The ‘public house’ is part of our history and heritage, and a cornerstone of communities up and down the land, in our cities, towns, villages.

Pubs are one of Britain’s oldest and most popular social institutions, and play a key role in our local communities, as well as being hugely important to our local economies and, collectively, to the national economy.

Pubs provide a vital local meeting places and are a focal point for community events and festivals. Pubs raise millions of pounds for charities every year, they support sports teams and host meetings for a diversity of local organisations.

Pubs play a crucial cultural role in keeping many historic folk traditions alive including traditional regional music and dancing. Pubs are also vital for the contemporary live music scene, and are credited as such by countless famous bands and musicians who started their careers playing or rehearsing in pubs. Our art and literature is full of references to pubs, and our pubs are intertwined with key moments in our history, both locally and nationally, with each and every pub having more than a tale or two to tell of its own.

Pubs are also, of course, the best place to enjoy our national drinks and are vital as a showcase for our thriving small brewing sector and independent cider makers, gin distillers and other regional craft drinks producers. Pubs also of course provide a conducive, controlled and responsible environment in which to enjoy these drinks.

Many pubs are also favourite destinations for a meal out, with all sorts of food on offer ranging from basic pub snacks and good old-fashioned pub grub, right through to gastro delicacies and true Michelin-starred restaurant food. The enduring staple of a traditional Sunday pub lunch remains an enduring family favourite weekend treat.

Pubs also provide a living to thousands of hard-working publicans and pub staff up and down the country, not to mention the suppliers that rely on their custom. An iconic part of our hospitality industry, pubs are also vital for tourism and many foreign visitors place them at or near the top of their “must do” list.

From a sunny beer garden on a hot day, to a roaring fire on a cold winter night. From a lunchtime drink in a busy city pub, to a pint at a harbourside pub in a fishing port. From Sunday lunch in a classic country pub, to a game of darts in a back-street community boozer. Pubs really are part of who we are, our local communities, our heritage, culture and history, and our identity in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Yet our pubs are under threat, and we are losing them at a distressing rate. They have long been too easy to close down and then convert or demolish, which makes them vulnerable to those who do not value them or want to preserve them in the same way that most of us do.

If we want to keep our pubs and our pub culture alive and thriving, we urgently need to campaign to change this.