s London’s oft-quoted wordsmith, Samuel Johnson, declared back in the 18th century: “There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced, as by a good tavern or inn.” There are now around 3,500 of them in the capital, so Johnson – who is credited with inventing the English Dictionary — would be a very happy man if he were alive today. Many of these taverns and inns – or pubs, as we more usually call them, but also known in Cockney rhyming slang as ‘rub-a-dubs’ and
