There were well over 300 pubs in Brighton and Hove in 1950-60 (Letters, December 8) and, if you were a regular drinker, you could have a pint in a different pub every day of the year.

My wife, Nan, and I became tenants of the Prince George, Trafalgar Street, Brighton, in 1959 and stayed for two-and-a-half years.

There were not many wealthy publicans in those days. This was mainly because publicans would drink in other pubs at least once a week, treat everybody and spend a lot of money. Also, most of the publicans had big cars.

I asked our accountant why publicans stayed in a pub for a long time and he said they didn't have enough money to get out - they could not afford to buy their own property.

I knew some publicans who, when they left their pub, had to go into a council house or rented property.

We left the Prince George because we decided it was not a suitable life for young children. We had two daughters and the youngest was only two years old.

In those days, it cost about £1,000 to be a pub tenant. This was for a deposit to the Kemp Town Brewery, inventory and stock.

When we had the pub, we did not have a car and we did not spend a lot of money in other pubs, so we had sufficient capital to take over a newsagent's shop in Hollington, St Leonards, and also to put a deposit on a house in St Leonards.

-Alf Godfree, Old Boar Road, St Leonards