Drinking
The combination of an inclement climate and a British temperamental aversion to casual chat makes the simple cafe a rare phenomenon outside the biggest cities. A growing number of pubs now serve tea and coffee during the day, but in most places you'll attract consternation by asking for a cup; in the more genteel tourist towns - such as Stratford, Harrogate and York - you'll find plenty of teashops , unlicensed establishments where the normal procedure is to order a slice of cake or some other pastry with your tea or coffee. Increasingly common in the big cities are brasseries or equivalent establishments, where the majority of customers are there for a bite to eat, but where you're generally welcome to spend half an hour nursing a cappuccino or glass of wine. Nothing is likely to dislodge the pub from its status as the great British social institution. Originating as wayfarers' hostelries and coaching inns, pubs have outlived the church and marketplace as the focal points of communities, and at their best they can be as welcoming as the full name - "public house" - suggests. Pubs are as varied as the country's townscapes: in larger market towns you'll find huge oak-beamed inns with open fires and polished brass fittings; in the remoter upland villages there are stone-built pubs no larger than a two-bedroomed cottage; and in the more inward-looking parts of industrial Britain you'll come across no-nonsense pubs where something of the old division of the sexes and classes still holds sway - the "spit and sawdust" public bar is where working men can bond over a pint or two, the plusher saloon bar, with a separate entrance, is the preferred haunt of mutually preoccupied couples, the middle classes and unaccompanied women. Whatever the species of pub, its opening hours are daily 11am-11pm (in quieter spots, closed between about 3pm and 5.30pm), with "last orders" called by the bar staff about twenty minutes before closing time. The legal drinking age is eighteen and unless there's a special family room or a beer garden, children are not usually welcome. Most pubs are owned by large breweries who favour their own beers and lagers , as well as some "guest beers", all dispensed by the pint or half-pint (a pint costs anything from GBP1.20 to GBP2.70, depending on the brew and the locale of the pub). Cider , the fermented produce of apples, is a sweet, alcoholic beverage produced in the English West Country, where it's often preferred to beer; the far more potent and less refined scrumpy is the type consumed by aficionados of the apple. The cider sold in pubs all over Britain is a fizzy drink that only approximates the real thing. As with beer, the best scrumpy is available within a short radius of the factory, but the drink has nothing like the variety of beer. Wines sold in pubs are generally appalling, a strange situation in view of the excellent range of wine available in off-licences and supermarkets. The wine lists in brasseries and wine bars are nearly always better, but the mark-ups are often outrageous, and any members of the party who prefer beer will have to be content with bottled drinks. Nonetheless, many people are prepared to pay the extra in return for a less boozy and less male-dominated atmosphere.
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