Some good news to start. Following the disastrous fire in the basement last July, Fuller’s have announced that repairs to the Admiralty, their flagship pub on Trafalgar Square (WC2N 5DS), have been completed on schedule. It should have reopened by the time that you read this.
Apologies; I made an error in the report on the Beehive, Marylebone, in the last edition. There are two Beehives in the area, one in Homer Street (W1H 4NX) and the other in Crawford Street (W1U 6BF). The news relates to the one in Crawford Street. Sadly, the one in Homer Street remains closed.
Until recently there was concern about scrap and rubbish being dumped in the car park of the Grade II-listed Burn Bullock, opposite the Cricket Green in Mitcham but I’m pleased to report that, following enforcement action by Merton council, this has been cleared. CAMRA’s South West London branch was prominent among those complaining. There is still hope that the pub, closed since 2013, will reopen. The pub was previously the King’s Head and was run by the former Surrey cricketer, Burnett Wedlake Bullock (known as Burn) and his wife. He died in 1954 bur Mrs Burnett continued to run the pub until 1975 when, to mark her retirement, the pub was renamed in her husband’s honour.
Young’s, as freeholders, have refused the Livelyhood pub company a renewal of lease on the Clapham North in Stockwell. It is understood that they are taking the pub back into their own estate. Livelyhood still have seven other pubs, mostly in South West London, and are looking for more.
Having stood empty for some years, the Duke of York in Chiswick (W4 2HU) is to be converted to residential use. It was once described as a ‘traditional community local’ but custom drifted away and Fuller’s sold it in 2017. It closed in 2018. An attempt to refurbish and reopen it was thwarted by squatters and the subsequent pandemic. The pub dates from the 1880s and is the work of the renowned pub architect T H Nowell Parr. The building is locally listed because of its terracotta decorations, believed to have been supplied by Royal Doulton. The developers have promised to restore these features. At least this example of Nowell Parr’s work will survive superficially. There was another of his pubs close by called the Devonshire Arms. From 2007 to 2010 it was a Gordon Ramsay gastropub but it didn’t last and, despite a couple of further attempts, it closed permanently and in 2013 planning permission was granted for its demolition and replacement by a block of seven flats.
Not all pubs open as promised after redevelopment. I am pleased to say that this is not the case with the Fox in Palmers Green. The pub closed in 2018 when a number of buildings were demolished to provide a commercial unit, 54 residential units and a refurbished pub. The pub, which reopened in February, is owned by Star Pubs & Bars (Heineken) and operated by Whelan’s Pub Company who split the £1.35 million cost between them. Whelans operate nine pubs in all, six of them on lease from Star. The pub dates from 1904 and features a distinctive turret and exterior plaster relief decorations.
Those who remember the Battersea Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA’s South West London branch, may be interested to learn that the bar/café at the Battersea Arts Centre has become the Brewery Tap for the Freedom Brewery. The brewery produces hand crafted English lagers but no cask beer. Having begun life in Parsons Green in south west London, it is now based in Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire.
Further to my report in the December/January edition, I am pleased to confirm that the Old Justice in Bermondsey East has reopened and is serving cask ale.
Clarification is needed as regards the Prince of Wales in SW19. In the WhatPub Update in the last edition we reported that it was no longer selling real ale. There are however two PoWs in SW19. The report referred to the one on Morden Road (SW19 3BP). The other one (SW19 3TA), in Hartfield Road opposite the station, is unchanged and we apologise to them if any confusion was caused.
Further to my report in the last edition, the Rugby Tavern in Bloomsbury quickly found new operators, Berkeley Inns, who have pubs in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. This is their first venture into the London market and they will be making a substantial investment in the pub. It will have a ‘high-quality food offer’.
Sadly, the City of London gave permission for the development which will see the demolition of the St Brides Tavern in Blackfriars (EC4V 6AP). Our sympathy goes to the licensees who have lived and worked there for 17 years. A new pub should appear in two years or so.
The Sir Richard Steele in Haverstock Hill (NW3 4RL) has had a fairly turbulent recent history, going back to its days as a Faucett Inn outlet. Promisingly, it has recently reopened, once again under the management of Jimmy McGrath who ran the pub in the 1980s. He has a 20 year lease and plans to revert to running the pub in the way he did before but with the addition of food.
Exale Brewing have opened a tied house, the Three Colts Tavern in Bethnal Green. See the Brewery News column for more details.