Cover photo: the Windmill in Mitcham is a friendly community local facing Mitcham Common, featuring stained glass windmills in its attractive bow-windows. It is owned by the same company as the nearby Burn Bullock. The Burn Bullock, an imposing Grade II-listed building, closed as a pub in 2009 and was badly damaged by fire in April 2024. Local residents have been agitating for Merton Council to take action because they are concerned that the structure will seriously deteriorate in the winter weather. The council say that, along with Historic England, they ‘continue to push the owner to take action’. This has however been the situation for some years now. This could yet be south west London’s version of the Crooked House saga.
Baxter’s Court in Mare Street, Hackney is a distinctive red brick pub built into an infill site. It was originally a J D Wetherspoon pub, opened in 2003, but it changed hands last November. It is now called the D C Lion, which is the name of the pub and hotel company that owns it. It is still serving cask beer.
Once the Catford Conservative Club then a pub called the Catford Constitutional, the premises have now reopened as Catford House. The site has been renovated by a community organisation, the Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA), and is now a pub and community hub. It has six handpumps, offering beer from Portobello Brewery plus guests. Portobello also helped with the restoration work, having been chosen from a shortlist of ten breweries in a tendering process. Parts of the building are of Georgian origin, dating back to the 1700s.
Dorset brewers Hall & Woodhouse have announced that they are to open a new café bar and restaurant in Brentford called the Dock House. It will be part of the Workhouse Dock development near to the marina and will open late spring/early summer.
In the last edition I mentioned that there were new developers working on the Hero of Switzerland in Loughborough Junction. This was a misunderstanding and I apologise for any confusion caused. That said, the main point, that the pub has been closed for five years with no apparently activity, stands.
Shepherd Neame have completed a £1.8 million refurbishment of the historic Hoop & Grapes in Farringdon Street. The pub will reopen in February. This is the latest in a programme of refurbishments to their London estate. The Grade II-listed building was originally a five-storey house, built around 1720 for a vintner, but was converted into a pub in 1832. It closed in 2019 to allow for the area around it, once the St Bride’s burial ground, to be totally redeveloped. The photographs (which may be enhanced) gives a good idea of how the site has changed. The pub has drinking areas on the ground and first floors, with a private ‘piano room’ available on the third floor. The new pub sign shows a wedding scene from the 17th century, alluding to the time when the pub was used for illicit ‘Fleet Marriages’. With thanks to Shep’s for the photographs.
An interesting situation is developing with the mock Tudor Pensbury Arms in South Lambeth. It was being used as a motorcycle shop without the necessary permission. Lambeth Council refused a retrospective application for a change of use and the Planning Inspectorate has now dismissed the owners’ appeal against their refusal. It now remains to be seen what enforcement action the Council takes. The local CAMRA branch is monitoring the situation.
Very sadly, the operator of the Queen of the South in Tulse Hill, the Village People pub company, has not been able to raise the required £500,000 to buy the freehold from Young’s and the pub ceased trading in December. The pub had become known for its music, food and community events. It remains to be seen what Young’s will do with the premises, which came into their ownership when they acquired the City Pub Company in 2024.
Twickenham Fine Ales have decided to end their involvement with the Rifleman, a late-Victorian former beer housein Twickenham. A meeting of local residents was held in December and they are hoping to put together a plan to run the pub. Watch this space.
Devotees were shocked when, just before the New Year, it was announced that Ryan’s Bar in Stoke Newington Church Street was to close. No explanation was given and there was concern locally as to what would happen to this Grade II-listed former draper’s shop dating from the 19th century. A pub since the 1980s, it had operated as Ryan’s for 32 years. Happily, all looks well. It is to be reopened by new owners as the Mary Wollstonecraft Freehouse. The name honours the writer, philosopher and women’s rights activist, best known for her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She lived nearby in Newington Green.
A clarification. What was formerly Simpsons Tavern will be known as Cloth Cornhill when it reopens later this year. They cannot continue the use of the Simpsons name for legal reasons.
The ACV moratorium in respect of the sale of the Olde Swiss Cottage expires on 8 February. Despite making considerable efforts, it looks as if the Belsize Society will not be able to raise the funds to buy the property or find anyone willing to operate it as a community local. It has been valued at between £3.6 and £4.2 million. London property prices are always going to be a problem for projects like this. We wait to see what will happen now.
There have been promising developmentsin the long running story of the White Swan in Charlton Village. The pub closed in 2020, having been acquired by developers Mendoza Ltd. Several attempts to convert it to residential use and/or a supermarket happily came to nothing, although the pub has fallen into disrepair. Now a local group, White Swan Music and Arts (WSMA), is attempting to raise the funds to buy the pub, refurbish it and return it to community use, with arts and music spaces on the upper floors. Any profits would be used to sponsor young musicians. To begin with, WSMA have launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise the deposit of £360,000. One prominent supporter of the campaign is Glenn Tilbrook of the band Squeeze who still lives in the area. He remembers the importance of performing in pubs when he and one time bandmate Jools Holland were starting out. We wish them every success.