- Since 2001, two out of three pubs in Barking and Dagenham have closed
- Locals complain there are only three ‘traditional boozers in the historic town
The Spotted Dog in Barking first opened its doors in 1870. Apart from electronic point of sale terminals and a couple of televisions placed incongruously on the wall, little has changed inside since the Franco-Prussian war. A card reader brings an unexpected link to modernity.
Outside, things are remarkably different. Barking was once a prosperous town with the largest fishing fleet in Britain. That industry in the 18th and 19th century led to a growth in jobs and a thriving pub trade.
Sailmakers, carpenters, shipwrights all supported the growing fleet, but that has faded into history.
A 10-metre monument celebrating this past sits in the centre of a busy roundabout a short distance from the centre of town, surrounded by an ocean of tarmac.
The monument features a stone engraved with the details of an internet site which no longer exists as someone did not pay the hosting fee. The history project lost in the pixelverse. Neglect is close at hand.
Locals inside the Victorian-era building describe it as an ‘old fashioned boozer’, although the floors are no longer covered in sawdust. Within a few years of opening, the spittoons would have been outlawed due to their link to spreading tuberculosis.
Along the street, there are an assortment of betting shops, pawn brokers and retailers selling bargain goods. Small traders operate stalls in the Lee side of the town’s railway station.
The traditional pie and mash shops are gone. Deep fried chicken and pizza instead dominate the high street.
Across much of Britain, the scene is depressingly similar as an estimated 30 bars a week area closing down.
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Behind the main street, several new apartment complexes reach into the pale spring sky, with further housing projects planned. From the upper floors, weak sun reflects off the western windows looking over towards Canary Wharf and the city. Estate agents sell Barking as a commuter town while boasting of excellent rail links.
In one development towering over The Spotted Dog, Oculus House, a penthouse suite sold for £8.3 million in 2010. Estate agents in the area say the development is perfect for commuting into the city using the town’s rail line.
A lifetime away from regulars in one of the town’s last remaining pubs.
That same rail line played an important part in the history of the bar.
The pub’s first governor, Edward Maynard, died crossing the railway tracks linking the town to the city. Mr Maynard, who was very deaf, could not hear the approaching train while crossing the tracks in 1878 and was killed.
For Gordon Manning, who is in his 70s, Barking has changed massively since he was a child.
According to data held by the Office of National Statistics, the east London town, which is only about nine miles from the tourist favourite of Tower Bridge, two out of three pubs in the area have closed down since the turn of the century.
The data from 2019 records the decline in pubs across the entire country.
Of every local authority area across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Barking has seen the highest percentage of pub closures.
Disgraced comedian Russell Brand has recently failed in his attempt to convert an 800-year-old pub in Pishill, Oxfordshire into a recording studio for his podcast.
Planners rejected his attempt claiming ‘this application has failed to demonstrate an acceptable replacement for the lost facility or that the facility is no longer required and is no longer economically viable’.
Barking is an example of how the pub trade is facing massive difficulties, post-Covid, some bars failed to reopen. The government maintains it has frozen beer duty and is offering 75 per cent business rates relieve to boost the hospitality sector.
Inside, the majority of people enjoying a quiet midweek pint are either approaching retirement or have claimed their pensions. Some say they must continue to work if they want the luxury of a couple of pints during the week. Others have cut back as their pensions have not kept pace with inflation.
According to Mr Manning: ‘We are losing a lot of these pubs. A lot of them are changing over to nightclub type things but they are only for the foreign people.
‘I’m not knocking foreign people at all. They are not like pubs that we knew. This is probably the only pub left that is like this.
‘I think there are only one, two, three pubs in Barking which are pubs.
‘I live on an estate, Thames View, we had two pubs there. Then one shut and the other shut for seven months, was open for six months and now it was shut again.
‘There were over 50 pubs in Barking [when I was a child], I used to be able to name them… I probably can’t now.
‘The other places, the buildings, they still sell alcohol but they are not pubs like this, that you could walk into. You couldn’t afford to go into them anyway.’
The ready availability of alcohol from a range of outlets has impacted the pub trade, according to Mr Manning.
