The York Minster pub in London’s Soho, in 1941. If the role of a pub can be summarized at all, it’s as a community center—the “third place” people go to outside of work and home.
Photographer: Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
What’s Really Killing Britain’s Historic Pubs
Hungry developers, stay-at-home drinkers and rising prices all spell doom for several legendary drinking establishments.
When the Crown and Anchor pub in Llanidloes in mid-Wales was built, there was a different Charles on the throne, America was a British colony and France still had a king.
While time changed all around it, the Crown and Anchor has stayed much the same since the 17th century. But that long spell of history ended abruptly in May, when a Covid-19 hangover, rising prices and high energy costs meant that landlord John Fitzpatrick was forced to call last orders.