25/09/2023
‘After Last Orders?’ is a two-year Leverhulme Trust funded project exploring the causes and impacts of pub closure in the UK, made urgent by the recent and widespread closure of pubs.
Since 2000, one in four pubs have permanently closed and closures are rising sharply – in the first half of 2023 nearly 400 closed in England and Wales, almost many as the whole of 2022.
But the statistics can only tell us so much. Pubs are unique social spaces. They are embedded in the economic, social and cultural life of local communities, offering important sources of livelihood, social connection and community.
Many pubs have existed for a long time. They are focal points in their community and are often central to place identity. Others serve specific minority communities.
The After Last Orders project is a much needed examination of what is lost when pubs close. Focusing on a range of case studies from around the UK, this project will use an innovative biographical approach to ‘tell the stories’ of the people and places affected by closures.
The project will record the ‘lives’ of pubs prior to, leading up to, during and after closure. We hope that the findings will greatly enhance understandings of the impact of pub closures at a personal, social and cultural level.
As the project progresses, we will be selecting cases of specific pub closures. If you know of a pub that might make a good case study, please get in touch!
