Public houses are culturally, socially and traditionally different from other places found elsewhere in the world such as cafés, bars, bierkellers and brewpubs. Colloquialisms for the public house include boozer, the local and rub-a-dub-dub.
The owner or manager (licensee) of a public house is known as the publican, but is often referred to as “guv” (short for guv’nor, or govenor). Each pub generally has a crowd of regulars, people who drink their on a regular basis. The pub people visit most often is called their local. In many cases, this will be the pub nearest to their home, but some people choose their local for other reasons: proximity to work, a traditional venue for their friends, the availability of real ale, or maybe just a pool table.
This series of illustrations aims to uncover some of the many local pubs in and around the East end of London. These days too many of our local pubs are being turned into trendy bars of cafes or even closing due to lack of business. The local pub is an English institution which we must keep open.
Since 2009 when this project was carried out the majority of the pubs featured are now trendy Gastro Pubs or Wine Bars or in many cases simply no longer exist.
Prints of any of the featured pubs are available for purchase. Please ping me an email for details.
