You really don't get it, do you?
Honestly, it's small wonder that BBC pundits can get away with their comments on folk when it has champions like you, Snail.
Stick your head out of your shell and read some of the comments on other threads - comments from people who actively participate in traditional music. Festivals are thriving, concerts are fully-booked but clubs - with a few exceptions - are dying on their feet because of the image they present. You may choose to bimble along and ignore this because you are lucky enough have a thriving club (one of those exceptions), but it isn't going to stop.
And one of the side-effects will be that the fewer successful clubs that survive will probably attract more punters from a wider area, which will make you crow all the louder about the glories of Lewes, but it won't be such good news for those who make their living from music, or for those of us who will find ourselves living too far from any decent club to attend, or for the youngsters who could have benefited from finding their music's roots via a good club, or for regional song or for many other things.
Anyway, this thread isn't about you and the Nirvana-on-Sea that is Lewes; it's about the legions of clubs on the critical list, and about the punters of all ages who have voted with their feet.
This evening I would love to go to a decent club. You know what? The nearest one is 40 miles away and I have neither the time nor the money to make the trip in the hope that there's something decent on. Instead I make my own music, listen to recorded music and go to whatever gigs I can find where I know there'll be decent music and I'll get my money's worth and not have to cringe or make excuses.
But, hey, what do you care? In your smug, complacent southern comfort, ignorance really is bliss, it would seem.