, Columnist
More Bad News for Britain's Beer Drinkers
Britain's pubs aren't just socially important; they also make a significant economic contribution.
A dying institution.
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The Red Lion Pub has provided refreshment and accommodation to the village of Wingham for more than 750 years. A developer is seeking planning permission from the local government in Dover to convert the historic tavern into two houses. The locals have mounted a campaign against the conversion; national trends suggest they're doomed to fail.
British beer drinkers are fighting a war on three fronts. Pubs continue to close at an alarming rate. A boom in microbreweries is attracting the big beer makers keener on the marketing hipsterdom of craft ales than their artisan production methods and values. And the surging price of one of the key ingredients points to higher beer prices in the future.