When we talk misty-eyed about the pub, a certain set of images, not all of them coherent in more ways than one, springs to mind; the country pub, ideally thatched, with a beer garden where the only noise is birdsong; the East End pub, complete with sing-song and diamond geezers; the student pub where you used to get pie and chips for £1 and emerged from the interior gloom to be dazzled by the sun; a little place where you stop for a pint on the way to the train. We tend not to conjure memories of fun pubs, so called because they aren’t.
Pubs have been around since Saxon days, once just houses where beer was brewed and sold, developing into wayside hostelries, and eventually becoming the unofficial community centre for village, suburb and district. Everybody has a favourite. Maybe you met someone special there; found the perfect pub on holiday; or (too rare this) they keep beer beautifully.
Like our language, the pub is constantly evolving: recently many have gone to the wall while others are thriving, gastropubs especially. But the basic needs are the same as they would have been in King Alfred ’s time: a decent pint (not just beer, some cider houses still survive); a convivial atmosphere; barmen who talk if you want to, leave you alone otherwise.
Other countries have bars, but even when they call them pubs they aren’t (Australia excepted). It’s a British institution, and one to be proud of.
More British Institutions
Afternoon Tea
Allotments
April Fools Day
Big Ben
Binge Drinking
Black Cabs
Bonfire Night
British Sense of Humour
Brown Windsor Soup
Burns Night
Cadburys
Castles
Changing the Guard
City of London
Coronation Street
Cowes Week
Cricket
Crufts
Dad’s Army
E-Type Jag
Eccentricity
English Country Garden
Fish and Chips
Fish Fingers
Fox Hunting
Full English Breakfast
Gin and Tonic
Glastonbury
Glorious Goodwood
Grand National
Grouse Shooting
Harrods
Highland Games
Hogmanay
James Bond
John Bull
King Arthur
Land Rover
Lloyds of London
London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally
Marks and Spencer
Monty Python
Morecambe and Wise
Old School Tie
Oxbridge
Panto
Picnics
Pimms
Point-to-Point
Punch and Judy
Queueing
Real Ale
Red Arrows
Red Telephone Boxes
Remembrance Poppies
Robin Hood
Rolls Royce
Royal Ascot
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Savile Row Suits
School Discos
School Sports Day
Seaside Piers
Speakers’ Corner
Stag Nights
Stiff Upper Lip
Strawberries and Cream
Street Markets
Summer Festivals
Sunday Roasts
The Archers
The BBC
The Beano
The Boat Race
The Brass Band
The British Bobby
The Bulldog
The Church of England
The Cup Final
The Curry House
The English Rose
The Garden Shed
The Honours System
The Kilt
The Last Night at the Proms
The London Bus
The Mini
The National Trust
The NHS
The Oak
The Pub
The Queen’s Speech
The Rolling Stones
The Royal Christmas Message
The Spitfire
The V Sign
The Village Fete
The Weather
Travelling Fairs
Trooping the Colour
Village Greens
Wedgwood
Wellington Boots
Wimbledon
Wine Gums
Yeomen of the Guard
Brit Quote: |
|
On this day: |