‘I remember when you could only buy beer in a pub, or a little bottle and jug off licence. Every pub and a little bar where you could go and get your dad a jug of beer. Now every shop along the road sells cans of beer. There are more drunks out there than there is in here. That’s the sad part of about it.
‘It is so cheap to buy drink from an off licence. For me it is a socialising thing. I don’t want to drink indoors. I’ll have a can, alright, but to make a night of it indoors is out of the question.
‘You wouldn’t know who is dying if you didn’t go out, would you? I came out today and found three people of dead. Probably died of boredom because all the pubs are gone.’
Roger McDaid, Marieta Alexis and John Dye regularly meet up in the pub to catch up. Two pints and a glass of white wine sit on the table. Mobile phones remain hidden from view.
A music video channel plays soundlessly from a nearby television.
Mr McDaid told MailOnline: ‘There used to be so many pubs to choose from and they had entertainment at the weekend. And they had pool tables.
‘When Wetherspoons came it took a lot of trade from other pubs. But from 12 pubs around Barking there are three remaining.’
Mr Dye added: ‘When Wetherspoons opened up there were be four or five people deep at the bar. It was very busy, but even before it was closed, it was getting less busy. Everywhere is going down hill.’
According to Ms Alexis: ‘We would meet in Wetherspoons on a Friday. The food was cheap and it was good. ‘
Mr McDaid added: ‘See, all the old people would meet up in the morning at Wetherspoon and have a breakfast and a couple of pints because it was the cheapest beer around. They would always meet there for a nice cheap breakfast.
Pointing across the street to where the Wetherspoons was demolished, Ms Alexis said it was supposed to have been rebuilt already, but fears it may never reopen.
‘You see the flats over there. The people in those flats do not socialise with people like us. They are probably at home with a wine bottle. I personally think people are drinking at home as things are too expensive.
‘We come down here to meet each other and socialise. We don’t come to the pub to stare at our phones, we come here to talk to each other.’
Mr Dye added: ‘Unless we are arguing about something, then the phone comes out.’
The ONS said between 2011 and 2021 the population of Barking and Dagenham has increased by almost 18 per cent, from 185,900 to 218,900.
Despite the view from the pub, the borough has a lower median age that 35 than the rest of England at 40.
The Campaign for Real Ale said the wider industry is facing significant problems with 30 bars a week closing on at least a temporary basis.
Last year, 96 pubs were converted or demolished during the first six months – 31 of them without the appropriate planning permission.
A spokesperson said: ‘Pubs in England cannot be converted or demolished without planning permission – a vital protection campaigned for by CAMRA – which empowers communities to have their say on the future of their local.
‘However, concerning figures released today by the Campaign show that a third of pub losses happen without this process taking place.’
They believe that around 30 pubs a week are pulling down the shutters, joining the ranks of the long term closed.
Gary Timmins, CAMRA Pub and Club Campaigns Director said, ‘The pub trade is resilient, but it’s simply unacceptable that developers are able to flout planning regulations in this manner.
‘CAMRA has been calling for more consistent enforcement of planning requirements by councils for some time.
We believe that if Local Planning Authorities are not able to apply pub protections as set out in legislation, then Government in Westminster must step in to provide clearer guidance.
These are national policies in England and yet the variation that our campaigners see between councils with the strongest pub.’
At 38, Terry Stephenson is one of the youngest people in The Spotted Dog.
He said: ‘It’s a mixture of the price of the cost of living and the government put the price of beer up in the pub every year. The pubs, unlike supermarkets, can’t subsidise the prices. They have only got the beer to sell and they have to try and keep the price as low as possible.
‘You will pay £4.30 for a pint in here. Go across the road and you’ll get two cans for the same price and if you go into Asda or Tesco you’ll get it for even less.
‘I also think it is a dying crowd in this area. You’ve got a lot of immigration coming in – which is great for society – and great for building new relationships, but a lot of the immigrants don’t drink as part of their culture, which is fine, but if they do drink, they tend to stay in their own, the don’t disperse out as much or spread the love.’
‘A lot of the local people have moved out of the area or have died. It is a mixture these things. It’s a shame because there used to be a thriving pub scene in Barking. You could do a miniature pub crawl in Barking and be quite well merried… but not now.’
