Working men's club

Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.

[2] Working men's clubs provided a framework for members to engage in a range of political, educational, or recreational activities.

A dispute at Wakefield City Workingmen's Club in 1978 led to a national campaign for equal membership rights for women.

In April 2007, after the resolution had been consistently rejected over years, the Club and Institutes Union accepted equal membership rights for women.

Until 2004, clubs ran a brewery at Dunston, Tyne and Wear, which brewed ales and lagers under the Federation brand.

A poll by the British Institute of Innkeeping and the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations found that overall revenue was 7.3 per cent down as more men opted to drink at home, where they could also smoke.