News Comment: It's great to see community pubs reopening - but now it's on all of us to make sure we use them

Portsmouth used to be famous for its pubs. At one stage there were an incredible 41 on the Point, or Spice Island, kept - literally - afloat by sailors’ prodigious taste for beer.

We still have a great array of boozers, whether they are beer specialists like Southsea’s Hole in the Wall, welcoming back street alehouses like the Phoenix, locals like The Jolly Taxpayer in Baffins or bigger neighbourhood buildings such as the Green Posts or the Coach and Horses in Hilsea.

Even if you are not a drinker, pubs’ value in a world which is getting more and more screen-dominated and individual cannot be overstated. Places to socialise, with friends and sometimes strangers, are of huge value. They build communities and they are communities.

That’s why it’s delightful to report the reopening of The Old Oyster House in Locksway Road, Milton today. The pub has been shut for two years, but cousins Trina Wheeler and Tommy Hoare have been working since April to get the paperwork - and a refurb - sorted.

As Trina says: “We just want to make it a community pub. We want it to be a community - that’s what we love.

“We want to be the heart of the community. We want the kids’ football teams, we want the adults’ football teams, the darts teams, the pool teams…”.

It’s great to see a closed pub brought back to life, and we wish them all the best. We hope everyone in the area will give it a go, and give the area a pub it can be proud of again.

Some context: earlier this year The British Beer and Pub Association reported that 161 pubs closed from the beginning of January to the end of March - about two a day. As well as leading to the loss of about 2,400 jobs, many of these will have left holes in their areas, and no doubt there are plans already afoot in many cases for buildings to be converted to housing. Last year there were 336 reported closures of British pubs - so approaching one a day. It’s clear that the weather out there is still rough for boozers.

However, locally we have more reasons to cheer. The historic Fifth Hants in Albert Road - which famously only had three owners in 130 years until the middle of the last decade - shut down suddenly this summer but will be brought back to life by Ally Wearn, who has run The Lawrence in Southsea for more than 15 years.

She’s promising a return to its “old school” roots, which translates to “real ales, pork pies and pickled eggs”.

And the well-established Spice Island is also marking a comeback after a month-long closure for a refurbishment. Its future was not as uncertain as the other two pubs, but any vote of confidence like that from a brewery is a welcome move.

More than 15 years ago, The News launched its long-running Love Your Local campaign. The weekly page in the newspaper profiled local pubs, looked at issues surrounding the industry, and lobbied for pubs’ interests.

The campaign ended a few years ago but the issues are sadly still relevant today, such as the high tax take on a pint and the lack of profitability in general for pubs. We as individuals cannot do much to change policy and unpick the bind that many pubs have found themselves in, but what we can do is support those that are still open and give them our backing.

Our plea would be: Remember the value and variety that pubs bring to a neighbourhood, and support these new ventures - or your local if you do not live nearby. One Portsmouth’s strengths is its sense of community, and one of the (many) things that build communities are local pubs. Let’s use them so we don’t lose them. Cheers!