{"id":5930,"date":"2025-11-26T12:59:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T12:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5930"},"modified":"2026-01-26T16:11:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:11:38","slug":"pub-news-november-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/11\/26\/pub-news-november-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Pub news – November 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u25ca <\/strong>Once a haunt of the Sloane Rangers, the Admiral Codrington<\/a><\/strong> in Chelsea has reopened after a three-month refurbishment.\u00a0 Originally a Charrington\u2019s pub, it has now changed operator from Butcombe Brewery (formerly the Liberation Group) to the Inda Pub Company.\u00a0 This is their tenth pub.\u00a0 The unusual five-sided pub sign depicts the Admiral, who successfully led the British fleet in 1827 against the Turks at the Battle of Navarino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u25ca<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Somewhat unexpectedly, the Black Bull<\/a><\/strong> in King Street, Hammersmith is to be reopened.\u00a0 This 1960s estate pub closed in 2018 when its licence was suspended.\u00a0 The site has now been purchased by a local hotel company.\u00a0 There were objections from local residents to the renewal of the licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u25ca <\/strong>The Exale Brewery from Walthamstow have converted a former pie and mash shop in Dalston into their fourth pub, the Black Eel<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The shop is Grade II listed and its original tiled frontage and doorway mosaic, dating from 1862, have been preserved.\u00a0 It will serve food but Mediterranean style rather than pie and mash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u25ca <\/strong>I am pleased to report that two of the pubs that were recently closed by BrewDog have reopened under new management and both selling cask beer.\u00a0 The Bird House Brewery have taken over the site in Goldhawk Road, Shepherds Bush, renaming it the Bush Tavern<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The site in Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, the Queen Charlotte<\/a><\/strong>, has been reopened by the partnership that recently reopened the Blue Maid in the Borough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u25ca <\/strong>The imposing Grade II-listed Cauliflower Hotel<\/a><\/strong> in Ilford closed in July 2018 following a fire.\u00a0 There have been various plans for it in the meantime but now it has reopened as a \u2018fine dining restaurant and lounge\u2019 called 553 London.\u00a0 The ground floor will be a restaurant with a lounge and bar space on the first floor, featuring live music and entertainment.\u00a0 It will serve alcohol and Halal food in order to cater for all of the local communities.\u00a0 With thanks to Colin Price for the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u25ca<\/strong><\/a> In August, there were concerns as to what might happen to Coombe Lodge<\/a><\/strong>, a large, Grade II-listed Georgian house being used as a Beefeater restaurant, when owners Whitbread announced that it was to close.\u00a0 It was one of 38 Beefeater outlets, estimated value \u00a338 million, that Whitbread were planning to dispose of.\u00a0 Given how many outlets in Croydon that they have closed, it came as a surprise when JD Wetherspoon announced that they had acquired the site and would reopen it as a pub, provisionally on 10 December.\u00a0 It is in the Lloyd Park area of Croydon which, JDW say, \u2018has retained much of its rural character\u2019.\u00a0 The site features a large conservatory and huge beer garden.\u00a0 All credit to JDW for taking on the care of another historic building.\u00a0 The Lloyd Park Tramlink stop is reasonably close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u25ca <\/strong>After much delay, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery<\/strong> in Covent Garden is now due to open on Thursday, 11 December.\u00a0 The 54,000 sq-ft site will include, among other features, a tasting room, two restaurants and a ‘pour your own pint’ experience.\u00a0 There will also be a microbrewery producing a rotating range of limited-edition beers although not the \u2018Black Stuff\u2019 itself.\u00a0 A large outdoor seating area will be available for cultural events.\u00a0 Guinness merchandise will also be on sale from two stores.\u00a0 The address is Old Brewer’s Yard, 1 Mercer Walk.\u00a0 If you are in the area, a visit to the Porterhouse<\/a> in Maiden Lane may be an interesting \u2018compare and contrast\u2019.\u00a0 Their house beers are served under gas pressure but are unpasteurised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>This is a sad story but a fairly common one, given our planning system.