A London-based artist and author is dedicating years of her life to her long-term ‘pub project’ – a collection of sketches of 3000 watering holes across the city.
Lydia Wood, an artist based in Catford, started the project in 2021 from her bedroom and has turned her passion for pub culture into a full-time job.
“I went into it quite flippantly – even though it’s going to take a long, long time,” she said.
“When I tell people they’re like: ‘you’re crazy.’
“But, for me, this didn’t feel like a big undertaking because it’s happily interwoven into my life, which is great.”
Lydia draws from life – and can often be spotted across the street from a London pub with an easel – her sketches can take upwards of four hours to complete.
She draws inspiration from stories told to her by locals about the history of the pub and real-life nuances like locals enjoying a midweek pint who oftentimes become features in her sketches.
“A lot of the pubs I go to, I’ve never been to before, and so they might not know this – but they provide me with a lot of information that I find really interesting,” she said.
”They’re excited that someone is making artwork of their local.”
She recalls her experience of drawing The Duke Of Wellington, a pub in Belgravia, and how a local informed her of the history of the building, which was later included in the sketch to honour its story.
“There were two shades of brickwork on the side of the building and if I’m honest – I don’t know if I would have noticed them enough to draw them that contrasted,” she said.
“But a local told me that part of the pub had been bombed in the Second World War and start rebuilt it. So, the lighter bricks were the newer ones – it was such a nice, visual history of the pub.”
Having drawn, and subsequently been into, around 400 London pubs so far – including The Sheephaven Bay in Camden, and The Scarsdale Tavern in South Kensington – the SW Londoner asked her what her South West London pub recommendation would be.
“I loved drawing The Trafalgar in South Wimbledon because of all the extra detail – it’s got etched glass and the interior is beautiful,” she said.
“You can really imagine being cosy there in winter.”
The Trafalgar has recently undergone some hardship, but the community has come together to save it by campaigning to buy its freehold.
The Save the Traf crowdfunder has raised £325,000 already, and if it reaches its target by Christmas, it will make The Trafalgar the first community-owned pub in the London Borough of Merton.
“This isn’t over the line yet but hopefully it’ll be a happy ending where they get to save their pub that’s been around for hundreds of years,” Lydia said.
The artist’s love of pubs extended to her wedding, where she and her husband built their own pub, complete with a fully functioning bar, her artwork and a collection of pub memorabilia.
Lydia reflected fondly on the day, saying it was the centre of their wedding and added the perfect personal touch which their guests loved.
On continuing the project, and writing another book, she said: “I’m looking to the future and what kinds of opportunities the pub project can bring – I brought out a book in May and I’m already thinking about future books!
“Drawing pubs will always be the core of it and that won’t change, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be add-ons and exciting things that can come from it.
“I feel like it’s important for me to kind of take each day, week, month and year as I comes – because if I think too far ahead it might get a bit daunting.”
Featured image credit: Lydia Wood
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