I don't really feel the times you refer to in the first paragraph were very good for the people living this. You forgot to mention that this was only really a t

I don't really feel the times you refer to in the first paragraph were very good for the people living this. You forgot to mention that this was only really a thing for the lowest classes of blue collar workers. Think people working in a factory or coal mine. You'd never see the boss/owner in the pub, it was only for the workers. They had a job for life, as with their limited education - finishing school at 16, if they were lucky - there were no other prospects. They couldn't afford a car or bus to commute to another town, they'd have a bike to get around their local area. The pub was a place for them to socialise, after a physically exhausting day of work, blow off some steam and escape from their problems. Even now I guess this still exists in some areas, but the UK has transformed a lot over the past 50 years, going from many industrial jobs to many service oriented jobs, and people are wealthier. Finishing school is basically a given, owning a car is an affordable option to basically everyone - it's not a luxury like it was then. I had a couple of uncles (who would be in their 80s if still around) who lived like this, their job was working in a local quarry. They both died at a young age (late 50s) from various ailments, but even when alive they were borderline alcoholics and both divorced. Their father lived the same, and I guess his father too. At the weekend maybe they'd go fishing or gardening, then back to the pub in the evening. I'm glad my parents managed to escape that. I was raised in a remote part of the UK where the main industries now are farming and tourism. Every village had a pub, and quite a few have closed down. Those that still survive have transformed to focus on food and providing a more upmarket experience - not the pubs you see on old movies full of alcoholics where the smell of alcohol is masked by the smell of tobacco.