Susan Dalgety: Is it last orders for Scotland's pub culture?
At that rate, Edinburgh will be bereft of pubs within a decade, which would be a disaster for weekend breakers, stag and hen dos, but would the rest of us notice?
When was the last time you were in pub? I used to frequent pubs with far more regularity than was necessary.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe Jinglin’ Geordie bar in Fleshmarket Close was my tavern of choice for years and I blush when I recall the amount of time, and money, I spent there.
These days I make an occasional foray to my local Wetherspoons, but for a breakfast meeting with a good friend and colleague, not a large vodka and diet coke.
When I do fancy a tipple, which is most days, I pour myself a glass of Spanish table wine from Lidl and settle down on the sofa.
And when I want company, I invite friends round for a bite to eat, or go round to theirs. Pubs, once the centre of my life, are now a rare treat.
And I am not alone. Even millennials are abandoning their local for the nearest coffee shop.
It seems like we are all calling time on that most Scottish of institutions, the pub.