By Edin Suljic

“In an English pub!”, exclaimed someone with a clear admiration, some 20 years ago, seeing me embracing my best mate, a French friend, as I was heading off to work, at half-time in some football match we were watching there. I don’t think that embracing a friend in an English pub was ever unusual or special or rare; I have done it many times, and other people do it. Although there are unwritten rules of conduct for behaviour in English pubs, one can never know what would surprise someone, or when “anything goes” is acceptable. Still, English pubs are constantly changing. I’ve seen many changes even during my 35 years of patronage.

Have they really changed that much?

Older men have always sat nursing pints, occasionally uttering a word to each other… Lighting a cigarette at regular intervals then, getting out to have a smoke at regular intervals now. All eyes are on a stranger walking in for the first time, breaking the spell of silence by ordering a pint, perhaps in a foreign accent, in the Traditional English Pub that is just a ‘local’ to everyone else.

“Anything can happen in an English pub”, said old John to me not long ago, “even murder”. Then continuing, “And country pubs are quite different from the city ones”. He certainly knows his pubs. “But you don’t tend to go to pubs in your old age”, he also said. And it’s not because he has daughters and grand children that keep him company. It’s just that some older people go to pubs and some do not. Some are lonely and some are not. Some are lonely even when they have family. And although most people don’t drink in pubs to get drunk, a lot of people still get drunk in pubs.

Nobody would ever be able to bring out a comprehensive study of English pubs and the complex web of their social and historical importance. Even if there was such a thing, it would be rather boring. Everyone would have their own take on the subject and almost everyone would have an amazing personal pub story, an observation, a myth or a legend to tell.

“So, stranger, do you have a story to tell?”. That is the inevitable challenge that every newcomer will face sooner or later, when walking into such an establishment. From way back when pubs were inns where travellers would seek shelter, food and rest, to the present times, the same question has been asked, “Where are you coming from?”, or as Shakespeare would put it, “You walk like a stranger.” And a pub is a place where that question can be rightfully asked.

In many metamorphoses of English pubs over time, there have been family rooms, sport rooms, as well as bar sections and darts corners, most of them are community hubs, although some of them are plain old boozers, but in each of them those who came before had an unwritten right to scrutinize newcomers. ‘That question’ will arise naturally and frequently.

There are also the so called gastro-pubs – as if people didn’t eat in pubs before their appearance. Is a gastro-pub a community hub? One thing probably excludes the other. Pictures of legendary drinkers on the walls of gastro-pubs do not make a difference to the primary nature of their business.

When walking into a pub one can’t ever know what might happen. One pint can turn into many, sadness into happiness or the other way around, overheard conversations into a full-blown discussion or argument. And “Where do you come from?” will inevitably pop-up.

When a traveller turns up, someone will sooner or later ask about the nature of their business. From curiosity? Because of duty? For safety reasons? Although innkeepers or publicans will always look after their business first – in a full pub pints will flow.

Walking into a pub with a bunch of friends is easier. Walking in on one’s own is different. Settling in, becoming a regular will certainly take some time. And there will be lots of questions to answer, time and time again. How one happens to be ‘here’? And furthermore, to be settled ‘here’.

Occasionally, proclamations from other patrons would be heard: too many people of this and that kind are ‘here’. Real personal statements, or just provocations from agent provocateurs? Who would know? Often these statements come from those who are themselves not regulars. If they were regulars, one could over time, hear their arguments, ask questions, reassure them that things are really fine. They are keen to tell such things to a stranger, as long as they find the stranger acceptable.
In some pubs that I frequent in London, regulars talk about the lack of the sound of church bells as they can still be heard in some other countries, or a lack of English flags on display. They themselves are the children of newcomers. Is it nostalgia, a need to belong properly or something else? I would need to talk with them about it.

But, do “anti-strangers” discussions still happen in pubs?

Oh, yes they do.

Did strangers ever do something to provoke those questions and discussions? Oh, yes they did.

Firstly, they walked in, didn’t they? Then they asked for a beer. Some asked for food and lodging. Although, they paid for it. But some wore odd clothes and sandals. Some started fights – others we robbed. OK. That would have happened in the past. Even nowadays, some strangers come into our pubs wearing odd clothes. Moreover, there are even strangers wearing odd clothes who will never come into our pubs.

Why not? What’s wrong with our pubs?

Now, that’s a thing we can talk about in our pubs.

There were always people who didn’t go to pubs.

Should one be wary of people who don’t go to pubs, perhaps even hate them? Could we invite the non-pub-goers for a discussion? Do they want to be invited to a discussion? Do ‘we’ want to discuss anything with them or just get rid of them?

Just a moment!

There are other type of establishments where ‘we’ don’t go, but these strangers do? Well, this is about pubs – so let’s go back in there and see how ‘we’ cannot be worried about, or hostile to, the otherness of strangers.

So, what else could we talk about in our pubs? Is it acceptable to ask foreigners, how long they are staying and when they are going back? Is it OK to ask people who are from countries where there is a war – why are they not fighting for their country?

Can a stranger ask us why we voted for Brexit, or why we support politicians who are promoting misinformation and divisiveness? Why those politicians talk about multiculturalism when they don’t know how it works? Multiculturalism is not about people of different cultures being isolated, living their own traditions in separate corners of any city. It is about sharing and interconnecting. It is about having Thai cuisine in an English pub.

Is it OK to say, in a pub, that we don’t want any more foreigners in our country, or at least foreigners of a certain kind. Although, a lack of these strangers would contradict the whole concept of an English pub. Unless of course, we are aiming to be a ‘community pub’ consisting of a bar with pricey beers, overpriced sandwiches and an even more pricy restaurant area where wealthy foreigners can enjoy themselves, get the experience of a ‘real’ English pub, sometimes interact with locals, and then go home.

Can a stranger ask us why we accept wealthy refugees more easily rather than poor ones?

Can we talk about why it is OK for strangers to settle amongst us, if they are capable to do so with their grit and determination – to stay alive, to get on with their lives, to thrive, and sometimes to outdo us?

And what about the older lonely men in pubs. Do they want to talk about their loneliness?

One drinks as much as one can afford or as much as the size of one’s troubles, even if one can’t afford it. No-one can afford loneliness.

Let’s talk about it over a pint, or two.

www.edinsuljic.com
Copyright Edin Suljic 2026
Commissioned by Counterpoints Arts
Photo credits: PhotoES