Pub landlords and landladies help keep the social fabric from fraying in towns, cities and villages around the nation, bringing people together and ensuring the beer flows as freely as the conversation.
But the number of watering holes across Britain has reportedly plummeted by a quarter over the last 25 years, as their owners and managers face pressures like never before.
These photos take us back to happier times for pubs and their landlords, during the 80s and 90s.
They show much-loved watering holes across Yorkshire, some of which have sadly closed since these nostalgic pictures were captured, though others are still going strong.
The publicans pictured include a brave couple who rescued a woman from a blazing flat; a long-serving landlord who made such an impact the pub was renamed in his honour; and a former football star who began pulling pints after hanging up his boots.
So let’s raise a glass to these landlords and landladies, and to the local institutions they ran, and let’s salute those still swimming against the tide to provide us with a welcoming place to drink today.
Do these photos bring back any happy memories for you, and which pubs from the 80s and 90s do you miss most?
1. Ivy House
Ian Haslem with landlord John English at the Ivy House pub, Holmfield, in December 1980 | Evening Courier, Halifax
2. The Pheasant
Pauline and Brian Williams, landlady and landlord of the Pheasant, Oughtibridge, Sheffield, in May 1986 | Sheffield Newspapers
3. Old Glen House
Terry Duggan, landlord of the Old Glen House pub, Shipley, with his brother Phil in June 1985 | YPN
4. Old Hall
Bob and Sheila Scruby, landlord and landlady of The Old Hall Hotel, Farsley, Leeds, in 1995 | YPN Photo: Peter Thacker