Win some, lose some.

Win some, lose some.

by | Mar 5, 2023 | Pub

Win some, lose some.

Over the last few years, we have lost at least three pubs namely, The Vanbrugh, The White Swan and the Star and Garter and now we are about to gain two new ones. When I say we gain two new ones I actually mean we gain one new one and get back one that lost its licence in 2020 due to a particularly violent stabbing incident.

The formerly named pub the Star and Garter is set to reopen soon as the Star of Greenwich and run as a community-based pub rather than a commercial business enterprise and is at the moment trying to raise money in this endeavour by crowdfunding.

Their aim is to run the pub as a community pub run by east Greenwich people for east Greenwich people.

If you want to contribute to the crowdfunding then visit their website: The Star of Greenwich – Home

The other new pub is the new Wetherspoons pub at the O2 called the Stargazer which is planned to open on 21st March 2023.

The Wetherspoon business model has a bit of a bad reputation as well as the type of clientele that it attracts, which unfortunately includes me. I love the cheap prices (who doesn’t) as well as the large selection of beers and ales on offer.

Unfortunately, it can be noted that when a Wetherspoons opens near a well-established local the local struggles to compete against a giant like Wetherspoons and many go under.

There are a number of pubs in the O2 already that are charging a fairly high price for a pint of beer compared to Wetherspoons. The Observatory, a Nicholson’s pub, The Slug and Lettuce O2, an All Bar One and the O2 Blue Room. I’m sure they cannot be happy with their new neighbour.

Pub Bar
Lost train services

Lost train services

by | Dec 5, 2022 | Trains, Travel

Charing CrossLosing our Train services.

Here we go again, Transport for London (TfL) have decided that they need to give the commuter a better service by cutting a service that has worked perfectly fine for decades.

On the 11th of December we lose the direct Greenwich line trains to Charing Cross. Despite attempts by Greenwich council to reconsider the proposed plans TfL are going ahead and cutting the service anyway.

I personally have taken the service from Charlton to Charing Cross almost every workday for the last 4 years and the service was ideal for both me and my wife.

From the 11th December all trains on the Greenwich line will terminate at Cannon Street so If you want to get to Charing Cross you have to either change trains at London Bridge or take the Circle or District underground line from Cannon Street to the Embankment.

TfL tried to cut the Charing Cross Greenwich line service back in 2014 but was stopped after a big public backlash.

Many years ago, we even had a service on the Greenwich line to Victoria. A very slow service but a service none the less.

All this comes less than a year after they improved our very convenient bus service to Lewisham by redirecting the 180 bus route at Charlton to go to North Greenwich instead of Lewisham.

This is Charing Cross service cut is not only happening on the Greenwich line, but also on the Bexleyheath and Eltham line.

All I can say to TfL is please, please, please stop giving us a better service and leave our transport services alone. Stop patronising us by claiming it will give us a better service when it obviously will not.

Royal arsenal Summer Lates

Royal arsenal Summer Lates

by | Jun 3, 2021 | Community, Eating Out, Street Food

As stated in a previous post about the farmers market at Woolwich, the farmer market has now become more of a food festival rather than a place to buy organically produced raw fruit and vegetables, and now it would appear the organizers have come to realise this fact.

Starting this Saturday 5th June and repeating each first Saturday of the month throughout the summer period there will be on the same site a Street food festival along with live music, bars and other entertainment.

The weather is predicted to be fantastic this Saturday (but this could change) so the day should be a very, joyous, happy and entertaining event.

(See events calendar for dates and details)

Enderby House

Enderby House

by | Jun 2, 2021 | Eating Out, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Enderby House

It’s great to be able to go into a restaurant to sit down and drink again, even if the Covid restrictions still limit group numbers to 6 people, and you have to book in advance and are usually limited to one and a half hours, but normality is slowly being restored, despite the Indian variant possibly delaying total freedom even further.
Taking full advantage of the sunshine this Bank holiday Monday we booked a table at the fairly new Enderby House pub along the river by the Greenwich peninsular.
Check out my review of the Enderby House on the pub review section.

 

Win some, lose some.

Lockdown Easing

by | May 16, 2021 | Lockdown, Pub

Pub BarI do not know about you but personally I’m still finding this easing of lockdown still a bit hard to take.

I have tried a few times to sit down outside of a pub and have a drink as according to Boris Johnson we are all allowed to do now.
The trouble is its in the middle of May and to be frank the weather is absolutely appalling almost every day that I am not working and sitting in the pouring rain drinking a beer that is slowly being diluted with rainwater is not my idea of fun. On a lovely sunny day, it would be a different kettle of fish.

Also have you tried booking a table with a restricted number of tables outside at the few places that actually have an outside area or beer garden, to have any chance you have to book at least four to five days in advance, and even then, you are restricted to one and a half hours in which to order your beer drink up and leave. When I am in a large crowd of six or more, we could be there for at least three hours.

Tomorrow is May 17th and we should all be allowed back inside the pubs, but even this comes with problems. Still the obligatory table service must be adhered to, whereby you either give your order to a waiter or waitress and they bring your order to the table, or you order and pay with an app.

Either way an extra 12.5% is added to the bill to pay for the table service. Now I do not have a problem with this in the current climate as the pubs are being forced to work this way and so Someone has to pay for the waitering staff. This is a cost that the pubs can not afford to absorb as they have lost so much trade over the last year, that many are struggling to stay afloat at the moment, and I dare say that many will go under in the next month or two.

12.5% may not sound much but when you are already paying the extortionate London prices, the 12.5% can certainly be felt in the pocket on a good night out.