{"id":6023,"date":"2026-01-26T16:12:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=6023"},"modified":"2026-01-26T16:12:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:12:51","slug":"pub-news-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/01\/26\/pub-news-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Pub news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cover photo<\/strong>: the Windmill<\/a> <\/strong>in Mitcham is a friendly community local facing Mitcham Common, featuring stained glass windmills in its attractive bow-windows.\u00a0 It is owned by the same company as the nearby Burn Bullock<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The Burn Bullock, an imposing Grade II-listed building, closed as a pub in 2009 and was badly damaged by fire in April 2024.\u00a0 Local residents have been agitating for Merton Council to take action because they are concerned that the structure will seriously deteriorate in the winter weather.\u00a0 The council say that, along with Historic England, they \u2018continue to push the owner to take action\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 This has however been the situation for some years now.\u00a0 This could yet be south west London\u2019s version of the Crooked House saga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Baxter\u2019s Court<\/strong> <\/a>in Mare Street, Hackney is a distinctive red brick pub built into an infill site.\u00a0 It was originally a J D Wetherspoon pub, opened in 2003, but it changed hands last November.\u00a0 It is now called the D C Lion, which is the name of the pub and hotel company that owns it.\u00a0 It is still serving cask beer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Once the Catford Conservative Club then a pub called the Catford Constitutional, the premises have now reopened as Catford House<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The site has been renovated by a community organisation, the Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA), and is now a pub and community hub.\u00a0 It has six handpumps, offering beer from Portobello Brewery plus guests.\u00a0 Portobello also helped with the restoration work, having been chosen from a shortlist of ten breweries in a tendering process.\u00a0 Parts of the building are of Georgian origin, dating back to the 1700s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dorset brewers Hall & Woodhouse have announced that they are to open a new caf\u00e9 bar and restaurant in Brentford called the Dock House<\/strong>.\u00a0 It will be part of the Workhouse Dock development near to the marina and will open late spring\/early summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last edition I mentioned that there were new developers working on the Hero of Switzerland<\/a><\/strong> in Loughborough Junction.\u00a0 This was a misunderstanding and I apologise for any confusion caused.\u00a0 That said, the main point, that the pub has been closed for five years with no apparently activity, stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shepherd Neame have completed a \u00a31.8 million refurbishment of the historic Hoop & Grapes<\/a><\/strong> in Farringdon Street.\u00a0 The pub will reopen in February.\u00a0 This is the latest in a programme of refurbishments to their London estate.\u00a0 The Grade II-listed building was originally a five-storey house, built around 1720 for a vintner, but was converted into a pub in 1832.\u00a0 It closed in 2019 to allow for the area around it, once the St Bride’s burial ground, to be totally redeveloped.\u00a0 The photographs (which may be enhanced) gives a good idea of how the site has changed.\u00a0 The pub has drinking areas on the ground and first floors, with a private \u2018piano room\u2019 available on the third floor.\u00a0 The new pub sign shows a wedding scene from the 17th century, alluding to the time when the pub was used for illicit \u2018Fleet Marriages\u2019.\u00a0 With thanks to Shep\u2019s for the photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An interesting situation is developing with the mock Tudor Pensbury Arms<\/a> <\/strong>in South Lambeth.\u00a0 It was being used as a motorcycle shop without the necessary permission.\u00a0 Lambeth Council refused a retrospective application for a change of use and the Planning Inspectorate has now dismissed the owners’ appeal against their refusal.\u00a0 It now remains to be seen what enforcement action the Council takes.\u00a0 The local CAMRA branch is monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Very sadly, the operator of the Queen of the South<\/a><\/strong> in Tulse Hill, the Village People pub company, has not been able to raise the required \u00a3500,000 to buy the freehold from Young\u2019s and the pub ceased trading in December.\u00a0 The pub had become known for its music, food and community events.\u00a0 It remains to be seen what Young\u2019s will do with the premises, which came into their ownership when they acquired the City Pub Company in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Twickenham Fine Ales have decided to end their involvement with the Rifleman<\/a>, <\/strong>a late-Victorian former beer housein Twickenham.\u00a0 A meeting of local residents was held in December and they are hoping to put together a plan to run the pub.\u00a0 Watch this space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devotees were shocked when, just before the New Year, it was announced that Ryan\u2019s Bar<\/a><\/strong> in Stoke Newington Church Street was to close.\u00a0 No explanation was given and there was concern locally as to what would happen to this Grade II-listed former draper\u2019s shop dating from the 19th century.\u00a0 A pub since the 1980s, it had operated as Ryan\u2019s for 32 years.\u00a0 Happily, all looks well.\u00a0 It is to be reopened by new owners as the Mary Wollstonecraft Freehouse<\/strong>. \u00a0The name honours the writer, philosopher and women’s rights activist, best known for her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman<\/em>.\u00a0 She lived nearby in Newington Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A clarification.\u00a0 What was formerly Simpsons Tavern<\/a><\/strong> will be known as Cloth Cornhill<\/strong> when it reopens later this year.\u00a0 They cannot continue the use of the Simpsons name for legal reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACV moratorium in respect of the sale of the Olde Swiss Cottage<\/a><\/strong> expires on 8 February.\u00a0 Despite making considerable efforts, it looks as if the Belsize Society will not be able to raise the funds to buy the property or find anyone willing to operate it as a community local.\u00a0 It has been valued at between \u00a33.6 and \u00a34.2 million.\u00a0 London property prices are always going to be a problem for projects like this.\u00a0 \u00a0We wait to see what will happen now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been promising developmentsin the long running story of the White Swan<\/a><\/strong> in Charlton Village.\u00a0 The pub closed in 2020, having been acquired by developers Mendoza Ltd.\u00a0 Several attempts to convert it to residential use and\/or a supermarket happily came to nothing, although the pub has fallen into disrepair.\u00a0 Now a local group, White Swan Music and Arts (WSMA), is attempting to raise the funds to buy the pub, refurbish it and return it to community use, with arts and music spaces on the upper floors.\u00a0 Any profits would be used to sponsor young musicians.\u00a0 To begin with, WSMA have launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise the deposit of \u00a3360,000.\u00a0 One prominent supporter of the campaign is Glenn Tilbrook of the band Squeeze who still lives in the area.\u00a0 He remembers the importance of performing in pubs when he and one time bandmate Jools Holland were starting out.\u00a0 We wish them every success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover photo: the Windmill in Mitcham is a friendly community local facing Mitcham Common, featuring stained glass windmills in its attractive bow-windows.\u00a0 It is owned by the same company as… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covery-story","category-news","category-pub-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023","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=6023"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6031,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions\/6031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}