Occasionally the JD Wetherspoon chain, which I'm sure represents everything that is bad about today's English pub culture in the buying up of the old independent pubs by large national chains, ran a real ale promotion where many of these smaller breweries had an opportunity to be on tap, and you could get 3 smaller 1/3 pints for the price of a single pint. I'm sure it was CAMRA running these promotions. The fact that this single pint price was about 1.70 rather than the 3.50 in the independent pubs was a bonus for a miserly backpacker, and even when the campaigns weren't running you could generally find one or 2 specialty real ales at a JDW, which wasn't much less than the independent pubs. It got to the stage where if I was just in the mood to taste something new & not worried about the atmosphere I would check JBW first by choice, which again I'm sure would horrify the traditionalists (and I'll be the first to admit that ambience of a proper pub is obviously far better).But the JD Wetherspoon chain introduced me to many brews that I would not have experienced in an independent pub, some of which I actively sought out again if I liked them, so I saw it as a positive overall.
