Despite the fact that the "ploughman's lunch" isn't really very old, I have frequently enjoyed them, along with lots of other "pub grub." Eating in a pub is nearly always much cheaper than eating in anything called a "restaurant" in England. Other alternatives, if you don't need beer, are a fish and chips shop or a "cafe" (pronounced "caff"). In summer, many pubs have lovely "gardens" (patios), often with lots of hanging baskets of flowers.

What's annoying are the so-called "family rooms" which you're forced to use if you have kids with you and the garden isn't open due to bad weather. (The good news is, the law is seldom enforced outside London and some other cities, and may be growing more lax everywhere. Country pubs usually allow you to bring your kids into the room where the bar is.) Often a "family room" is just a dingy little room with no decoration and no windows, if they have one at all.

There is one quaint tradition that is dying out, and that is having pubs split into two rooms: the "public bar" in front, which used to be for men only, where men could wear their work clothes, where the room was plainly furnished and the beer was a little cheaper—and the "saloon" or "lounge bar" in the rear, with a separate entrance, where the decoration was a little fancier (like a Victorian parlor), the seats were upholstered, women were allowed, men were expected to dress up a bit, and the drinks were a bit more expensive. The modern trend is to knock down the wall between the rooms, or if that is impractical for structural reasons, to treat the two rooms alike. For social reasons, I approve of the change, but for historical reasons, it's fun to see the old ones anyway. But they're getting hard to find.