{"id":3836,"date":"2023-09-26T10:05:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T10:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3836"},"modified":"2023-09-27T09:32:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T09:32:26","slug":"pub-news-september-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2023\/09\/26\/pub-news-september-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Pub News – September 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The distinctive former Royal Oak in Barking has reopened as the Acorn<\/a><\/strong> after a long closure. Although it is owned by Greene King, who have funded a \u00a3400,000 refurbishment, it is operated by the Doolin Rock Pub Company and is their fourth site. The co-founders of Doolin Rock<\/a>, Colin Coogan and Austin Whelan, said in a Greene King press release, \u201cWe believe this pub has so much untapped potential and we look forward to establishing it as the pub to visit in Barking. We\u2019ve been very encouraged by Greene King\u2019s willingness to invest in the pub<\/em>.\u201d Phil Arnold, Operations Director for Greene King Pub Partners, said:<\/strong> \u201cOur \u00a3400,000 transformational investment in The Acorn has given this pub a new lease of life and exciting future.<\/em> It is great to be partnering with Colin and Austin \u2013 who are experienced and ambitious operators \u2013 to help them grow their pub business. Here\u2019s to an exciting future for the both of us!\u201d<\/em> Doolin Rock also runs the Prince of Wales<\/a> in Surbiton and the Derby<\/a> in Kennington. Mr Whelan is also involved with the Whelan\u2019s Pubs chain which operates ten pubs around London.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo (c) Greene King<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Baring Hall Hotel<\/a><\/strong> in Grove Park closed in 2009 following a fire and was, for a time, included on Historic Britain\u2019s Heritage at Risk register. It dates from 1882 and is seen as an important example of the \u2018improved public house\u2019. In 2011, following the refusal of an application to demolish it, concerned locals set up the Baring Trust and successfully secured Grade II listing as well as Asset of Community Value (ACV) registration. Their efforts have been rewarded. The pub has been purchased by well known and respected pub operator Garry Mallen. Mr Mallen commented, \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the Baring Hall Hotel has always had enormous potential as a pub. It is going to be quite a challenge getting the building up and running and we will have to do it in phases as it\u2019s a large project. But I am looking forward to the day that we can welcome our first customers through the doors<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Readers, will, I am sure, recall the case of the Carlton Tavern<\/a><\/strong> in Kilburn and its epic rebuilding in 2020 following its demolition without permission. The owners are now seeking planning permission to convert the first and second floors, which are currently just shells, into three residential apartments. This appears to have been the plan all along, having been allowed for when the design of the rebuild was agreed. The current operators, Homegrown Pubs and Bars Ltd, only have a lease on the ground and basement floors. They have submitted a letter of support which says, \u2018we support the proposals and see no reason why they should be refused. These works should not impact the pub\u2019s trading in any detrimental fashion. We believe these works can be broadly supportive of the long-term trading position of the pub alongside the benefits of the works to the amenity and security of the building in general\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I mentioned in the last edition that Shaftesbury Capital PLC had plans to convert the upper floors of two pubs in Fitzrovia, the Duke of York<\/strong> and the Wheatsheaf<\/strong>, into accommodation. It was however announced at the end of August that Shaftesbury are selling off all of their property holdings in Fitzrovia for a reported \u00a3100 million. They own a total of 28 hospitality premises in the area, plus a number of offices and flats. Shaftesbury\u2019s chief executive told the Propel Newsletter that the properties no longer met their investment criteria. We will have to wait and see what effect, if any, this has on the plans for these two pubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Works at the Fountain<\/a> <\/strong>in New Malden, started in 2018, have now been completed. A block of flats has been built on the car park but part of the original pub has been retained. It has however in effect been split in two, with the other half being available as a shop or restaurant. The pub is famous in south west London as the western terminus of the 152 bus. The developers did, at least, fund the rebuilding of the eponymous fountain in the middle of the adjacent roundabout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Harlesden Picture Palace<\/a><\/strong>, a former cinema, has been closed since 2017. It was once a Wetherspoon\u2019s (the Misty Moon) and was then taken over by Antic. The freehold was acquired by Brent Council in 2020 and they have now announced plans for a \u00a33.3 million renovation to turn it into a cultural history and community centre as part of their Black Community Action Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following its sale by Harcourt Inns, the Hero of Maida<\/a><\/strong> in Maida Vale has closed. The pub dates from 1878 and was originally the Shirland Hotel. It is understood that the new owners are the Public House Group, who operate the Pelican in Notting Hill. Their plans for the Hero of Maida are not yet known. For older readers, this was, of course, once the Truscott Arms with its ten handpumps.