Photos capture smoke-filled pubs before the smoking ban

Photos capture smoke-filled pubs before the smoking ban

Remember smoking in pubs? it's been 16 years since the smoking ban was put in place

It's hard to believe that there ever was a time that you could light up indoors in public places.

But 16 years ago, it wasn't unusual for someone to open a pack of cigarettes in a pub, bar, restaurant or office. The smoking ban came into force in July 2007, meaning you could no longer smoke in enclosed public places.

The idea was that everyone should be able to use the train, dine out or shop without suffering the negative effects of second hand smoke. The new law was thought to have been one of the biggest social changes our country had seen in the last two decades.

Below we've picked out some photographs of venues allowing people to smoke inside, from the Rodney Youth Centre to The Vines pub in Lime Street.

For beautiful, historic images from the past have a look at memorylane.co.uk/ and see what you can discover

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Do these awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.

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