As Britain’s students hit the library, university bars call time
The boozers are closing, in the face of more sensible students and competition from pubs
TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT of Molly, a 19-year-old at the University of Portsmouth, the Waterhole Bar is no more. “I enjoyed pre-ing in there with friends,” she sighs. “We’d get together, have a few snakebites, get hyped.” Access was restricted to students, meaning it felt safe. Karaoke Fridays were fun. But students were recently told the bar would be replaced with a “vibrant, student-centred and social-gathering space”.
In a pre-mobile-phone era, university bars were a place to bump into people you knew and enjoy cheap drinks. Brewers sold booze at below cost price to get students hooked on certain brands. No longer. Abertay, in Dundee, has also closed its bar. Chester and Coventry have transformed theirs into “events spaces”. Many have already become places which offer not just alcohol but also pizzas, coffee and laptop charging, notes Jim Dickinson of Wonkhe, a think-tank.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Tequila crammers"
Britain September 21st 2019
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