{"id":671503,"date":"2026-07-03T10:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671503\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:58:12","slug":"it-opened-my-eyes-to-the-city-the-artist-drawing-every-single-pub-in-london-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671503\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It opened my eyes to the city\u2019: the artist drawing every single pub in London | Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the pavement outside a London pub, 32-year-old Lydia Wood is sitting in the sunshine at her easel, peering up at the building and sketching with a pencil. Passersby pause to catch glimpses of her work, but what they might not know is that for the artist, this isn\u2019t just a nice day out, but part of years-long project with no apparent end in sight.<\/p>\n

Wood began what she calls \u201cthe pub project\u201d in 2021. Since then, she has drawn intricately detailed sketches of more than 350 pubs: her goal is to draw all 3,500-or-so of London\u2019s beloved watering holes \u2013 a quest that could take her at least 10 years.<\/p>\n

After losing her teaching job during Covid, Wood started sharing her art online, and asked her social media followers if they wanted her to draw their favourite pubs. \u201cI didn\u2019t anticipate the response,\u201d Wood says. \u201cPeople genuinely missed the ritual of going to the pub with their friends, and they were worried about the pubs that were struggling\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wood\u2019s pub drawings subsequently went viral and have now been collected in a book, Locals, which contains a selection of 60 intricate pencil drawings of boozers across London. There are riverside pubs, pubs in alleyways, pubs with cats, and even a whole chapter on pubs called The Coach and Horses. \u201cI wanted the book to feel like you are suddenly pulled to one end of the city, and then to the other,\u201d Wood says.<\/p>\n

For the artist, the work isn\u2019t just about documenting the architecture of these buildings, but celebrating the communities within them. Pubs are under threat across Britain \u2013 in the capital, around 1,000 pubs have closed in the last 20 years. Yet people still need them.<\/p>\n

There are pubs trying to attract younger generations with drag shows, book clubs and quiz nights,\u201d Wood explains. \u201cAnd I think that will be rewarded in the long term,\u201d Wood says.\u201cI get messages all the time saying: \u2018Come and draw my pub, or please, can you draw this pub before it gets demolished next year?\u2019\u201d Wood says. \u201cPubs serve a huge purpose, especially for those communities growing up around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recently travelled to south Wimbledon to draw the 150-year-old Trafalgar pub after she learned that developers wanted to demolish it to make way for flats. \u201cSome of my Instagram friends, who also make pub content, were making a video documentary about this pub at risk,\u201d Wood says. \u201cIt\u2019s more than 100 years old and a beautiful building.\u201d Locals are campaigning to bring The Trafalgar under community ownership.<\/p>\n

The drawings take anywhere from six hours to multiple days to complete. \u201cI could have picked an easier medium to work with to make the process quicker, but I think the pencil is often underestimated as a tool,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s used for the sketch stage, or the beginning or idea. But to use it to make the piece as a whole is an interesting process.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another upside to her method: spending long periods of time outside pubs means she gets to meet lots of new people. She often receives free pints from landlords and ends up chatting with curious locals. Her art then becomes, she says, a vehicle to talk about pubs in crisis but also the history of London and these buildings\u2019 place in it.<\/p>\n

Indeed, sketching these historic establishments has led Wood to discover whole new worlds. \u201cIt opened my eyes to the city,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

From a quiet countryside lane in Richmond to a bustling road in Limehouse, it\u2019s really fun to experience the whole spectrum of locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising the bar: five of the capital\u2019s boozers<\/p>\n

Ship & Shovell, Charing Cross (main image)
This pub consists of two buildings: The Ship on one side, and The Shovell on the other. Originally two terrace houses, the pubs are connected via an underground passage. \u201cThis drawing is about 90% alleyway and only 10% pub,\u201d Wood says.<\/p>\n

The Faltering Fullback. Photograph: Lydia Wood<\/p>\n

The Faltering Fullback, Finsbury Park
On the intersection of two streets, north London\u2019s The Faltering Fullback proudly sits adorned in greenery. The beer garden feels like a treehouse, with seating on multiple levels. \u201cWhen I was sketching outside, a group of schoolchildren and their teacher came to watch me draw the pub,\u201d Wood says. \u201cWhat I love about this project is the people I get to meet,\u201d Wood says.<\/p>\n

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Blythe Hill Tavern. Photograph: Lydia Wood<\/p>\n

Blythe Hill Tavern, Catford
Lydia Wood\u2019s drawing project began close to home. \u201cThis is my favourite pub because it is my local, and I have so many memories here,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s the first pub that I drew.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blackfriar. Photograph: Lydia Wood<\/p>\n

The Blackfriar, Blackfriars
Built on the site of a medieval Dominican friary, the exterior of the Blackfriar pub is depicted here on a canvas of 42 by 52.9cm \u2013 the largest drawing Wood has completed. \u201cMy drawings usually take five or six hours to complete. This one took me five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cockpit. Photograph: Lydia Wood<\/p>\n

The Cockpit, Blackfriars
Wood, pictured with her depiction of the Cockpit. The pub used to be a literal cock-fighting pit in the 19th century, while William Shakespeare is said to have bought a house near the site in the 1600s. \u201cEach little layer of the pub is different. Its mosaics, etched glass, brickwork and gargoyles make it really unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rifleman. Photograph: Lydia Wood<\/p>\n

The Rifleman, Twickenham
This backstreet pub is named after the first world war rifleman \u2013 and local \u2013 Frank Edwards, also known as the Footballer of Loos. The pub is now under threat of closure and locals are fighting to keep it going. \u201cI was caught in the rain and had the pleasure of finishing the drawing inside by the open fire with a pint. Loyal locals also kept buying me drinks as I worked,\u201d Wood says.<\/p>\n

Locals: An Illustrated Ode to London\u2019s Pubs<\/a> by Lydia Wood is published by Hodder and Stoughton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the pavement outside a London pub, 32-year-old Lydia Wood is sitting in the sunshine at her easel,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-671503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}