A few days ago I happened to be passing an estate agents
window when my attention was drawn to a photo advertising the sale of The King
William IV public house in the South Somerset village of Curry Rivel. This
village of some two thousand souls which sprawls along the A378 a mile or two south
west of Langport now has only one pub, The Firehouse, when not so long ago it
had three; the Bell Hotel closed some years ago and is now being redeveloped
for residential use. According to the
estate agent it seems the same fate may befall The King William IV!
 |
| The King William IV pub in the village of Curry Rivel in South Somerset. Photographed on 3rd May 2018. |
A little research reveals that pubs, an intrinsic part of
England’s culture and heritage, have closed at the rate of 2 per day over the
last year, not quite as bad as the rate in 2014 when 29 were closing each week.*
While on the subject of closures I read that Royal Bank of
Scotland is closing another 162 branches across England and Wales. According to a report in the Mirror, since 2015 the banks have
closed 1,944 branches with another 642 to close this year.** Furthermore, today I came across a YouTube webcast
by Anne Marie Waters, leader of The For Britain Movement, in which she deplores
the collapse of another 1,500 high street stores due to soaring business rates
as reported in the Daily Express.***
It appears that the retail and social infrastructure of our
towns and villages are slowly fading away while it seems Lib/Lab/Con
politicians at national and local level shrug their shoulders, turn their backs,
and walk away.
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