“Community Alert on Pubs” launched in Dorset
(full title “Community Alert on Pubs & Hotels and their Closures”)
Click here to see now the BBC Spotlight TV film of 95 seconds
“Community Alert on Pubs” is an informal and growing force of individuals - in Dorset initially - who are concerned about how public houses - and hotels with a bar element 
- are closing where there is a probable or definite continuing community need for them, including where they have an important history or heritage.
Socially the pub has a vital role in communities, and especially in rural communities. For hundreds of years the pub or ale house has been a social meeting point, and today a well-run pub offering food and a welcome for all the family is an irreplaceable meeting point for family and friends - and for strangers seeking a place for refreshment and company.
It is the most congenial of places for people to go out to meet, converse and enjoy themselves in comfortable surroundings. It is a fundamental part of the social fabric of British life, also enabling people to be better aware of the lives and difficulties of others in their community. For some it reduces loneliness and social isolation.
In terms of their ‘history and heritage’ role pubs have been the seed-bed of new ideas, books, films, political parties, clubs etc. They are institutions where several generations of the family have participated in activities and fun and shared their lives together. Many pubs carry blue plaques and most pubs over 100 years old have stories of ghosts, smuggling, royal visits or similar. Very many of them are listed buildings of considerable historical significance. The sense of ‘place’ can be very important. A really good British pub is far more than what a new building can offer – it is a place steeped in the history of generations of all types of people who have lived around it and passed through it, and a place that has developed and matured over the centuries, and usually occupies a central physical position in the community.