On 1 October 2023, in my capacity as pub protection officer for CAMRA’s South East London branch, I presented the Fellowship Inn (Randlesdown Road, Bellingham) with a letter of congratulation for being selected for inclusion in the latest edition of the Good Beer Guide. It was, however, something of an unusual occasion because the pub closed down the very same day.
This unique pub has had a chequered history. Originally built in 1923/24 as part of the Bellingham Estate, the pub is one of London’s biggest. As well as having two large wood-panelled bars, which have hardly changed since the pub was built, there is also a rare example of a publican’s office, a large rear lounge, and, on a lower level, a theatre-cum-dance-hall and an off-sales shop. The Fellowship is on CAMRA’s National Inventory of pubs with important historic interiors (two star).
Built in the mock Tudor style by F G Newnham, house architect of brewers Barclay Perkins and Co, the predecessors of Courage Brewery, for many years it sold Best and Directors. In the 1990s, however, the pub dropped off CAMRA’s radar because it no longer served real ale. In the 2000s, Greene King IPA occasionally made a less than thrilling appearance. Several rooms fell into a state of disrepair over the years, to such a degree that it was no longer safe to allow members of the public to have access to them.
The pub, along with the nearby Green Man, was acquired by the Phoenix Housing Group, who own the Bellingham estate. They demolished the Green Man and it was feared that the Fellowship would meet the same fate. However, on behalf of the CAMRA South East London, I submitted an application to English Heritage (now renamed Historic England) seeking to get this important building statutorily listed.
Acknowledging that the pub was a ‘remarkably complete example of an inter-war public house’, English Heritage awarded it a Grade II listing. Subsequently Phoenix Housing drew up extensive plans to revive the pub and these so impressed the Lottery Fund board that they awarded a substantial grant of £3.8 million. The future looked bright.
The pub was closed while work was carried out but it re-opened in 2017, with other parts of the building also brought back into community use, functioning as a cinema, a café, and, upstairs, workshops for local young musicians.
Since September 2022 the Fellowship has been run by Homegrown Pubs, who also run the Carlton Tavern in Kilburn (NW6 5EU), which was legendarily illegally demolished and then rebuilt. They have been serving a variety of real ales in excellent condition, including regular beers from Anspach & Hobday, but, after a year of trading, they closed the pub, citing the tough economic climate and inflationary costs as the reasons. The search is now on to find another pub operator.
Neil Pettigrew
Stop Press: just as this was about to go to print, I received this cheering message from Tom Rees, one of the directors of Homegrown Pubs, “We’re currently seeking a way we can reopen the pub and are engaging with local stakeholders to do so. The cost of living crisis has been mirrored by a ‘cost of doing business’ crisis and whilst the barrier for being able to trade independent pubs has been raised, we are still hopeful we can hurdle it with some creative solutions. We hope to be pouring locals a beer to celebrate Christmas!”
Historical note: built on the former Bellingham Farm by the London County Council in 1919 to 1923, Bellingham was one of the second batch of cottage estates, so called because they consisted of two-storey terraced houses rather than blocks of flats. 2,673 dwellings were built on the 252 acre site, housing 12,000 people. Although the building of cottage estates had begun at the turn of the 20th century, primarily for slum clearance purposes, later ones, built under the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, were the ‘homes fit for heroes’ promised after the First World War. Shops and pubs were specifically included in the plans.