England can sometimes be a land of contradictions. While they have romantic ideals about their villages and living the ‘village life’ – shockingly many of England’s picturesque villages are slowly dying. It’s not uncommon for villages to be losing their local post office, shop or pub.

And when those go – the heart of the community often goes with it. It’s been said that nearly fifty pubs are closing a week, meaning that by 2012, one in six will be gone for good. Britain is losing it’s national heritage and the lifeblood of their communities is being drained away.

Capitalizing on this is an exciting new show from the producers of “Made in Britain” called “Save Our Boozer.” Save Our Boozer is the compelling new documentary series on the Blighty Satellite Channel that sees award-winning bar owner Jay Smith lead five communities as they try revamp their stricken pubs, learn how to run them and take them over for good as part of a mission to bring back the great British boozer in their home town.

With the help Jay Smith, five different rural communities are being given the chance to fight back, to create the pub they want in their town, to bring back their very own British boozer.

Each rural location featured in the series has a local pub that has shut down, is deteriorating or heading for ruin because of a mixture of the recession, the smoking ban, rising costs and competition from supermarkets. In each programme, with Jay’s guidance, one town gets together to galvanise the village to get the pub back on its feet and, importantly, make it a part of the community again.

In this high-risk social experiment that never before been documented on television, we will witness the highs and lows as the community reopens its pub, learns how to run it and finally takes it over and run it for themselves. Everyone involved will work as volunteers and will be trained in all the necessary skills to run their pub as a successful organisation, ploughing any money made back into the pub.

Over a period of two months, Jay Smith will lead each community as they undergo an intense six weeks of training and hard work to revamp their closed down pub – and decide whether they are ready to take it over for good.

The pub will become a meeting place and offer quizzes, teams, entertainment and food. It will be the town’s People’s Pub, created from scratch by the people of the town.

Jay Smith observes: “These boozers are the backbone of British society. Lose them and we lose our identity. I want this series to really inspire people to get on board with my passion – to bring back the great British boozer.

“By showing viewers how these five communities get their own pub up and running, I hope others will be inspires to do the same. Of course, there is the risk that it could all go horribly wrong, in which case it may end up being an example of how not to do it! But if we can get communities working together to get their British pubs back, it will be good for our communities, good for tourism and good for the great British boozer.”

Check out this clip from the show:

This brand new five-part series putting the Great British Boozer back at the heart of the community on Blighty (Sky 534, Virgin 206), four daily shows from Tuesday 8th December 2009 at 8pm.

Check out the website here.

Author Info -  Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. He keeps Anglotopia running in his spare time, always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset - and is always trying to figure out a way to move to England. It will happen one day. Keep up with him on Twitter here. Read more from this author

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