COVID Conquers All: Pub Possibly 1000 Years Old Gets Crushed by Government's New Grip

COVID has changed the world, or at least governments have.

Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve seen myriad things taken away — indoor dining, close-quartered gatherings, elective surgeries, and the right to go to the park without being buzzed by drones.

via @RedState: A Town in New Jersey Will Now Be Nagging Social Distance Violators From the Sky https://t.co/T8CyLbH2nC pic.twitter.com/uprCTXmoUn

— The Irishman 🍊 (@commonpatriot) April 9, 2020

It’s been two years of death, in various ways.

Amid the rubble of institutional mandates lie a lot of people’s livelihoods. Businesses that once thrived are now in the boneyard.

Add to the list of the commercially departed a pub in England.

As reported by The Washington Post, Ye Old Fighting Cocks has closed.

That might appear as minor news, but the St. Albans establishment is purportedly the country’s oldest of its kind.

In fact, the bar may have been built as early as the year 793 — long before the United Kingdom existed.

Its perseverance is a solemn reminder of how things have radically changed. It was left undimmed by seats of power for possibly 1,229 years.

It would seem government has acquired the taste for a new way of dealing with disaster. Critics might assert that method is “create more disaster.”

Concerning non-administrative threats, The Daily Wire compiled a chronology of world-threatening crises Ye Old Fighting Cocks potentially survived:

[T]he other natural disasters…[include] famines (1235, 1315-1317, 1623-1624, 1740-1741, 1816, 1845-1849), bubonic plague (1347-1350, 1563, 1592-93, 1603, 1625, 1665-1666), influenza pandemics and epidemics (1557, 1729, 1775-1776, 1836-1837, 1847-1848, 1889-1890, 1918, 1957-1958, 1968-1970, 2009-2010), cholera (1831-1833, 1848-1854, 1865-1873), smallpox (1837-1840, 1870-1875), HIV/AIDS (1979-present), as well as countless winter storms and heat waves.

Over that period, civilization additionally endured depressions and world wars.

But then came Ye Old COVID-19.

From the Post:

[H]ardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic mean the pub — which Guinness World Records has reportedly called England’s oldest, though others contest that title — is shutting its doors.

In 2012, its lease was taken over by Christo Tofalli, who says governmental health restrictions have killed the business’s ability to support itself.

Christo called the Christmas season a “last chance.”

“Like much of the hospitality industry,” the Post relays, Ye Old Fighting Cocks was “hit particularly hard by lockdowns, social distancing and capacity restrictions imposed by the government to stop the spread of the virus.”

With the omicron variant’s spread keeping people home, he said there wasn’t a strong enough surge of customers to make up the shortfall — even though the government in its December restrictions did not close pubs and carved out an exception to rules for wearing masks indoors for hospitality venues.

Amid a filing for insolvency, it joins hundreds of other UK pubs to have closed.

Courtesy of Christo’s February 4th Facebook announcement:

Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going. However, the past two years have been unprecedented for the hospitality industry, and have defeated all of us who have been trying our hardest to ensure this multi-award-winning pub could continue trading into the future. …

[T]he Covid-19 pandemic was devastating, and our already tight profit margins gave us no safety net. This resulted in us being unable to meet our financial obligations as they were due, creating periods of great uncertainty and stress for all who worked for, and with, the pub.

“It goes without saying I am heartbroken,” he added.

There remains, however, hope.

Per the Post:

Mitchells & Butlers, one of the largest operators of restaurants, bars and pubs in Britain, said in a statement to The Post: “We can confirm that sadly our tenants at Ye Old Fighting Cocks have appointed administrators [for the insolvency process] but can reassure locals that this is not the end for the pub.”

“We are currently exploring all opportunities for the site’s future,” it said.

As for the pub’s exact age, CNN reports Guinness once logged it as the UK’s oldest. That record is currently inactive, as its beginning can’t be conclusively determined.

If the establishment fails to again flourish, some may say Ye Old Fighting Cocks bit the dust because those in power showed themselves to be something like cocks as well.

To be clear, I mean they proved they ruled the roost.

It’s par for the course, as society continues its path to full-on Animal Farm.

All animals are equal
But some animals are more equal than others…

Gavin Newsom sent kids to summer camp not enforcing state mask rules (via the fabulous @_ericting) https://t.co/ZESjFz96yw

— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) July 28, 2021