\u00a0 <\/strong>The Hero of Switzerland<\/a><\/strong> at Loughborough Junction closed in 2020 after developers acquired the freehold and secured planning permission to replace the two-storey 1950s estate pub with a 13-storey tower.\u00a0 This was to have included a replacement pub. \u00a0It is part of the Loughborough Estate, which was built in an area badly damaged by bombing and the pub itself, popular with the \u2018Young British Artists\u2019 movement in the 1990s, was a replacement for one built around 1850.\u00a0 Very little appeared to have happened until this September when a new set of developers applied to Lambeth Council to vary the terms of the original permission.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the pub just stands there, rotting behind some hoardings.\u00a0 This should not be allowed to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>London has a mead pub!\u00a0 Peckham-based Gosnells Drinks have taken over the wonderfully named John the Unicorn<\/a><\/strong> in Peckham Rye.\u00a0 It is their second outlet after their bar in Bermondsey and closer to home. They describe their products as \u2018honey nectars; sociable-ABV sparkling drinks inspired by the craft beer and mead\u2019, which are \u2018100% natural, gluten free and sustainably produced\u2019.\u00a0 They are available in cans and on draught.\u00a0 The pub\u2019s name comes from the favourite toy of a previous manager\u2019s daughter and no-one has had the heart to change it.\u00a0 The pub was previously operated by Antic and then Portobello Pubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca<\/strong> Some encouraging news.\u00a0 It has been revealed that the new owner of McGlynn\u2019s Free House<\/a> <\/strong>in St Pancras is the artist Peter Doig, whose studio is nearby.\u00a0 A planning application has been submitted for works to reinstate some original features of the Grade II-listed building and preserve its \u2018special architectural and historic interest\u2019, along with some improvements to ensure that it can \u2018continue to function as a viable public house\u2019.\u00a0 If you would like to find out more about Mr Doig, there was a very good feature on him in the Observer<\/em> (12 October).\u00a0 He also currently has an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>There is no further news of the Olde Swiss Cottage<\/a><\/strong> beyond it being up for sale.\u00a0 Local residents\u2019 groups are still on the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>Further to Mike Goldwater\u2019s article in the previous edition, there is news of the Railway Hotel<\/a><\/strong>, a fine piece of Brewer\u2019s Tudor in Edgware.\u00a0 A proposal has been put forward whereby the pub, which is near derelict, will be fully restored, paid for by a housing development on the land behind.\u00a0 The plans are still at the consultation stage and, if approved, would not see the pub reopen for some years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>Good news and bad news.\u00a0 Readers will recall that London\u2019s oldest chophouse (founded 1757), Simpson’s Tavern<\/a><\/strong> in Cornhill, closed in 2022 because of a rent dispute with the freeholders arising from the pandemic.\u00a0 The original management tried very hard both to dispute the claim and to raise enough money to pay what they did owe but now, it seems, without success.\u00a0 The Grade II-listed premises are to reopen but under the management of a nearby restaurant called Cloth.\u00a0 They say that they will preserve its \u2018ancient look\u2019 but I suspect that they are unlikely to offer cask beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca <\/strong>The London Brewing Company has taken over the Three Lords<\/a><\/strong> in the Minories near Tower Hill.\u00a0 Formerly a Young\u2019s pub, it was closed by the then current operators in July.\u00a0 See the entry in this edition\u2019s pub information update for more information and an explanation of the name. \u00a0It should be open by the time that you read this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>For reports on the Marlborough<\/a><\/strong> in Mayfair and the Trafalgar<\/a><\/strong> on the King\u2019s Road, please see this edition\u2019s pub information update<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u25ca Once a haunt of the Sloane Rangers, the Admiral Codrington in Chelsea has reopened after a three-month refurbishment.\u00a0 Originally a Charrington\u2019s pub, it has now changed operator from Butcombe… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5930","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\/5930","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5933,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions\/5933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}