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A piece of history occurred on 13 August when the theatre at the Kings Head<\/a><\/strong> in Barnsbury closed. It had operated in the Grade II-listed Young\u2019s pub since 1970. Happily, this is good news because it is moving to a purpose built site in Islington Square which offers a 200 seat theatre and a 50 seat cabaret room. A spokesperson for Young\u2019s said, “We have loved our partnership over the years and wish the King’s Head Theatre every success in their new premises. We look forward to continuing to welcome our local community to the King’s Head<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Lady Hamilton <\/strong>in Kentish Town, previously the Camden Town Brewery outlet, Camden\u2019s Daughter, has closed. It was operated by McGrath, Davies Property Services who also operate the nearby Pineapple and Tapping the Admiral. They told the Camden New Journal that, having bought the pub in 2020 and invested heavily in it, they were immediately hit by the pandemic. Now, the closure of the nearby underground station for a year was \u2018the final nail\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the more odd cases of planning enforcement that is referred to in this edition\u2019s Introduction column. The Picture Palace<\/strong><\/a> in Ponders End originally opened as a cinema in 1913 and was a Wetherspoon\u2019s from 2001 until 2016, when it was sold as part of a package to Hawthorn Leisure. Its interior still retains some precious features from its days as a cinema. It closed earlier this year, leaving the area with only one other pub. It is now being converted into a restaurant. As explained in the Introduction, this requires planning permission. The fact that the Council happens to be the freehold owner does not change that. Instead the Council has however issued a Certificate of Lawful Development to cover what has happened. The local CAMRA branch, Enfield & Barnet, lodged a first stage complaint about this but this was rejected because the Council maintain that their ownership has no bearing on planning or enforcement functions. That somewhat misses the point. The complaint is being pursued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news! After much uncertainty over the last two years, the Trafalgar<\/a><\/strong> in South Wimbledon
reopened on 12 September. It is under the same management as before, although with a new partner on
board. The only disappointment is that, while the pub was recently being renovated, someone stole the large, very distinctive wall mounted pub sign.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The White Swan<\/a><\/strong>, an impressive building in Charlton Village, originally built as a hotel in 1889, closed in 2020. It has been the subject of a number of attempts at redevelopment by its owners, an Isle of Man based company called Mendoza. In March, Greenwich Council rejected an application to convert the upper floors into flats on the grounds that the works planned would affect the operation of the pub. Mendoza have now returned with revised plans which include converting and extending the upper floors into a larger number of flats and converting the ground floor into shop premises. There are rumours that Tesco have already inspected the site. For the previous application, Mendoza\u2019s agents had claimed that they had been unable find operators for the pub. This evidence came in for some criticism and was part of the reason for the application being refused. This time Mendoza\u2019s agents are saying, \u201cWe firmly believe that the transformation of the existing building into a mixed-use space, encompassing both residential and retail functions, will bring about positive changes to the area\u2019s assets. This conversion will not only introduce new employment opportunities and living spaces for potential renters or buyers but also enhance the overall wellbeing of the current residents in the vicinity<\/em>.\u201d I suspect that a lot of residents would rather enhance their wellbeing in a decent pub.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The distinctive former Royal Oak in Barking has reopened as the Acorn after a long closure. Although it is owned by Greene King, who have funded a \u00a3400,000 refurbishment, it… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pub-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3836"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3846,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions\/3846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}