With Britain under lockdown, the last trip to the pub seems a lifetime ago for many people, especially in Kent.

Trying times have forced some inns and breweries to change, even only temporarily, with many operating takeaway services to keep business afloat.

This isn't the first time that pubs have changed their ways through the years, with alterations being made either by choice or through legal changes.

Here KentOnline takes a look back through our archive for pictures showing how pubs, drinkers, landlords and landladies have changed in recent decades.

Just as the public's tastes change, so too have the drinks that pubs have served over the bar.

While 60 years ago choices were limited to beer and bitter - and perhaps a glass of wine if someone was brave enough to chance it - today the choices are far more varied.

With a greater variety of drinks becoming available in supermarkets over the years, pubs were forced to respond and bring in lagers and other drinks from around the world.

A constant demand for locally produced beer, however, has ensured that local breweries have flourished across the country.

The craft beer revolution has been particularly powerful in Kent - there are around 40 microbreweries active in the county and more 'brewpubs' are springing up each year.

And it's not just standard alcoholic drinks that are available; perhaps driven by a desire for healthier living, there are more and more alcohol-free options, as well as drinks that cater for dietary needs including gluten-free beer.

At the beginning of the 1960s, pubs tended not to serve food beyond packets of crisps, peanuts or pork scratching and even in those that did one would not find much variation on the traditional British staples.

Steak and kidney pie, ploughman's lunches and shepherd's pie abounded - to varying degrees of quality.

It wasn't until the 1970s that good pub food started becoming more important and regular - heralded by the arrival of the still ever-present Beefeater chain among others.

Just under 10 years later, rival chain Harvester would also come into existence - however there are now very few outlets left in the county.

From the 1990s until today, a number of factors including competition from restaurants and bars have seen many inns serving food as a priority in order to stay in business.

This competition has seen food become more varied in pubs; a Thursday night curry deal at Wetherspoons would seem distinctly alien to regular pub goers 50 years ago.

This has lead to the rise of gastropubs, which specialise in pairing beer and food.

Several in Kent have done this with considerable success, so much so that they have been awarded Michelin Stars or Bib Gourmands.

Another potential reason behind the rise of food in pubs - and doubtless the biggest enforced change to pubs in recent times - is the smoking ban.

The ban, which came into effect in 2007, changed the demographic in pubs dramatically.

Gone are the smoke-filled public bars which were dominated by men, with an influx of families coming in instead.

Regardless of how pubs have changed throughout history, it remains to be seen how altered surviving businesses will be after the end of lockdown.

In the meantime, find some more historical pictures of Kent's pubs below.

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