Why do the British like going to the pub?

One of the main attractions of the pub for all regular pub goers is that it offers good company in friendly surroundings. Where else can you appear as a complete stranger and at once be able to join in a conversation with a diverse group of people? Often the style of the pub and its locality will dictate the kind of clientele you can expect to find there. Village pubs with their country furnishings and real ales attract not only local folk but city dwellers out for a drive, hikers fresh from a long day's walk and pensioners enjoying a pub lunch. City pubs tend to have a more mixed clientele - businessmen and women discussing the latest deal, theatregoers or groups of friends enjoying a drink together before going off to a restaurant or nightclub.

Good conversation and good beer are two essential items provided by the pub. The drinking of beer in a public house is not compulsory, but as any publican will tell you, beer remains the mainstay of the trade. It is said that beer is the perfect drink for the pub - it comes in large measures (one pint glasses) so that just one drink provides plenty of conversation time! Many pubs also serve food, from snacks to full meals.

Other attractions offered by city and country pubs alike include a game of darts (short, weighted steel darts are thrown at a circular dartboard numbered in sections) and snooker, a game similar to billiards.

The lure of the pub can lie in the variety of pub names; each pub has its own name, depicted on a painted inn sign hung outside the premises.

A pub name can refer to historical events, landmarks, sundry beasts or its meaning can be a complete puzzle. Some include references to animals, many with their origins in heraldry - the White Hart, the Nag's Head, the Black Bull, and the Bear to name but a few!