‘Where the magic really happens’: the influencers out to celebrate – and save – Britain’s ‘proper boozers’

‘Where the magic really happens’: the influencers out to celebrate – and save – Britain’s ‘proper boozers’ With more than 350 establishments closing last year, social media accounts such as Proper Boozers and London Dead Pubs have rallied to fight their sticky-carpeted corner – and bring the ‘old-man pub’ a new clientele The Calthorpe Arms on Gray’s Inn Road is a fairly atypical central London pub. With patterned red carpets, brass fittings, leather bar stools, a pool table and Christmas tinsel still hanging in early February, it feels very much a “local”, although on a Thursday evening it’s busy with the post-work crowd. It’s the fifth time Niall Walsh, who works nearby and runs the Proper Boozers Instagram account , has visited in recent months. “It’s just off the beaten track, but easy to get to,” Walsh says over a pint of Harvey’s. “You can get a real, authentic pub experience.” About 366 pubs closed last year , and ever-increasing costs are making it increasingly difficult to run this most British of institutions. But a viral social media post can help. Last year, the Wheatsheaf in Romford, Essex, took to social media to thank two accounts, Proper Boozers and London Dead Pubs , for featuring them: “The exposure it’s brought our family-run pub has been incredible.” Thankfully for pubs, there are now myriad accounts promoting their establishments, and Instagram has become a hotbed of pub content. London Pub Explorer is strong on social history; London Pub Map is attempting to drink at every London pub, and the Great British Pub Crawl the same across the country. Those with niche concerns will find something, too. Lydia Wood Drawings is drawing every London pub; Peaks and Pubs combines outdoor activities with pints; and Beautiful Boozers emphasises the aesthetic pleasures. Equally as aesthetically pleasing, Egg Chip Bean Pint merely posts a picture of a plate of egg, chips and beans alongside a pint from a nearby pub. My algorithm is now 90% pub content. Walsh was...