The demographics in the area have shifted. The number of people claiming to have no religion as remained constant at almost 19 per cent over the past decade. Those who are Christian have fallen from 56 per cent to 45.4 per cent, while Muslim people have increased from 13.7 per cent of the population to 24.4 per cent.
Michael Hession is from Southend, but works in Barking. He often stops off in the Spotted Dog before heading home.
He said: ‘I’ve been coming here since the Wetherspoons closed a couple of years ago. It was demolished as part of a regeneration and there were plans to rebuild it. But it’s still a building site.
‘This is a good pub but it is more expensive than the Wetherspoons. I think pubs should drop their prices. I am retirement age but I still work because of the cost of living. I pay £400 a month travelling from Southend to work.
His friend Pat Cheeseman from Barking said: ‘The government is slaughtering the pub trade with tax on a pint. Everything has gone up in price and it is now sky high.
‘I am still working because the state pension wouldn’t cover my expenses. I am lucky to be in good health.
‘If I didn’t work, I would not be able to afford to come out for a pint. I am lucky I also have a council flat because I would not be able to afford private rent.
‘I have worked all my life and you should be confident that you pension could provide for you and your family. But it’s not enough, especially with prices rocketing.’
Ron Cottle was sitting alone nursing a pint of lager. He has seen the decline in pub numbers.
As a pensioner he said it is a struggle, having constantly to work out the costs.
He said: ‘The pubs are probably half empty all the time because people cannot afford to go out. There is too much tax on beer. The Government keeps putting the price up and that makes it harder.
‘Looking around here, The Bull has closed a few years ago and so has the Barge Ground. Even Barking Working Men’s club has closed.
‘When the Wetherspoons closed, things got more expensive. I used to get a pint for £3.80 and it is £5.40 now. It’s hard to afford that on a state pension. it doesn’t go far enough. I come here and have two beers, I couldn’t have three or four because the costs mount up and the state pension does not cover.
‘I am 70 and when you reach my age you don’t spend much time worrying about the future, if I’m honest.
‘The pub gives you a chance to get out of the house and relax and not worry about the outside world.’
Indy Mandla said he blamed the rising cost of drink for the decline in the pub trade.
‘If you cross the street you can buy five or six cans for the price of a pint’, he explained.
‘Also, there’s a generational change. Young people are more health conscious and do not go to the pub. There are also changing demographics and the massive availability of alcohol from other places.
‘I come here for a catch-up with friends. There are some bars which are trying to encourage customers by dropping prices. That works. But if the bar is owned by a brewery, there is little chance for that.
‘I’ve told them in here that they should offer pie, mash and liquor. They’d smash it. All of the pie and mash shops have gone around here. That’s part of the change.
‘Young people want cocktails and the older people want a good quality pint they can afford.’
In King’s Walden, on the Hertfordshire / Bedfordshire border, local residents are desperately trying to support their local pub, The Plough, which is under threat of imminent closure.
Residents in the hamlet want to buy out the Grade II listed bar from Admiral Taverns, who have applied for planning permission to transform the 180-year-old pub into a family home.
Despite being just two miles from the threshold of Luton Airport, the redbrick public house is located on a narrow country road, overlooking rolling hills and farm yards. As it is not along the centreline of the runway, they avoid much of the noise associated with close proximity to an airport.
Admiral Taverns claim the business is unsustainable and has no future as a bar. Locals claim the pub is the centre of their 200-strong community.
King’s Walden was listed in the Domesday book with a recorded population of 53 households in 1086. According to Open Domesday, that put in in the largest 20 per cent of settlements in the book.
Of the population, there were 30 villagers, 11 smallholders, seven cottagers, four slaves and a priest.
The pub is listed on Savills with a Price on Application and is described as being a ‘Grade II Listed public house situated in an affluent rural location’.
The affluent rural location is what makes it a lucrative potential property, sitting on 1.65 acres of land.
Properties in the area regularly sell for in excess of £1m although according to Land Registry figures there have been 39 transactions over the past 30 years.
The listing suggests that the pub is ‘currently closed’, although the regulars enjoying a late afternoon pint would disagree.
