Pub = Public House: a place that is licensed to sell alcoholic drinks to be consumed on the premises.

These places vary from scruffy places with a minimum of comfort and luxury to well appointed lounges where the floors are carpeted and the rooms have the feel of a living room.

Many pubs have both areas ('public bar = sparse furnishing for the working man; lounge bar = better appointed for the man and his wife dressed up for an evening out).

Folk clubs are probably mostly in pubs. They are often in a private room that charges a small admission fee towards running the club and booking artists.

The nature of the club varies tremendously depending on who runs it and the customers. Some clubs have regular and frequent booked artists; some rely more on Singers Nights. The number of folk clubs is quite small compared to its peak 30-40 years ago.

A personal observation - I find the most significant difference between a folk club/concert/performance/festival and any other type of music is the high proportion of people in the audience who are themselves players and singers.

The folk clubs which I attend in general are where British styles of music predominate. This is personal musical preference. Most of the people who attend have similar interests: most are white middle aged people. Most are tolerant intelligent unbiased and friendly - occasioally but not often this is not the case.

The number of Black and Asian people in the area that I live in is a small percentage (1.6% of the population) shown here as North Lancashire. Statistically, assuming a random attendance, a well attended club here with - say - 50 in the audience would have one black or brown face. Add into the equation musical preferences and even that number is unlikely.

Where I have seen Black and Asian people in the clubs, they have been treated no differently to anyone else (poor statistics though; I can only think of half a dozen or so)

Stu