{"id":4007,"date":"2023-11-24T13:53:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T13:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=4007"},"modified":"2023-11-28T13:53:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T13:53:27","slug":"uncertain-future-for-fitzrovia-pubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2023\/11\/24\/uncertain-future-for-fitzrovia-pubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertain future for Fitzrovia pubs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Duke of York<\/a> in Fitzrovia is a proper locals\u2019 pub with a rich history. The pub\u2019s future was recently threatened however when the freeholder, Shaftesbury Capital, submitted a planning application<\/a> to redevelop the function room and manager\u2019s flat on the upper floors to residential use. Then, surprisingly, Shaftesbury announced that they were selling off their Fitzrovia portfolio of pubs and restaurants, including the pub, and the application has been withdrawn. The pub is however on a short lease, which means that its survival is by no means secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debi Sickelmore and Alan Monks have been landlords for over twenty years and are worried about the pub\u2019s future. When I meet them on a Saturday afternoon in early September, Debi told me that they were getting the upstairs bar and function room ready for the funeral wake for one of their long-standing customers who loved the pub.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The function room<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Debi added, \u201cThe function room is open to all and is in continual use and it would be a massive loss to the community if it were to go<\/em>.\u201d The pub hosts charity quiz nights and has a varied mix of customers. They also serve a selection of cask ales. I had Exeter Brewing Ltd.\u2019s Avocet on my visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pub has a history. Major Alfred Klein, \u2018Honest Alf\u2019, (pictured right), the last of the real publicans, was landlord from 1938 to 1964. He used to snip customer\u2019s ties and put them behind the bar! Debi and Alan showed me the area by the bar counter where he had his photo taken with his dog and they said the bar interior hasn\u2019t changed much since the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Major<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pub has an old school charm with a great atmosphere, soft lighting, traditional decor and a red patterned pub carpet. Famous customers over the years have included Rod Stewart and Jeffrey Bernard.
The nearby Wheatsheaf<\/a>, 25 Rathbone Place, is in a similar position, having the same freeholder and a short lease. A planning application<\/a> has also been registered to convert the upper floors, including the upstairs bar, to flats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne Scott<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Duke of York in Fitzrovia is a proper locals\u2019 pub with a rich history. The pub\u2019s future was recently threatened however when the freeholder, Shaftesbury Capital, submitted a planning… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4007","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\/4007","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4010,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions\/4010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}