Inside there is a small bar with a dozen fresh eggs sitting on the counter supplied by the next door neighbour’s hens. £1.50 for half dozen explains Colin Hill, who has been the landlord for almost two decades.
Like any good landlord he knows in advance what his customers are going to order, including one who arrived with two empty egg boxes to keep next door’s hens busy.
He said the pub has lots of regulars and attracts hikers and ramblers during the summer. A weekly meat raffle on a Sunday is particularly popular.
Inside, there is unanimous support for the pub.
Jez, who is the local mechanic stopped in for a pint on Friday afternoon.
He told MailOnline: ‘The Plough is the hub of my life and home of the best pint of Abbott I can get.
‘I have been coming here since 1994 and it attracts people from all around the area. We are all behind Colin and want the pub to continue into the future. It is not only Colin’s livelihood but it is the heart of the community.
‘I know everyone from around here because of the pub. Several pubs have closed around here and something is lost when the pub goes.
‘Luton, Hitchen and Stevenage are all nearby, but we want to stay here. This is the place we can meet up, have a chat and enjoy each other’s company.
‘You won’t find many places that are as dog friendly either.’
The area’s MP Bim Afolami has backed efforts for the local community to buy the bar and save the pub’s future.
He said village pubs ‘are at the centre of so many of our rural communities’.
Around the bar there are horse brasses and plaques from the RNLI thanking regulars for their donations to the charity.
The listing describes the building as ‘in need of modernisation/refurbishment’, but that is not necessary according to those enjoying the hospitality.
Changing the planning designation from a licenced premises to a family home would dramatically increase the value of the 1,695sq ft property.
Such an approach may make sense to shareholders running a gimlet eye over a spreadsheet – a bonanza once off profit over respectable but not significant annual returns.
The pub is currently listed as an Asset of Community Value which makes it more difficult for the owners to dispose of the building as they have to consult with locals. Though attempts to secure the pub’s future are not guaranteed to succeed.
Tim Goss, from Barton-ley-Clay said he has been a regular at The Plough for the past nine years.
He said several of the pubs nearer his home have gone out of business. He believes, with community support, The Plough has strong future.
‘This is a traditional English pub and people come here to enjoy a good ale and good company.
‘This is the epitome of what it is to be British. It is a bastion of the establishment and is at the heart of the local community and a place for everyone from the landed gentry to a peasant.
‘If it closes, Colin loses his livelihood and we all lose part of our identity.’
He said he believes there should be urgent action by those in power to protect the traditional English pub before they are all gone.
‘The big breweries simply look at the bottom line. They are accountants and do not consider the added value a bar provides. Everybody knows everyone in here and they are very welcome. I guess with all the surrounding villages, there are around 600 people.
‘Not everyone wants to go into a busy superpub. I have the greatest respect for Tim Martin and Wetherspoons, but I do not want to drink in one of his pubs. They are too impersonal.
‘Colin serves a wonderful pint and we have wonderful customers in here. It is more than a meeting place. When you are in the pub your mental health is sated. If the pub goes then you fundamentally change English society. We do not want that to happen as we enjoy the fraternity of English culture.
‘The village pub is at the very heart of English culture and when one closes, part of that culture is being eroded.’
A spokesperson for Admiral Taverns told MailOnline: ‘We are strong believers in the importance of community pubs and our focus is always on helping our licensees to run sustainable pub businesses. After careful consideration however, we felt in this instance that the Plough did not have a long-term sustainable future within our estate.
‘We are in ongoing constructive discussions with a local community group who is interested in purchasing the site, however in the normal course of business we will continue to review all our options should an offer not be progressed.’
A government spokesman told MailOnline: ‘At the Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced over £4 billion of support for small businesses and the hospitality sector, including 75 per cent business rates relief and freezing alcohol duty rates.
‘In 2021 we published the UK’s first Hospitality Strategy to improve the resilience of the sector and established a Hospitality Sector Council to oversee its delivery. We’re working closely with the industry to tackle the challenges it faces, and we’ll continue helping them to grow and thrive in their local communities.’
MailOnline has approached Barking and Dagenham Council for a comment.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
