Is The Charm Of The English Countryside Becoming A Thing Of The Past?
UKs countryside the typical picture postcard habitation has been immortalized by
its mention in ever so many poems and novels that it has a charm even to people who have never been here.
The countryside now seems to be moving closer to Oliver Goldsmiths Deserted Village where the poet laments of the fall of a once vibrant village due to an exodus of its people in the wake of the industrial revolution. Strangely Goldsmiths lament on the disappearance of the village pub the focal point and intrinsic part of the local community is ever so relevant today. According to a study almost 40 pubs close down everyday in the UK leaving people wondering if there would be any in the not too distant future. This has naturally created a lot of sadness and anxiety in the minds of locals especially the older people who share a lot of pleasant memories with the local pub.
Supermarkets are cited as the main cause for the decline of pubs, they are accused of having driven out the small shops, the petrol stations and now the pubs. While supermarkets are arguably very aggressive in their business approach and have strong staying powers, they cannot be wholly blamed for the disappearance of the village pubs. A number of factors like breweries hiking the prices, a general recession leaving people cash strapped, increasing influence of the TV which keeps youth indoors, governmental regulation demanding better sewage and water treatment by pub owners, settling down of new people with no emotional ties with the local pub and last but not the least a ban on smoking in pubs have all contributed in varying degrees for the fall of the local pubs.