◆ Ponders End, the south east part of Enfield, faces losing its last remaining pub. The mock-Tudor Goat in the High Street (EN3 4HB) dates from the 1930s and is locally listed, although it is believed that there has been a pub on the site since 1778. The pub is described as a ‘local community meeting-place’ with a diverse range of customers. Greene King sold the pub to Ponders End Properties in 2018. There were applications submitted to turn the site into residential units but nothing happened on that score and, according to the Tottenham Independent, the pub has been on the market since November 2020. No interest has reportedly been shown in either the leasehold or the freehold.
The owners are now applying for a change of use into a restaurant. Phillip Ridley, the local pub protection officer for CAMRA’s Enfield & Barnet branch commented, “The Goat is a great pub that sells real ale and is the last place in walking distance from Ponders End where you can just turn up on your own, meet local people, socialise and have a meal there. It would be a devastating blow to the local community if this turned into a restaurant.” Local residents were encouraged to have their say on the proposal but, unfortunately, consultation will have closed by the time that readers see this.
◆ There has been a promising development regarding the Antelope in Leyton (E10 7BQ). Having failed with their development plans, the owners are apparently willing to lease out the building as a pub. A group of local residents have shown a serious interest in taking the lease and creating a not-for-profit community pub. There is however a long way to go, especially given the state of the building, but let’s wish them luck.
◆ CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Bulletin for April reported that the Grade II*-listed Argyll Arms in Soho (W1F 7TP) closed on 10 April for refurbishment. This Nicholson’s pub is remarkable for the survival of its glazed screenwork, dating from 1895.
◆ The Grade II-listed Bull in Highgate (N6 4AB) was acquired in March by Greene King (Metropolitan Pubs). The pub had been home to the Gorgeous Brewery; see the Brewery News column.
◆ I mentioned in the last edition that Punch Pubs were challenging the Asset of Community Value listing for the Grade II-listed Calthorpe Arms in Bloomsbury (WC1X 8JR). According to the Camden New Journal, Punch’s lawyers have told Camden Council that ‘The ACV listing of a property can have severe and far-reaching consequences for the owners of listed properties in terms of an owner’s otherwise unrestricted ability to dispose of its property as it sees fit and the potential impact on future development of the property’. Er, yes… That is precisely why those campaigning to protect pubs apply for them. In the meantime, Camden Council’s Planning Enforcement section are investigating the replacement of some of the pub’s etched windows.
◆ Back in 2019, planning permission was granted to convert the Carlton in Bethnal Green (E1 4BS) into flats so long as the ground floor pub was retained. During the works the building collapsed but there is confusion as to whether this was because of its condition or it was illegally demolished. Either way, Tower Hamlets Council, just as with its namesake in Westminster, ordered it to be rebuilt. This has now been completed and it looks impressive. It is however being advertised for rent as a commercial unit so sadly it may not return to use as a pub.
◆ This is a sad story as we enter the Summer of Pub. The Case is Altered, Harrow Weald (HA3 6SE) enjoys a rural setting on the Stanmore circular country walk. A former cottage dating from 1800 and locally listed by Harrow Council, the independently operated pub has closed permanently because of a dispute with the Council over the adjacent Old Redding (Harrow View Point) car park. Given its rural location, the pub needs the car park to operate normal pub hours. The Council however are closing the car park early because of serious public order problems. The leader of the Council told the Harrow On-line website that ‘local residents were understandably distressed at the area becoming a no-go zone’. He added that no compromise could be reached with the pub’s operators over the management of the car park. It is likely that the pub considered the cost of remedial proposals to be unaffordable.
◆ The Cricketers Kingston Community Association, supported by CAMRA’s Kingston & Leatherhead branch, has been successful in having the Cricketers in Kingston (KT1 2UL) listed as an Asset of Community Value. This is, inevitably, just the start. The Association would be interested in taking on the pub as a community local if a reasonable price could be agreed. The owners, having been refused permission to convert the pub to residential use, are offering the freehold for sale or to grant a lease but the campaigners feel that the price being asked is unrealistic.
