Grab, you said: "Given a choice between paying money to get into a folk club with a variable quality of musicians, and going to a pub for free to listen to a variable quality of musicians, I'm afraid I'll choose the free one".
If that is all you ever do, you are missing out on a huge chunk of folk activity and listening oportunities: You'll never get to hear any of the performers who do not attend "sessions" for whatever reason. Martyn Wyndham-Read does not attend sessions. Neither does Robb Johnson. Or Marilyn Middleton.
It seems to me that, for the sake of saving a little money (what - 3 pounds UK? 4? 5?) you are cutting yourself off from some of the best music around. But hey - that's your choice, and you're entitled to it.
Me, I go to clubs. Because they too have a role to play in promoting folk music, even if many of them don't do so adequately. And because there is nowhere else I can go to have an evening's comparable fun and enjoyment for the money.