IF the pub industry is dying then no one's told Daybrook and Arnold.
Later this week, not one but two new micro pubs will open in the area.
And one of them will do so in the shadow of a giant of Nottingham's brewing history, Home Brewery.
Former rail maintenance worker Matt Grace, 44, will open his pub in the Coronation Buildings in Mansfield Road, Daybrook – constructed by Home Brewery in 1937.
They were meant to celebrate the coronation of King Edward. In the end, they marked the accession to the throne of his brother King George, after Edward abdicated following an affair.
Taking the event as his inspiration, Matt will call his new micro pub The Abdication, and it will open its doors on Saturday, 23 August, at 2pm.
Matt and his partner Lucy moved back to Nottingham from Southampton, where he worked doing shifts in train maintenance.
He said: "It was all about a change of career. I didn't want to do the shift work anymore, we don't have many financial commitments, so I decided the time was right to do something different and go out on my own.I've always been interested in real ale and I'm a keen home-brewer.'' I thought about opening a micro brewery but there are already a lot of those around.''
"I looked for something else, and visited the Marlpool Ale House in Derbyshire, which is another micro pub. Thee's also the Doctor's Orders in Carrington so I decided I was going to take a chance and do my own."
The Abdication will be open on Wednesdays, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays from 6pm and from 2pm on Sundays, with last orders at 9.30pm each evening.
Matt said: "I've been looking for the right premises for a while and this seems to be an area where there's an appetite for real ales, micro breweries and micro pubs.
"We'll be across the road from the old Home Brewery buildings so there are some links with Nottingham's brewing tradition."
While many pubs have closed as drinkers choose to buy from supermarkets and drink at home, Matt says there is a clear market for people who like a mix of craft beers and conversation.
"Micro pubs are about quality beers with a wide variety of tastes," he said. "But they are also about creating the right atmosphere – so there won't be any music or TV or gaming machines.
"We are going to have a small, friendly place with seating for around 20 people, where we will have cask ales and some real ciders."
The second micro pub is The Robin Hood and Little John, which is being opened on Church Street, Arnold, by the Lincoln Green Brewery (see panel above).
