The following extracts have been taken from The United Kingdom: 100 questions answered, Jan 2003, and United Kingdom: a modern tradition, May 2002, both published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London

The pub

Beer has always been a popular drink in the UK and what better place to 'sup' a traditional British pint than in a public house or 'pub'.

Although it is possible to buy most drinks in a pub, beer is the mainstay of the trade. Until the 16th century, the UK's favourite drink was ale made with fermented malt from barley. Then hops, a climbing plant, were introduced. Their dried flowers were used to flavour and preserve the ale and 'ale' became 'beer', although the two names are used interchangeably nowadays.

The pub is a place to go for a convivial night out. You can meet people, enjoy good food and drink, and even join in a game of darts or snooker a game similar to billiards.

The word 'pub' is a shortened form of 'public house at one time ale houses were private homes where the occupant brewed ale and sold it at the front door. Poles topped with evergreen branches were hung outside public houses so customers could easily find them. These were the earliest pub signs. Today there is an amazing selection of pub names depicted on colourful signs hanging above the door. These refer to historical events or local landmarks or characters. Others include references to animals, many with their origins in heraldry, such as the White Hart and the Red Lion, said to be the commonest name of all.

The lure of the pub can lie in the variety of pub names; each pub has its own name, depicted on a painted inn sign hung outside the premises. A pub name can refer to historical events, landmarks, sundry beasts or its meaning can be a complete puzzle, Some include references to animals, many with their origins in heraldry - The White Hart, the Nag's Head, the Black Bull, and the Bear to name but a few!

Another popular pub name - the Coach and Horses - reminds us that many pubs were once coaching inns where travellers would stop for refreshment, a night's sleep and to rest or change the horses pulling their stage coach. There were many coaching inns in London, with stage coach services to outlying villages and towns operating from their yards.

Why do the British like going to the pub?

One of the main attractions of the pub for all regular pubgoers is that it offers good company in friendly surroundings. Often the style of the pub and its locality will dictate the kind of clientele you can expect to find there. Village pubs with their country furnishings and real ales attract not only local folk but citydwellers out for a drive, hikers fresh from a long day's walk and pensioners enjoying a pub lunch. City pubs tend to have a more mixed clientele - businessmen and women discussing the latest deal, theatregoers or groups of friends enjoying a drink together before going off to a restaurant or nightclub.

Good conversation and good beer are two essential items provided by the pub. The drinking of beer in a public house is not compulsory, but as any publican will tell you, beer remains the mainstay of the trade. It is said that beer is the perfect drink for the pub - it comes in large measures (one pint glasses) so that just one drink provides plenty of conversation time! Many pubs also serve food, from snacks to full meals.

Over 27 million pints of beer are sold in the UK every day. Although breweries are mainly run by big national groups, there are many microbreweries serving a smaller area and a few publicans still brew their own beer.