For thousands of city dwellers, this was the archetypal day in the country. But things were to change: the breathalyser, quite properly, took a lot of trade from the remoter pubs, although many of them made up the lost trade by increasingly turning to food rather than drink.

But other forces were afoot. The health craze made dieting a way of life for thousands, perhaps millions, and a pint and a pie are not the ideal dietary tools. In recent years, younger drinkers have turned to theme pubs with deafening music and even video shows, which hardly fit the country pub image.

Worst of all, however, was the ever onwards march of political correctness. The PC brigade sip mainly fizzy water. To them, a chardonnay spritzer is a binge. Anyone downing a pint of real ale is, at best, an alcoholic or, at worst, a violent psychotic and potential rapist.

This theme, sadly, has been taken up by Government, dominated by the chattering classes, and the taxes have been piled so high on alcoholic drinks that they are now the highest in Europe: millions of people in the South East cross the Channel every year to buy their booze in France.

For every penny put on taxes, the big brewers added another (and perhaps more) so now, a visit to the pub is so expensive that millions of people sit in front of their TVs and videos drinking (mainly foreign) lagers.

And yet the Government groan about the decline of the rural pub as a vital community asset. There are schemes galore to turn the pub into a shop/post office/community centre/training unit etc etc.

Now I welcome these. I welcome any move to save the village pub. But the fact remains that it is largely government and the brewers who have stabbed the knife deep into the institution they claim to support.

So how about recognising the social value of country pubs (as opposed to city boozers) and giving back some of the money they raise in taxes in special grants? After all, we support the farmers and agriculture is now a small industry compared with the money involved in tourism.

But even this is not enough. We country folk, as I wrote last week (and, I believe, offended some people, for which I do not apologise) should make more use of the local. If you don't drink, have a mineral water. If you're on a diet, have a salad. Use it as a meeting place for your social or sports club, set up a local lending library, put in a computer linked to the net.

If not, more and more of our country pubs will go under - and our lives will be immeasurably poorer.

In other words, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PUB.