China Travel Forum

[ALICSON12]

What do you think makes a good pub? Or what do you think makes your local pub the best place to have a drink for miles around? Is it the beer, the food, the music, the barmaid, the atmosphere or any other reason? Perhaps is it just as Peter Sellars might put it 'being there' in the first place?

[Andrew33]

Great question
My personal view on pubs is that they are an ideal meeting point for friends. Preferably without loud music or gimmicks, but a comforting place where you can unwind and celebrate, console, empathise or sympathise with the people closest to you.
The purpose of the pub and inn as a meeting or resting place has barely changed over the centuries. Despite the plethora of themed pubs that have appeared in recent years, there are still a number that have kept faith with tradition, although in a way it is good to have a pub for every occasion, whether it's your local for a quiet time and the taste and smell of real ale or a chain pub to go for a cheap lunch and swift pint on a Friday lunchtime.
I work in central London and there are still a number of authentic pubs housed in the most fascinating Victorian buildings, some of which have barely changed over a century or two. For me, nothing beats the setting of a country pub that you know travellers would have inhabited possibly three or four hundred years before, with the obligatory log fire to warm your cockles. That gives me a real buzz.
I am not a big drinker. I like a few pints of the black stuff on a cold winter's night and a comforting smile from the long suffering barmaid who you know has to endure countless men ogling her and thinking she will be their next conquest, but who always maintains an air of politeness but can be stern when necessary and then the landlord who is happy to chat and even knows your name and favourite tipple. I always enjoy a drink before and after seeing my beloved Tottenham Hotspur play at The Ship, where away fans happily mix with the Spurs faithful.
Of course there are many pubs with a very impersonal feel, but they serve their purpose too. Perhaps a convenient stopping off place after a long day's shopping, to catch your favourite team on the big screen or taking in the atmosphere of a big international rugby or football tournament, sharing the euphoria and subsequent hurt of seeing England not quite make it once again!
There is no one way to describe the feeling of being in a pub, especially one that's become your regular. Whether going to catch up with mates, play some pool, have a meal, watch a game or just read the paper in solitude, nowhere else in the world matches up to the unique feeling of the traditional English pub.

[ALICSON12]

Great reply too ,@-@ Thanks1``````