◆ It was announced through social media on 26 April that the live music venue Nambucca in Holloway (N7 6LR) is to close for good on 14 May. It went on to say, “we have tried everything we can to keep Nambucca going.” This small 300 capacity venue has played host to acts such as Frank Turner, Kaiser Chiefs and the Libertines. Grassroots music venues such as Nambucca often don’t own the freehold of the building that they occupy and this means that they are at the mercy of market forces.
In a statement released on Twitter, the Music Venue Trust described the closure as a terrible blow and went on to say that the only way to save grassroots venues is for the music community to own their own venues. With thanks to Joanne Scott (who also took the photo).
◆ I have received the following note from Colin Price about the Peacock in Stepney (E1 0QW). “As the source of some of the information about the Peacock in Aylward Street, Stepney quoted in April’s London Drinker may I provide some updated information. The information that the Peacock has closed to allow its upper floors to be converted into accommodation and the pub is to be retained and should reopen, although with a somewhat different layout, in six months’ time came from a website www.londonpubexplorer.com/ which I had not come across before. It appears that this information may not be totally accurate. If, as you state, planning permission was granted in 2009 with a condition that work was to be started within three years then this permission is no longer valid. I did visit the site of the Peacock in mid-April and although the pub has closed, no work has been started yet and I understand that the developers have made a fresh application for planning permission.”
Editor’s note: Colin is correct. A check of the Tower Hamlets planning website just before we went to print showed that the following application had been submitted on 4 April: Conversion and extensions to existing Public House to provide 5 residential units (reference PA/22/00637/A1).
◆ In the December/January edition (Trade News) I mentioned that Fuller’s had refused a new lease to the tenant of the Plough in East Sheen (SW14 7AF). In a bizarre development the displaced tenant then had a large wooden hoarding erected around the pub’s beer garden and outside areas. Unfortunately for him, part of the hoarding obstructed the footpath and the last report was that Richmond upon Thames Council were going to take action to remove it. Fuller’s were intending to renovate the pub and it was due to reopen about now.
◆ Disappointing news of the Porcupine in Mottingham (SE9 4QW). After a nine year battle with Lidl, led by the Porcupine Development Committee, the Planning Inspectorate has decided as follows, ‘The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for the demolition of the existing public house and the erection of an A1 retail foodstore.’ The objectors have no right of appeal under the regulations as they stand. The permanent loss of one of the very few pubs in that part of Bromley is to be very much regretted. With thanks to Norman Warner for the update.
◆ I have mentioned the highly entertaining Deserter podcast (deserter.co.uk) several times over the years. The people behind it have now joined up with south London pub operators, Camberwell Shark, to open a new micropub called the Shirker’s Rest in a former shop in Lewisham Way, near Goldsmiths University. We wish them well with the venture.
◆ The former Wetherspoon’s outlet, the Drum, in Leyton (E10 7EQ) has been acquired by the Laine Pub Company and has reopened as the Spark House. The décor will feature light-based installations curated by a local artist.
◆ I mentioned recently the campaign to install defibrillators in pubs for use by the local community. One pub running its own campaign is the Sultan in South Wimbledon (SW19 1BT), which happens to be my local. On 3 May, in recognition of their efforts, the pub had a visit from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Mr Khan is, of course, the recipient of a CAMRA Golden Award (see last edition) and the Sultan was a very close runner up in CAMRA South West London branch’s Pub of the Year competition this year.
◆ The Two Brewers in Holloway (N7 8UR) is under threat again. Having failed in 2018, the owners have submitted new plans for its demolition and replacement by a four storey block with a bar on the ground floor. The owners claim that, although it was once a thriving community local, the pub is no longer financially viable and redevelopment is the only way to retain it.
One of the local residents who campaigned against the redevelopment last time told the Islington Tribune that the proposed new building was ‘out of keeping with the surrounding properties’ and was ‘vastly different’ to the existing building. In the same article, Joanne Scott, CAMRA North London branch’s pub protection officer, warned that this could be a ‘Trojan horse scenario’ and that there was no certainty that the proposed replacement bar would ever open.
◆Further to the report in the last edition, previous operator Christo Tofalli announced on Facebook that he had assigned the lease of Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans (AL3 4HE). The pub was reopened on 4 April by a new team that includes a previous manager and head chef at the pub. Curiously, the story attracted the attention of animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). They asked the new management to amend the name to remove ‘fighting’ but there will be no change of name.