Pub

[16] Before this time alehouses were largely indistinguishable from private houses and the poor standard of rural roads meant that, away from the larger towns, the only beer available was often brewed by the publican himself.

Many existing public houses were also redeveloped at this time, borrowing features from other building types and gradually developing the characteristics that make pubs instantly recognisable today.

Bar counters had been an early adoption, but ornate mirrors, etched glass, polished brass fittings and lavishly tiled surfaces were all features that had first made their appearance in gin houses.

[18] The latter half of the 19th century saw increased competition within the brewing industry and, in an attempt to secure markets for their own products, breweries began rapidly buying local pubs and directly employing publicans to run them.

[19] Decreasing numbers of free houses and difficulties in obtaining new licences meant a continual expansion of their tied estates was the only feasible way for breweries to generate new trade.

[20] Buy-outs and amalgamations became commonplace, and by the end of the 1980s there were only six large brewers left in the UK, collectively known as the Big Six; Allied, Bass, Courage, Grand Metropolitan, Scottish & Newcastle and Whitbread.

The result, however, was that the Big Six melted away into other sectors; selling their brewing assets and spinning off their tied houses, largely into the hands of branded pub chains, called pubcos.

Gin was popularised in England in the late 17th century, largely because it provided an alternative to French brandy at a time of political and religious conflict between Britain and France.

The origin of the British lock-in was a reaction to 1915 changes in the licensing laws in England and Wales, which curtailed opening hours to stop factory workers from turning up drunk and harming the war effort.

Since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, premises in England and Wales may apply to extend their opening hours beyond 11 pm, allowing round-the-clock drinking and removing much of the need for lock-ins.

One of these is the Vine, known locally as the Bull and Bladder, in Brierley Hill near Birmingham, another the Cock at Broom, Bedfordshire a series of small rooms served drinks and food by waiting staff.

[70] Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the British engineer and railway builder, introduced the idea of a circular bar into the Swindon station pub in order that customers were served quickly and did not delay his trains.

The said Patentee hath also projected a Very Useful Engine for starting of beer and other liquors which will deliver from 20 to 30 barrels an hour which are completely fixed with Brass Joints and Screws at Reasonable Rates.

[80] A "country pub" is simply a rural drinking establishment, though the term has acquired a romantic image typically of thatched roofs and whitewashed stone walls.

[82] However, that culture of functioning as a social centre for a village and rural community started to diminish in the latter part of the 20th century, as many country pubs either closed down, or were converted to restaurants or gastropubs.

Their popularity ended with the outbreak of the Second World War when recreational road travel became impossible, and the advent of post-war drunk driving legislation prevented their full recovery.

Other subjects that lent themselves to visual depiction included the name of battles (e.g. Trafalgar), explorers, local notables, discoveries, sporting heroes and members of the royal family.

Modern names are sometimes a marketing ploy or attempt to create "brand awareness", frequently using a comic theme thought to be memorable, Slug and Lettuce for a pub chain being an example.

Some names for pubs that seem absurd or whimsical have come from corruptions of old slogans or phrases, such as the Bag o'Nails (Bacchanals), the Goat and Compasses (God Encompasseth Us),[99] the Cat and the Fiddle (Chaton Fidèle: Faithful Kitten) and the Bull and Bush, which purportedly celebrates the victory of Henry VIII at "Boulogne Bouche" or Boulogne-sur-Mer Harbour.

[100][101] Traditional games are played in pubs, ranging from the well-known darts,[102] skittles,[103] dominoes,[104] cards and bar billiards,[105] to the more obscure Aunt Sally,[106] nine men's morris[107] and ringing the bull.

Many pubs were drinking establishments, and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food, other than sandwiches and "bar snacks", such as pork scratchings, pickled eggs, salted crisps and peanuts.

[116] The National Trust owns thirty-six public houses of historic interest including the George Inn, Southwark, London and the Crown Liquor Saloon, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

[139] Many of London's pubs are known to have been used by famous people, but in some cases, such as the association between Samuel Johnson and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, this is speculative, based on little more than the fact that the person is known to have lived nearby.

Several establishments in Soho, London, have associations with well-known, post-war literary and artistic figures, including the Pillars of Hercules, the Colony Room and the Coach and Horses.

In 1955, Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in the United Kingdom, shot David Blakely as he emerged from the Magdala in South Hill Park, Hampstead,[144] the bullet holes can still be seen in the walls outside.

[145] The Angel, Islington was formerly a coaching inn, the first on the Great North Road, the main route northwards out of London, where Thomas Paine is believed to have written much of Rights of Man (1791).

The Eagle in Cambridge is where Francis Crick interrupted patrons' lunchtime on 28 February 1953 to announce that he and James Watson had "discovered the secret of life" after they had come up with their proposal for the structure of DNA.

A side effect of the Troubles was that the lack of a tourist industry meant that a higher proportion of traditional bars have survived the wholesale refitting of Irish pub interiors in the "English style" in the 1950s and 1960s.

Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Cape Town was a major trading port between Europe and Asia and hosted a very large number of drinking establishments earning the city the moniker Tavern of the Seas.

Notable fictional pubs include The Admiral Benbow Inn in the Treasure Island pirate story, the Garrison in the 1920s crime TV drama Peaky Blinders, the Golden Perch, the Prancing Pony, and the Green Dragon in the high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, the Leaky Cauldron and the Hog's Head in the Harry Potter fantasy series, Moe's Tavern, a working-class venue in The Simpsons, and the Oak and Crosier in the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.