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<\/p>\nThe Hugh Hefner of High Wycombe is set to call time on his legendary strip pub after 30 years of drinks and dancing \u2013 but promises one last blowout.<\/p>\n
Alastair Watts, 77, has been at the helm of The White Horse through many \u201chugely successful\u201d years, but on December 30 will be calling last orders due to a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of rising costs and a developer\u2019s desire to build a new block of flats.<\/p>\n
Alastair said he was shuttering The White Horse, \u201cone of the oldest strip pubs in England,\u201d \u201cunhappily\u201d. \u201cThe building is over 100 years out, it\u2019s a perfect storm if you like,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe building\u2019s worn out, I\u2019m worn out\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Like many pubs around the country, the cost of living crisis has had a horrific impact. \u201cIt\u2019s a big old barn of a place, the costs of keeping the place heated are just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The building\u2019s owner, a local property developer, is understood to have little interest in keeping the Horse open as a bar, \u201che wants to pull it down and build a block flats \u2013 there\u2019s a surprise\u2026 it\u2019s happening all over.\u201d <\/p>\n
The application was not accepted by The Local Planning Authority on grounds of \u201cunacceptable scale and character\u201d, flood risk and potential environmental harm. This, however, was not enough for Alastair to change his mind and keep the boozer open. <\/p>\n
Alastair said he didn\u2019t fancy finding a new property at his age \u2013 he turns 78 over Christmas \u2013 and decided to walk away from \u201cThe Pound Shop\u201d as it has been known by some due to punters paying a pound to look at the dancers. <\/p>\n
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\u201cIt has been me for 20 years \u2013 I\u2019m the only person you\u2019ll ever talk to who holds a sexual entertainment license. It\u2019s bizarre when you think about it, the licence is in my name \u2013 yeah right \u2013 at 78 that\u2019s going to work!\u201d<\/p>\n
The White Horse has provided a springboard for the careers of many of the women who walk through its doors. \u201cMany of them have gone on to be hugely successful models,\u201d Alastair explained. <\/p>\n
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Many of his former employees at the West Wycombe Road venue \u201cbecame top erotic models \u2013 one became a police officer, they\u2019ve all done pretty well by working here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that rising taxes on strip pubs meant that they were a dying breed \u2013 \u201cthe licencing, the sheer hassle of it. There are still plenty of dancers around." In its heyday, the likes of Coldplay and Kings of Leon played there, but now, as the end appears on the horizon, Alistair is still in good spirits. <\/p>\n
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\u201cThe 30th, \u2018the last hurrah,\u2019 we\u2019ve called it. Lots of dancers, lots of old faces and we\u2019re rather hoping we can drink everything that\u2019s left in the pub.\u201d<\/p>\n
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