TO MARK International Beer Day, earlier this week we asked the people of Barrow where they had their first pint.

And no, we don't mean pints of milk as some humourous comments suggested. 

Many of the comments said that they managed to get their first pint in a pub when they were underage. Julie Morris said: "Barrow bowl club I was 14 oops." Julie Clarke said: "Barrow Arms it was Newcastle Brown Ale and I was 14. Naughty girl." Garie Lowther said: "Crows Nest aged 14", Angie Mullen said: "The Furness age 15" and John Robinson said: "Cavendish Arms, Dalton. Think I was only 15." 

The challenge 25 system seems to have curbed this behaviour in recent years. 

Back in 2018, an NHS report called Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England 2018 said that only 3 per cent of school-age children drank in pubs. 

A few comments talked about venues that now no longer exist. Katherine Herbert said that her first pint was at the House of Lords in 1994. 

The social club burnt down in 2017 and has since been left to rot. Barrow council has tendered a contract worth up to £150,000 to search for a building company to take on the work. 

This is after £50,000 of public money being spent on scaffolding and other costs over the last five years. 

Stephen Francis Murray said: "The Queens Arms, Dalton, now flats."

The Queens Arms was situated at 56 Broughton Road. 

Liam Bradford said: "Railway Dalton, now houses." According to WhatPub, the pub was at 1-3 Station Approach and was last surveyed in July 2010. 

Earlier this year, the total number of pubs in the UK dropped below 40,000 for the first time on record. This represented a lost of more than 7,000 pubs since 2012 according to research done by real estate advisers Altus Group.

The hospitality sector has said that the recent years have been particularly tough, with lockdowns and then the cost of living increases making it difficult for pubs to run and customers less inclined to spend money on alcohol when it is cheaper in the supermarket.