these things must run in cycles.
I lived in 'expensive London' when I was 18 for a bit and yes, it seemed quite ridiculous when you compared import lager in a shiny London pub to a pint of mild in a West Midlands working man's club (although probably 1/2 the strength). And then I moved to Birmingham and then the West country and found that actually, maybe London isn't the only place that's pricey.

Nowadays I go to London and I'm surprised it's not more than it is here, I guess the rest of the country took note of what they were getting away with charging and thought 'Licence to up the price then eh?' so everywhere south of Manchester became kinda equal.

But now London's forging ahead in the price stakes again?

A pub landlord back in the Midlands confided in my dad that he's not really making a skint shilling from the beer, all his profit margins come from spirits, wine and especially soft 'on tap' drinks. So now it sounds like they're trying to even up the spreadsheet on profits and loss by upping the price of a pint of beer to compensate.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 12 Nov 2011, 1:19, 1 reply)

The Westcountry has always been expensive... a vast amount of people there are holiday-homers, retirees or have moved down to the Westcountry to get away from the rat race or whatever, so it's hardly surprising really. Shame the wages down there don't match up. Considering how far away it is from civilisation, everything is expensive there - houses, food, beer, water rates etc. When I moved from Devon up to Herts I was actually quite surprised that many things are cheaper up here.
(Freakmandu, Sat 12 Nov 2011, 4:47, closed)

Mm yes,
I left SW Cornwall to move to South Cheshire and noticed the drop immediately. Not as pretty to look at but I'd hate to try and find a decent paying job in Cornwall again...
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 12 Nov 2011, 13:32, closed)