By the end of WW1, British pubs had begun their transformation from seedy drinking dens; partitions and snugs were stripped away, changing stuffy rooms into bright and beautiful spaces.<sup>1</sup> Landlords began to pay more attention to the décor, food and entertainment on their premises — a reaction to the changing demographic of their clientele.<br><br>The absence of men during the war saw an extraordinary number of women entering the workforce. Extra money, loneliness and grief contributed to their spending leisure time in the pub.<sup>2</sup> While previously the domain of a few, largely working-class, women, the number of middle and upper-class pub-goers rose from 1916.<sup>3</sup> Women who had once shamefully entered through the back-alley now marched through the front doors with their heads held high.<sup>4</sup> <br><br>Behind these changes was the Central Control Board (CCB), a liquor traffic body created in 1915 by a government seeking a peaceful home front<sup>5</sup>. The CCB advocated that ‘women are as equally entitled to drink as men.’<sup>6</sup>, but also encouraged better facilities for women as a means for responsible pub management.<br><br>However, a Birmingham Christian temperance group obtained over 37,000 female signatories to a petition demanding that women under 21 be banned from the pub until the end of the war.<sup>7</sup> Chief Constables from Newcastle also met with the CCB to ask that women should only be allowed to drink whilst eating a meal as a solution to the ‘growing evil’<sup>8</sup> of increased female drinking.<br><br>The Brewers’ Journal, a London-based monthly trade journal, however, ‘strongly opposed any conspiracy to exclude women from the licensed house’<sup>9</sup>, as they were vital to its enrichment — a WW1-induced turning point that is reflected to this day.