Though I'm certainly no fan of the 2003 Licensing Act I don't think it has had too much of an effect in either of the two pubs I play in on a semi-regular basis. What's notable about both is they have a good reputation for well kept real ale, and they both make an effort to bring in custom both locally and from further afield, with activities such as quiz nights, art exhibitions, chess tournaments, live gigs etc etc. Neither of them are attempting to be restaurants, although they both serve something akin to traditional pub lunches (and very good too), and both have decent outdoor smoking areas. They don't have large screen TVs and don't show Sky sports! They are reasonably well served by public transport, being in the city. They both have websites* to let you know what's on which is useful if you are a semi-regular visitor, like myself. Basically I think their success comes from focusing on what I'd regard as traditional pub activities, and they do these extremely well.

Village halls can be great too, especially where there are hard working individuals/committees involved in running them (as is the case in Faldingworth). I take Richard's point that village halls can lack atmosphere but the opposite can also be true - one of the best gigs I've ever seen was a Hank Wangford & Reg Meuross "no hall too small" performance at a small village hall, playing to an audience of about 50, with a very small stage lit by standard lamps (really), & tea & home made food during the interval.

Cheers,

Pete.

*on checking the website for one of them I see it's been voted "Best community pub in great Britain for 2009" which says it much better than I could!