Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 24th July, 2023)

The Oak Tree on Belle green Lane, been in there many times over the years, was at the time very friendly and lovely inside.
I would estimate the vast majority of pubs will be gone within ten years, sadly.

The pub looks worth saving. Lots of companies losing jobs too, the brewery, lorries drivers, staff etc.
But the real problem is no one is going in them.

What a sad sight to see this boarded-up pub in Belle Green Lane. When I was growing up in Ince in the 1950s and 1960s this would have been a busy pub , especially on weekend evenings, with possibly a piano being played and people getting up to give a song, as was my parents' "local", The Anderton Arms, (known as The Long-Neck), in Ince Green Lane. There will just be silence in there now.

The last pub in Higher Ince now is the Squirrel on Ince Green Lane. The were five pubs on Belle Green Lane in its heyday.

Compared to a lot of the closed down pubs that are about this one looks relatively clean and structurally sound at least from this picture. Hopefully the building will get to live on in another form if a pub isn't viable.

It is a shame to see pubs shut but if you go into any supermarket there are aisle after aisle of alcohol for sale,I don’t think the breweries and suppliers etc are catching any harm.

The times they are a changing

Due to personal circumstances If I go out more to socialize I go in the car and drink 0% lager at £3-60 for two small bottles(600 ml) in the club. If I drink at home I drink a bottle of 5% lager (660 ml) at £1-99 a bottle. No brainer and this is why pubs are closing

A cousin of my late Mum used to run this pub in the late 50's/early 60's.My Grandma used to go in at weekend and meet one of her sisters,sorry to see it now boarded up.

One of my paternal g'ma's brothers married the daughter of a former landlord, Thomas Ashurst (20 Jun 1855-18 Nov 1913), his daughter Agnes (1888-1930), not my g'uncle's wife, also ran the pub with her husband Alfred Hodgkiss (1883-1962) until her death.