Wednesday 5 October 2022 10:21 AM Cornwall pub turns off all its lights and replaces them with CANDLES to reduce ... trends now
Pubs are turning to desperate measures to keep soaring energy bills down, with one in Cornwall even turning off all its lights and replacing them with candles.
Venues say they are struggling to survive with the increased costs making running a boozer difficult - but some have come up with creative ways to stay afloat.
The Masons Arms in Camelford, Cornwall, has gone as far as to solely use candlelight on Mondays, to draw more punters in while keeping critical costs low.
Landlady Kate Chawner-Woods has been pushed to the limit by skyrocketing energy bills, after her August statement increased from an average of £700 in 2018 to over £3,000 this year.
A customer of the Masons Arms. Pubs are turning to desperate measures to keep soaring energy bills down - including turning off all lights and replacing them with candles
The Masons Arms in Camelford, Cornwall, has gone as far as to solely use candlelight on Mondays, to draw more punters in while keeping critical costs low
Two customers of enjoy the atmosphere at the Masons Arms in Camelford, Cornwall
Venues say they are struggling to survive with the increased costs making running a boozer difficult. And some have come up with creative ways to stay afloat
She said: 'When I opened the electricity bill I thought "how are we going to cope".
'It was really scary and we were so worried about how this winter was going to pan out - it's a massive increase, our electricity bill isn't much less than our rent now.'
An off-the-cuff comment from one of the local punters gave Ms Chawner-Woods the idea of candlelight Mondays.
She said: 'I was moaning and cursing when I got the bill through when one of the locals turned around and told me to just turn the lights out, go back to the way it used to be.
'So that got me thinking and now we've gone back to using only candles on a Monday, like how it would have been when the pub opened in 1753.
'At 6pm we cut out all the lights - people really like it, we had 65 covers last Monday which is far more than we'd usually get on a Monday in October.
'The atmosphere is great, everybody seems to like it - it's romantic and people seem to talk to each other a lot more, it's really lovely.'
It is too soon to say how much money their new scheme will save them, but Ms Chawner-Woods predicts that their next bill will be 4 per cent less - despite heading into winter.
Other measures they have taken include changing all their lightbulbs to LED, cutting down on fridge and freezers and not using electric heaters in the winter months.
'The warmth of the candles actually means we don't need the heating as much,' Ms Chawner-Woods
