People are protective over pubs. Working up the list of the Standard’s 50 favourites, the line I’ve heard most has been “well, did you include…?”, often swiftly followed by “it has to be in there”. Pubs matter, because so much of our life happens in them: the after-work swift half that comes with a case of the 4ams, the lazy Sunday afternoons, the family catch-ups, the first kisses. At their very best, pubs remain the great leveller; somewhere all of us, in whatever mood and with whatever resource, can share. A great pub has both bin men and chairmen, artists and piss artists.
