How many of them are independent? When I was doing a lot of work in England -- granted this was in the 1980s -- most pubs were owned by the major beer makers.
>Good for them! Those local independent pubs, it seems to me, are a cultural treasure. They should not be changed lightly.
>
>>Its quite widespread . One of the weird aspects is that many small brewers of beer have sprung up over the last few years while the number of independent pubs has declined.
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>>Here's a link about some locals fighting to save their pub from the attentions of the big breweries.
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>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes_Arms_controversy>>
>>>>still called pubs. have to look a bit harder for a good one as a few too many have been taken over and themed. If your ever in England get hold of a CAMRA(CAmpaign for Real Ale )Guide that should set you right.
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>>>Is that everywhere? When I was on London back in the late 70's or early 80's (I should be sure, but I'm not), I spent my time by getting on the tube, riding to a station with an interesting name, getting off there and getting myself totally lost. Of course that's not a problem since if you continue in a straight line for a while, you'll hit another tube station. Anyway, every so often on one of these walks, I'd drop into a sort of neighbourhood pub, and it was great. I hope those haven't changed. Hopefully it's only the ones around Victoria station, the theatre district,and the other tourist areas.
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>>>>Nick
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>>>>>I love the name of the pubs. Are they called 'pubs?'
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>>>>>
>>>>>>PS -- just reading those station names makes me nostalgic. I worked in central London the summer I was 23, near Blackfriars station, and those tube stop names are like lines of poetry to me. What a fantastic summer. The one that jumps out at me for some odd reason is Finsbury Park, which I went up to only once. It was for a Friday night Kinks show at the Rainbow Palace. The show was terrific, although the venue was not what I expected. Given that is was where Eric Clapton played his comeback concert I was expecting something more stylish. Not so. It was basically a dump. No seating on the main floor, broken seats in the optimistically named mezzanine. It didn't bother me. That was my first and last mosh pit. Everyone should mosh once. I was in my work suit, Mr. White Bread in a mass of punks and Mohawks. Ray Davies was within spitting distance. It was an awesome experience.