Lockdown Drinking

On 20th March 2020, I had what would turn out to be my last pint of real ale in my favourite pub before the country went into lockdown. Like many people, I assumed the closure would only be temporary, but none of us realised how long it would be before normal life returned.

With pubs closed, I started adding bottled beer to my supermarket home deliveries. The beers I bought most often were Hobgoblin Classic and Hobgoblin Gold six-bottle packs. They were enjoyable enough and helped fill the gap left by pub visits, but they never quite hit the spot. Being bottled and highly carbonated, I found them much gassier than the cask ales I was used to drinking in the pub, so I could never manage more than a couple at a time.

After months of waiting, pubs were finally allowed to reopen on 10th July 2020. Walking back into my local for that first pint felt almost surreal. Face masks, hand sanitiser and social distancing measures were everywhere, making the experience very different from the pub I knew, but none of that mattered when I took the first sip of a proper pint of real ale.

Unfortunately, the return was short-lived. Restrictions tightened again and the pub was forced to close once more. My last pint before the second closure was on 30th October 2020.

When outdoor hospitality reopened on 12th April 2021, many people rushed back to pubs and beer gardens. My favourite pub, however, had no outdoor seating area and remained closed. To keep up some sense of normality, I met friends in a pub in town that did have outside seating. The atmosphere was pleasant enough, but I never really warmed to the beer selection there, so I usually stuck to just one or two pints before heading home.

At last, on 19th May 2021, my favourite pub reopened its doors. My first pint back felt long overdue. The pub had introduced table service, which I actually quite liked, but there were still restrictions in place. The "rule of six" meant larger groups of friends had to split across multiple tables, which took away some of the social side of pub life that we'd all missed so much.

Then came another shock.

I was told that the pub would be closing again in July 2021, this time not because of lockdown restrictions, but for a major refurbishment. My immediate reaction was disbelief. Why would they change it? I loved the pub exactly as it was. It had character, history and familiarity. Like many regulars, I worried that the refurbishment would strip away everything that made it special.

On 2nd July 2021, I drank what would be my final pint in the old pub and said goodbye. It sounds dramatic now, but at the time it genuinely felt like the end of an era.

During the closure, friends met in another pub in town, but it just wasn't the same. The atmosphere was different, the surroundings unfamiliar, and every visit served as a reminder that our regular meeting place was gone.

Finally, in September 2021, the doors reopened.

I approached my first visit with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. On 23rd September 2021, I walked into the newly refurbished pub and ordered my first pint.

To my surprise, I loved it.

The layout had changed and everything looked fresher and brighter, but the welcoming atmosphere remained exactly the same. The friendly faces were still there, the beer was still excellent, and before long it felt just as comfortable as the old pub had.

In the end, all my worries had been for nothing. The pub had changed, but it hadn't lost its soul.