a Because it might be true.
I assume you are referring to the idea that there might be too many pubs etc? There were plenty at the time (1850s) who thought there were too many at that time (but there were a lot, lot more than 50).
b There is a building called, I think, the Reformation Hall for this reason.
I suspect you mean the Temperance Hall in Northcroft Lane - when it closed as the Arts Workshop someone tried to get a change of use to open a reastaurant. This failed because the temerpance folk inserted a restrictive covenant in the deeds to ensure that the building would never be used to serve alcohol.
c The population was lower, but we would have had a lot of visitors back then, being the main link to the North and South, East and West.
The biggest difference was the influx of people on market days, many of whom would stay overnight in the pubs. By the 1850s railways had slaughtered the coaching trade and bigger places like the George & Pelican had closed. The other issue was that the water was very dodgy so beer was a safer drink, many of the pubs sold a lot of beer for folk to take home (no Tescos or Sainsburys selling slabs of lager). Plus the lack of TV or radio meant that getting out and socialising was far more common than it is today. |
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