Time has already been called on many pubs.

According to latest figures from CAMRA (the Campaign For Real Ale), 26 pubs are being lost in the UK every week, prompting CAMRA to launch a petition to build pressure on the Government to introduce a Pubs Watchdog and Statutory Code to govern the behaviour of large pub companies and ensure publicans are treated fairly.

In the first 24 hours since the online petition was launched, it attracted 15,000 signatures. “The petition is a clear indication of the overwhelming public support for vital pubco reform and the introduction of an independent Pubs Watchdog, which is urgently needed to govern the behaviour of large pub companies and ensure publicans are treated fairly,” says CAMRA’s chief executive Mike Benner.

“The large pub companies own around a third of the UK’s pubs and it is essential the Government takes swift action to fix what is clearly a broken system.”

For all the watering holes that have already gone to the wall, others are managing to survive and by doing so are preserving their presence at the heart of the local community.

The New Inn, in Main Street, Wilsden, currently part of a month-long national initiative being run by CAMRA to encourage people to use their local, is a fine example, having been involved in many community-orientated ventures.

When the village library was under threat, the pub ran a book-borrowing and lending scheme. It also hosts charity nights supporting, among others, Meningitis UK and the survivors of the Haiyan typhoon. Coffee mornings and craft markets have also taken place here.

“It is listening to what people in the community want and weighing up your options,” says manager and licensee Miguel Schreck. “It’s the ‘can do’ attitude.”

Miguel believes pressure on landlords from pubcos has had an impact on the number of pub closures. “But it is down to the management of the pub. When we are told there are about 26 pub closures every week, I would say how many have reopened in the last six months? You see tons of people out there who want to take on a pub,” he says.

However, some may think they can sit at the end of the bar and count the profits when, according to Miguel, there is far more involved with administration and general maintenance.

“You have to listen to what people want, and that is what I always say, and try to do your best to accommodate but to keep an eye on the margins and what it will cost you. If people come in and leave with a smile on their face, nine times out of ten they are going to come back.”

Contrary to being put off the trade, William Wagstaff has just opened his third pub. Listening to fond memories of Bradford’s first and last beer house – Jacob’s Well – William decided to take it on after it closed “because it was begging for someone to open it up,” he explains.

“I didn’t really know the pub that well but I always knew people felt and spoke nicely of the pub and it means a lot to people because it seems to be a pub everybody started drinking in, so people had a good memory of Jacob’s.”

Rebranded as Jacob’s Beerhouse, the pub has become a real ale house and is a welcome addition to William’s swiftly-expanding chain. For 25 years he has run the New Beehive in Westgate, Bradford, and has turned round the fortunes of Shakespeare’s in Sheffield, last year’s recipient of CAMRA’s Pub of the Year award.

So why are some pubs successful and why are some going to the wall? William says that at one time the pub was the place for socialising and entertainment, but bargain alcohol from supermarkets and the attractions of the internet have made it easier for people to stay in.

“I think there are a lot of pubs that are not perhaps offering enough to people to get them in,” says William.

He says demographics have played a part in the demise of many of Bradford’s pubs. William says there are many areas now where people don’t drink. “You have to accept that the pubs have not got the local trade any more so, inevitably, they will die.”

William cites Manningham as an example. At one time there were 26 pubs on the stretch, all within walking distance, compared to the three existing today.

“You are talking about nearly three miles now before you reach another pub, whereas before there were several pubs on that route.”