Another lost brewery.

Another lost brewery.

by | Apr 11, 2024 | Community

Brew by Numbers

With the looming demise of the Meantime brewery from the borough of Greenwich it is regret that we have also lost another brewery from the borough and that is the Brew By Numbers brewery, which last December reported that they were leaving their riverside taproom and brewery at Morden Wharf.

Having moved production and its taproom from the Bermondsey Beer Mile at Enid Street in May 2023 to Morden Wharf, it closed the Bermondsey taproom but kept the brewing production and taproom the Greenwich taproom at Morden Wharf last December and now all production this year will be going up North.


I used to love the beer festivals at the Morden Wharf site as it was the nearest yearly festival to me. Every weekend the taproom would be buzzing with people enjoying their beers and a pizza.


The Brew By Numbers which was originally based in Bermondsey and was founded by David Seymour and Tom Hutchings in 2011, and the Brewery became a mainstay component of the Bermondsey Beer Mile.


Having been sold to a private equity company the, Breal Group last summer production has been moved to the Black Sheep brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire. The Black sheep is another brewery that the Breal Group bought in May 2023.


Like the Meantime brewery, beers will still be produced under their brand name but will now have no connection to whatsoever to its London origins.
Having worked for a few companies that were bought out by private equity companies, I can state that it is never in the interest of the workers that make up the company.


First they strip the company down to the bare minimum, starting with the staff then the equipment then the premises. Text book action that has happened to Meantime, Brick and Brew by Numbers.

All that is left is a recipe and a brand name that is as valuable as the original company, that has now disappeared.
I suppose if the company is going under it’s always best to sell up, rather than go bankrupt and have a massive debt hanging over your head for years to come.


The craft beer and real ale brewing businesses were experiencing a boom time just a few years ago but what with the state of the economy and the cost of living crisis, many brewers are struggling and many are going under.
Another factor is as a result of the boom times we now have an over saturated craft beer market, and a shrinking customer base that is not drinking as much due to multiple increases in the prices.
The Brew By Numbers said they were hit hard by increased material costs following on from the pandemic.


Another brewery, the Brick Brewery which was founded in Peckham by Ian and Sally Stewart in 2013, also went into administration at the same time that the Brew By Numbers brewery went into administration and both breweries were saved by being bought up by the Breal Group, and production will also go to Masham, North Yorkshire.


While trying to find out more about the Breal group you will find it very hard. They have a website but it tells you absolutely nothing interesting or useful about the company, like what other companies it controls. Very cagey if you ask me.

Mural Wars

Mural Wars

by | Apr 7, 2024 | Business, Community, Uncategorized

Mural Wars

It has been going on for several weeks now, and it isn’t ending any time soon. The great Chip shop mural battle between an award-winning chip shop owner and the Ashburnham Triangle Conservation association, who enforce code of practice and legislation of the conservation area known as the Ashburnham Triangle. 

The owner of the Golden Chippy, in Greenwich High Road, Mr Chris Kanizi, has commissioned a painted mural advertising his business on the side of his property, and it would appear that a few people in the area have taken umbrage with his mural, and have reported him to the council. Any changes including painting murals on any property within the Ashburnham Triangle conservation area, must have pre-approved planning permission from Greenwich council. 

He should have known this as he previously put up an adverting hoarding against his shop a number of years ago, and was ordered to remove it by the council for the very same reason, 

Because the mural features a fish holding a Union Jack flag next to a bag of chips, with the words ‘A Great British Meal’ it has caused unnecessary racist anger, and stupid reactions from people who love to go through the internet looking for racist clickbait in order to find something to be angry about. 

As soon as a mural with the British flag was ordered to be removed by the council after it had been reported by someone, then the witch hunt for the woke lefty antagonists was on. 

Chris Kanizi the Cypriot owner of the Golden Chippy has vowed to oppose the council order to remove if and he has backing and support from many of his neighbours. 

One or two said it was a tacky eyesore, but most supported him. 

When you consider that while this mural battle was going on in Greenwich another artist who describes himself as a political street graffiti artist going by the name of Banksy, throws green paint over the side of a council owned building, Christie Court in Finsbury Park without the residents of the building knowing about it, and what happens? 

The council there cover the side of the building with plastic sheeting and cover the grass area beneath it with hoardings to protect it. 

What would happen if Banksy defaced the side of a building within the Ashburnham Triangle area. 

Come on Banksy give it a go and let’s see what happens.  

UPDATE: As an update regarding this mural, in late September 2024 the owner of the fish shop, Mr Kanizi applied for planning permission belatedly for the mural, but permission from the council was denied. It looks like the latest mutual will have to come down after all.

Meantime Brewery

Meantime Brewery

by | Mar 16, 2024 | Business, Uncategorized

Meantime Brewery.

At one time the Meantime brewery was poised to be a long lasting Greenwich success story, bringing back long dead and forgotten recipes of beers brewed long ago.

With their Meantime lagers, stouts and my favourite, their Yakima Red ale they were, and still are to some extent an omnipotent present all over London.

The meantime brewery started with small, humble and local routes in a lock up opposite Charlton Athletic football ground in 1999 by a man called Alistair Hook, who studied brewing at the Technical University of Munich.

Eventually production levels facilitated the need to move to bigger premises, so production was relocated to what is now the Old Brewery pub within the Old Naval College grounds.

Eventually even this location was not big enough, so a new brewery was built in 2010 on it’s present location in Blackwall Lane.

