FROM MY BRITISH HERITAGE - ENGLISH PUBS
Some of my earliest memories of childhood was of my mother and grandmother meeting at the "pub" and taking us with them to have a 'drink'. They would buy us a lemonade or orange soda and a bag of crisps (chips in America), and if it was sunny outside place us by the big tree on a bench in the front garden or if it was raining and cold we would be able to go "inside" to the children's section where we could play darts or cards or something until the adults came to get us.
Most meetings official or unofficial would be made to be at the local pub, also called a public house. It's where people would feel comfortable and able to relax while discussing international or personal matters. Friends would meet there after work to let down and be able to spend time together maybe over a beer and a steak and kidney pie.
The pub is sort of a "hub" for the locals - a place to go to meet up with someone or gather with friends for an occasion. Its a place that is considered a social gathering center for the British society and local venue. It could be a nice background atmosphere in most places for a meeting, when I was young there would be someone playing at the piano and some inclined would sing along with the pianist. Of course, the sound of the singing would get louder as the day grew longer.
Many people go there to feel "at home" where everyone knows your name, but it is also a place to learn of local information like the having of jobs or houses or rooms to rent. Just ask enough people, and you could usually find out anything about the town you were in. Sometimes it seemed that the they were the information booth for the tourists, "where is the best place to get fish and chips around here?" for example.
Some pubs cater some very good food and have an ambiance of a good restaurant . You can get fish and chips, or shepherds pie, or steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash all very English and all very delicious. If we were on vacation as a family when I was young going to the pub was a "must do" on our list of things to do while we were there.
My grandmother told me when she was going through the experience of WWII that she would have to take "dutch courage" to be able to walk home through bombs dropping on London when leaving work. I said what is dutch courage and she said it means stopping in each pub on the way home to get enough courage to continue on. So pubs have quite a history to tell and so do their walls if they could speak.
Pubs have quite a significance in the fabric of society in which they live, because they bring people together in a pseudo living room environment where there are darts to play or a game of dominos. They provide a place for the lonely or the bored to meet and for people to find friends and to make new friends and they can be a place for receptions for birthdays or weddings and such.
I don't think England would be England without it's pubs. They have a long legacy in the history of England. At much older times they were set up to be for the wayfarer to stop and get a night sleep and some food before continuing on with his journey. Most pubs began as an "Inn" similar to a hotel that we have today. Because of the rich history of them being like a hotel a lot of pubs have names that end in the word "INN".
I think that pubs have been around since the beginning of English culture and the culture would today would not be the same without them. It would be like taking the leaning tower of Pisa out of Italy or the Stature of Liberty out of New York to remove the landmarks of pubs from England.
Pubs are a part of the matrix and the milestones and the cornerstones of England, and are an icon on the landscape. Everyone knows where a good pub is and visitors soon find out that the pub is where everyone goes for a break from the job or the house or the routine.
East Enders a show on television was a show that described everybody's life that was connected to a pub in one way or another and the way that they all become "family" as being part of this pub. Not unlike the real thing as it happens.
Pubs are an interesting part of the annals of the history of English culture and there are many stories to be told I am sure concerning them.
Most meetings official or unofficial would be made to be at the local pub, also called a public house. It's where people would feel comfortable and able to relax while discussing international or personal matters. Friends would meet there after work to let down and be able to spend time together maybe over a beer and a steak and kidney pie.
The pub is sort of a "hub" for the locals - a place to go to meet up with someone or gather with friends for an occasion. Its a place that is considered a social gathering center for the British society and local venue. It could be a nice background atmosphere in most places for a meeting, when I was young there would be someone playing at the piano and some inclined would sing along with the pianist. Of course, the sound of the singing would get louder as the day grew longer.
Many people go there to feel "at home" where everyone knows your name, but it is also a place to learn of local information like the having of jobs or houses or rooms to rent. Just ask enough people, and you could usually find out anything about the town you were in. Sometimes it seemed that the they were the information booth for the tourists, "where is the best place to get fish and chips around here?" for example.
Some pubs cater some very good food and have an ambiance of a good restaurant . You can get fish and chips, or shepherds pie, or steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash all very English and all very delicious. If we were on vacation as a family when I was young going to the pub was a "must do" on our list of things to do while we were there.
My grandmother told me when she was going through the experience of WWII that she would have to take "dutch courage" to be able to walk home through bombs dropping on London when leaving work. I said what is dutch courage and she said it means stopping in each pub on the way home to get enough courage to continue on. So pubs have quite a history to tell and so do their walls if they could speak.
Pubs have quite a significance in the fabric of society in which they live, because they bring people together in a pseudo living room environment where there are darts to play or a game of dominos. They provide a place for the lonely or the bored to meet and for people to find friends and to make new friends and they can be a place for receptions for birthdays or weddings and such.
I don't think England would be England without it's pubs. They have a long legacy in the history of England. At much older times they were set up to be for the wayfarer to stop and get a night sleep and some food before continuing on with his journey. Most pubs began as an "Inn" similar to a hotel that we have today. Because of the rich history of them being like a hotel a lot of pubs have names that end in the word "INN".
I think that pubs have been around since the beginning of English culture and the culture would today would not be the same without them. It would be like taking the leaning tower of Pisa out of Italy or the Stature of Liberty out of New York to remove the landmarks of pubs from England.
Pubs are a part of the matrix and the milestones and the cornerstones of England, and are an icon on the landscape. Everyone knows where a good pub is and visitors soon find out that the pub is where everyone goes for a break from the job or the house or the routine.
East Enders a show on television was a show that described everybody's life that was connected to a pub in one way or another and the way that they all become "family" as being part of this pub. Not unlike the real thing as it happens.
Pubs are an interesting part of the annals of the history of English culture and there are many stories to be told I am sure concerning them.
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