For these south-west publicans it's their small communities that keep them going in troubled times. They know they've got the locals behind them. CLARE QUIRK reports:
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Apparently the English poet William Blake once said a good local pub had much in common with a church, except the pub was warmer and there was more conversation. For small towns and farming communities, their pubs are often more than place to get a pot and a parma.
It's where kindergarten committees meet, Mother's Day lunches are held, the place to meet after the footy regardless of the result and a drop-in on the way home from work for a quick chat.
In the south-west there are plenty of small towns that have vibrant pubs and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have only served to highlight their importance of providing connection and a sense of belonging for those communities.
In Woolsthorpe, publican Michelle Guyett-McQuilton says once you go over the bridge into town you're not part of a community - you're part of a family.
Ms Guyett-McQuilton has been running the Woolsthorpe National Hotel for the past three years. During lockdown she has worked hard to provide affordable takeaway meals for her customers.
"It's one way here, it's the community way," she said.
"I'm doing it for the community. So they don't feel so isolated and can feel like they're still part of it.
"The people out this way, the farmers, work so hard and such long hours, if I could do a home cooked meal that wasn't over the top and they could afford it and it was hot and ready to go, I could nearly pass it out the door as they're going past.
"Anything to help them ease the pain.
"It has been long days. I've fallen into bed at 1am or 2am because I've been cooking."
According to the last Census, the population for Woolsthorpe was 422 and Ms Guyett-McQuilton said she quickly learned how important the pub was to the community.
"It's the heart of the community, it is the gathering place," she said.
"It's family orientated. We're building a hotel around the community and families."
She said despite the challenges, she was more concerned with how other people were travelling.
"I am a positive person and if I can put that onto other people, if I can boost someone up, I feel happier again," she said.
"It's no good being gloomy because it's not going to solve the problem.
"It's a little town so you try and do a lot of the work yourself but you only have to make one call and 10 people turn up to help.
"I tell people don't say a lot about it because everyone will want to live here."
The challenging environment brought on by coronavirus has hit the Boggy Creek Pub harder than most.
For owners Trevor and Pam Payne the restrictions meant it simply wasn't viable to remain open and have sadly been closed since March.
"We really didn't have an option to re-open with the social distancing four square metre rule," she said.
She said the restrictions would have meant they could accommodate about four people in the bar and 10 in the dining room which could normally sit between 60 and 70 people.
"If you can have four in the bar, how do you say to the locals 'you can come in but you can't'," she said,
"Unfortunately that has been a huge disadvantage to us when everyone was re-opening because we couldn't take that risk."
The couple have had the pub for 22 years and said it was the strong support of locals that kept them going.
"We rely on the locals," she said. "I wish we were open for them. It's somewhere to come and have a chat. That's what pubs are all about. I don't know whether we'll ever get back to what we've thought was normal."
At the Railway View Hotel in Timboon, owner Karen Flett has been working around the clock to keep the pub going.
She said the second lockdown had been much tougher than the first, with business a lot quieter.
"The first time we had lockdown it wasn't too bad, we survived, this time around it's a lot worse, a lot quieter," she said.
"We're probably down about 70 per cent."
Ms Flett has had the hotel since 2017 and had lived in Timboon for 30 years.
"So we are sort of locals," she joked.
During the lockdown she has been busy with takeaway lunch and dinners seven days a week.
She said the community had provided good support and her landlord had also reduced the rent.
"The locals have really kept us going, we'd be well and truly gone by now (otherwise)," she said.
The locals have really kept us going, we'd be well and truly gone by now.
- Karen Flett
"We're hoping to (keep going) but if we go into lockdown again I can't see it. Our landlord has been really good, he's cut the rent in half to keep us going."
Ms Flett said traditionally Christmas was an extremely busy time with families returning home for the holidays.
"It's a good meeting place for everyone and especially during Christmas time," she said. "It's our busiest time when everyone comes home they come to the pub and get together.
"I love having the pub ... talking to the locals every day.
"I'm a people-person so I love it. Hopefully we can re-open in two or three weeks, but we'll have to wait and see on that one."
Closer to Warrnambool, the Allansford Hotel has always been a social hub after the May Races or a beer after football at the nearby recreation reserve.
Owner Diana McLean said those big events on the social calendar had been missed by staff and customers this year.
"Especially being closed over the football season it has been hard because it was always a meeting place on a Saturday with football and that sort of thing," she said.
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"Also May Races missing out and Mother's Day and Father's Day, all those days which are the big days of the year. That has been pretty hard because they get you through, especially the winter period. (You miss) the people who call in and have one or two on their way home just to have a catch up. It's the social aspect more than anything."
The hotel continued to do take-away evening meals and take away drinks via the bottle shop.
"The community has been great and helping to keep our chins up as well because it's a bit disheartening from our point of view, but it's good to still catch up with people even if they're just dropping in and picking up their meals and that sort of thing," she said. Ms McLean has managed the pub for 18 years and said despite the challenges coronavirus had brought, she planned to stay behind the bar for a few more years to come.
"I can't see myself going anywhere... Hopefully we can stick it out and move forward when all of this is over and done with," she said.
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