In 2015 the Meantime brewery was bought up by the South African multinational brewing company SAB Miller, but apart from a small part of the production being temporarily moved to the Dutch brewery Grolsh to keep up with the demand for their beers. The vast bulk of the production remained at Greenwich.

In 2016 the Belgium brewery giant Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NA or AB InBev for short bought up SAB Miller, but one clause in the purchase contract meant that they had to sell off the Meantime Brewery.

The company that bought Meantime was the Japanese beer giant Asahi Group Holdings. You will often see Asahi beer sold in Fullers pubs as they bought Fullers in January 2019.

Unfortunately Under Asahi is where it all goes wrong. Not for Asahi, but for the borough of Greenwich and us amongst us that like a true rag to riches local success story.

The Meantime Brewery had two pubs and a taproom in Greenwich. There was the Old Brewery, where for a while they brewed their beers, then there was the Greenwich Union in Royal Hill, which was next door to the Richard the first pub, which is a Youngs pub, and finally you had the taproom attached to the Brewery on Blackwall Lane.

The Old Brewery and the Greenwich Union were sold to the Youngs brewery. The Old Brewery still displays the old brewing equipment used in it’s brewing days when Meantime owned it but the equipment is not used for production anymore.

The Greenwich Union Pub was closed and the pubs internal walls knocked down so the old Greenwich Union pub became part of an expanded Richard the First pub.

They still have the taproom in Blackwall Lane but a recent announcement in March 2024 has delivered devastating news and will see the end of Meantime brewing in Greenwich.

Asahi has stated that the Meantime Brewery in Blackwall Lane will be closed and production of all the Meantime beers will be moved to the Fullers Brewery at Chiswick.

So, there you have it a wonderful Greenwich business success story, ruined by multinational corporations who have no understanding and just don’t care about local history or business and the lost to the local community, economy and jobs.

So now the once great Meantime Brewery of Greenwich have now lost their pubs, lost their brewery and now are just a brand name, to be bought and sold and moved to any brewery As long as the brand name keeps selling then the beers will keep being produced and sold, which I suppose is a plus.

Kind of reminds me of another great London brewing entrepreneurial success stories of the 1980’s called the Firkin brewery and pubs chain. Started by a man called David Bruce, the Firkin company  was also swallowed up and destroyed by the beer industry big boys, and now no  longer exists.

Lets just hope that they don’t start tweaking with the recipe or quality of these great beers.

I know that if I was one of these brewers and a multination company waved millions of pounds under my nose, I know I would also buckle under and accept it. Money is money at the end of the day, and we all want it. It’s just a pity it will affect local jobs and take with it a successful local brewery.

New Pubs

New Pubs

by | Mar 2, 2024 | Business, Pub

New Pubs

Back in October I blogged about a new pub that was opening in Powis street Woolwich,  called the Volunteer.  According to the Murky Depths website (  Murky Depths – News and views in London (fromthemurkydepths.co.uk)  permission was given the go ahead for Antic pubs to develop the building way back in 2014 and again in 2017 but they just sat on it and did nothing.

In 2023 new permission was given to develop it again and since then we have been waiting for it to open but still nothing.

Unfortunately, due to an updating mistake and lost data that blog was lost.

Since they had to close one of the better pubs The Woolwich Equitable in General Gordon Place which was owned by Antic pubs but closed due to rent arrears after the pandemic, we have been waiting for a new decent Woolwich pub to open.

Antics have 23 pubs running throughout London and another 4 waiting to finally open, but they have either sold or closed 20 pubs and some of them were pretty good pubs selling real ales.

A pub in waiting. The soon to open Volunteer pub 

If like me, you want to keep updated with the glacial rate at which this place is to open then go to the Volunteers website:  Welcome – The Volunteer (volunteerpub.co.uk)

Another Antic pub due to open soon just up the road in Plumstead is The Plumble which will be housed in 236 Plumstead High Street, next door to what used to be up until 2008 a pub called the Horse and Groom but is now an African church.

Up until 2012 there was another pub next to the other side of the African church called the Electric Orange. So years later we are getting one pub back after loosing two next door to the future pub, The Plumble.

Another new pub being planned for the Greenwich based river front location at the Cutty Sark  in what used to house Byron Burgers and Frankie and Benny’s, and has laid empty for a number of years now.

It will be called The Ship, and is a business venture between the owner of The Trafalgar Tavern, American businessman Frank Dowling who owns a number of restaurants and bars in the Greenwich centre area and a number of other investors.

Given it’s prime location by Greenwich Pier and in the middle of a popular tourist area with great River Thames views it should be a success.

Blackheath Tunnel closure

by | Mar 2, 2024 | Trains, Travel

Blackheath Tunnel closure.

 More Greenwich train line frustration which will affect anyone going to Blackheath, Lewisham, St Johns and New Cross station.

according to the Greenwich Wire website: Homepage – The Greenwich Wire

From the 1st June until 11th August the 175 year old Blackheath tunnel will be closed for repairs and maintenance due to major tunnel leakage.

Anyone wishing to get to Lewisham or Blackheath will have to go to Greenwich and change onto the DLR to Lewisham and travel onwards to St Johns and New Cross or travel back from Lewisham to Blackheath.

A better way to Lewisham or Blackheath would be to get the 380 bus service from Charlton to Blackheath and Lewisham.

Luckily the work is being carried out during the Summer holidays when the kids will not be at school so the buses should not be packed with screaming kids making your journey a living nightmare, and the traffic shouldn’t so bad then.