Most of our pub news is given in brief in the pub information update column. In this column I highlight some cases that hopefully give a deeper insight into what is happening with our pubs.
Following speculation in the local press, the Alliance in West Hampstead, a popular community hub as well as a fine looking building, closed in July. There were reports on social media that it had been sold. This coincided with the expiry of the pub’s Asset of Community Value listing, which the West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum (NDF) are now hoping to renew. It was squatted for a while but was cleared in August and the site was robustly secured. It is still not clear what is to happen to the pub. It is owned by a property company. The lease is on the market for £100k p.a. via Goldstein Leig
I’m pleased to report that the Black Horse in High Barnet has reopened. Originally a coaching inn, dating from the 1720s, the pub closed in September 2025 because of financial difficulties. Until 2021 it had been the home of the Barnet Brewery. Three former regulars, who all live nearby, have set up a company called Barnet Community Pubs and have taken a lease on the pub from Star Pubs & Bars. It took some effort to get it into a fit state to open but they were helped by locals who wanted their pub back. Some 4,000 of them had previously signed a petition to save the pub.
Sadly however, Brendan Moore, who had been the brewer at the Barnet Brewery, passed away around the same time. He had originally been involved with the Iceni Brewery in Norfolk and was chair of SIBA’s East Region for some years.
The Boot & Flogger in Borough, London has been added to CAMRA’s National Inventory of historic pub interiors with one star in recognition of its timber interior, unchanged since the early 1970s. This includes a manager’s office, a long panelled main room divided by three partial partitions, snugs, display cabinets and a custom-made bar counter and bar-back. A wine bar operated by Davy’s since 1965, it does not sell either beer or spirits.
I haven’t reported on the China Hall in Rotherhithe in a while. The pub is owned by Hamna Wakaf Limited (HWL), a name not unknown on these pages. The upper storeys have long been converted into flats but the ground floor was to remain a pub. In 2022 however, HWL started work on converting the ground floor into two further flats. They did not have planning permission. Southwark Council became aware of this activity and ordered a halt. HWL then sought retrospective planning permission for the conversion, which Southwark’s Planning Committee refused. HWL appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in 2024 but this was also refused and the company was again ordered to reinstate the pub. The ground floor was vacated but nothing has since been done as regards the reinstatement. Southwark’s planning enforcement team are now looking to prosecute HWL for non-compliance. We may yet be some way from seeing the pub reopen but this is a vital step forward. In case you are wondering if it is worth the effort, it worked with the same owner in the case of the Old Justice nearby.
I mentioned in our April/May edition that the Coronet in Holloway, the former Wetherspoon’s converted cinema, had closed. It reopened without any publicity in the middle of August. The new operator, Florin Bogdan, told the Islington Tribune, “We’ve got a long-term vision to keep it for the local people. Ultimately, I believe that pubs are community hubs and that is what they have been forever. The baseline of these spaces is the community function that they offer.” The pub’s cask beer offering may be limited but, at least, it is open. Mr Bogdan also promised to maintain the pub’s fine interior.
Dorset based Hall & Woodhouse (Badger beers) have opened a new bar/café called the Dockhouse in the Brentford Project development (TW8 8GP) at a reported cost of £1.8 million. It will serve food (‘seasonal dining’) all day and features outdoor seating for 80 people overlooking the Grand Union canal where it joins the River Thames.
Once renowned as the first of David Bruce’s chain of Firkin pubs, the Duke of York near the Borough has been refurbished by current owners, Shepherd Neame. The work on the pub, which dates from around 1800, ‘emphasises the character and traditional features of the building’. Sheps are looking to run it as a traditional local where everyone is welcome. It serves both Thai and British food.
In another investment intheir portfolio of London pubs, Shepherd Neame are converting the former Todd’s Wine Bar in the basement of the Jamaica Wine House in the City into an ‘events-led clubhouse’. Among the events planned are live acoustic music, beer and wine tasting sessions and cocktail-making workshops. The space will also be available to hire for private events. The pub has a long history. One of London’s first coffee houses was established there in 1652, although that building perished in the Great Fire of London with the current one being built in 1885. It is Grade II listed.
Further to the report in our June/July edition, the application for retrospective planning permission at the Magdala in Hampstead was refused and so the owner must now return the first-floor function room, which he had illegally turned into accommodation, to its original use. Camden Council have said that they are prepared to take enforcement action if this does not happen. The operators, the Morgan Pub Company, have however said that use of the function room will be subject to staff and running costs. Meanwhile, the pub has had to shut because of an infestation. It has now reopened.
◊ What was previously Simpsons Tavern in the City of London will reopen in October, with bookings being taken from September. The traditional chophouse, dating from 1757 and Grade II listed, has been closed since 2022. It is now called Cloth Cornhill because the new owners, the proprietors of the nearby Cloth restaurant in Farringdon, do not have the rights to the Simpsons name. The extensively refurbished site will open for lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday. The ground floor grill remains, along with a pub, Amy’s Bar, which interestingly, given recent controversy, will be standing-room only. There will be cask beer. The main restaurant is on the first floor and two private dining rooms have been added.
Many readers will remember the Water Poet in Spitalfields, which closed in 2019. Its replacement, as part of the Norton Folgate development, is a pub called Kong that will specialise in all-day Chinese food. It is being run by two well known restaurateurs, including a co-founder of the Dishoom group. It is scheduled to open in the autumn.
◊ I know that Manchester is a popular drinking destination for many London drinkers and so many of you will be sad to learn that Nancy Swanick, the legendary landlady of the iconic Peveril of the Peak, has passed away. Nancy, who had run the pub since 1971, was 96. Threatened with demolition in the 1980s for road widening, the pub has a striking green tiled exterior, is Grade II listed and rates three stars on CAMRA’s National Inventory. Nancy’s family have been helping out in recent years and it is hoped that they will continue to run the pub.
