best of British, will put the spotlight firmly on the issue of why it’s important to preserve these cornerstones of our communities”.
Formed in 1997, UKTV is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC and Virgin Media.
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