I'll be honest and say I'm not, and never really have been, a great user of pubs on a walk. Occasionally, yes, but in the main we tend to go "self-sufficient" which is what we prefer.
The thing is that pubs are finding it hard to thrive in an era when many don't leave the house for their entertainment, and are used to supermarket booze prices. And initiatives introduced with the best of intentions (smoking ban, crack-downs on drink driving, tougher regulations on entertainment licences, etc) have systematically eaten away at pub users and reduced their numbers.
True, many pubs now do good food - when I was younger, most pub food was of a much lower standard than now - but whereas people might pop in for a drink or two quite regularly, no one has the appetite or cash to eat in their local pub 3-5 times a week.
Our local is a focal point in a village with no school, shop or post office. Locals do use it, although there are regular grumblings about the price of food and drink (which is above average in cost and about average in quality) and it also gets support from further afield, from regular cycle events and a thriving village cricket club, for example.
I do think the time has come for a bit of radical thinking - a pub with benefits, if you like! Co-locate it with a shop or PO, make it a community centre or an Amazon drop point or Hermes pick-up point - something to broaden it's appeal and get more people in and more use out of a building that is an expensive commodity.