Gypsy Moth Refurb

by | Jan 27, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

Gypsy Moth Refurbishment

Some of you may have noticed that the Gypsy Moth pub next to the Cutty Sark is closed and has been since the 6th January 2025.

The pub is undergoing a refurbishment and should be reopening on Thursday the 6th February 2025.

I remeber the last time this pub went through with a refurbishment and suddenly when it reopened the prices had increased substantially. Let’s hope this does not happen this time. It’s a tourist pub already with extotionate beer prices. 

 

Plum Tree Beer Shop update

by | Jan 22, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

Plum Tree Beer Shop update (22 Jan 2025).

I should have updated this earlier but I’ve been a bit busy lately.

The Plum Tree Beer Shop has closed for good, unfortunately, and the owners are moving to Dorset. It would appear that the whole situation got out of hand when they tried to expand the business by installing a deli in the shop,  but the deli failed as a business and started draining their finances. Their landlords reluctantly were forced to go through with repossession by their banks, who wanted their mortgage repayments. There may be a bit of good news though. They are looking for a buyer for the beer shop, so maybe,  just maybe, the place may be saved at the last minute if someone is interested in purchasing the business.

I never got to review this place. I hope it is saved so I can review it with the new management. From what I’ve read it had quite a loyal customer base.

Another bit of bad pub news is that the Anglesea Arms in nearby Woolwich has also closed its doors for the last time.

 

 

 

New Indian Restaurant

by | Jan 10, 2025 | Business, Community, Eating Out, Restaurant

New Indian Restaurant.

Whilst once again sitting in the River Ale House, in Woolwich  Road I noticed that just across the road as new restaurant and bar had been opened.

It is an Indian restaurant and going from reviews dates it has been opened for a few month now.

The name Jatt and Juliet seems to be named after a successful Bollywood film franchise  that at the moment is up to Jatt and Juliet 3.

The ratings are all 5 stars from 57 reviews.  This I find suspicious especially  when a lot of the reviews  are from people with the surnames of Singh, Kaur and Grewal.

I will have to reserve  judgement  until I do a review of this place.

This place used to be a Turkish restaurant  called ‘The Charcoal Meze House’ that also got a constant 5 star rating and I was also suspicious about those ratings too, until I actually went there with the wife and found it to be truly deserving of its constant  5 star rating. The food was excellent  and The detail to service  from the owners was second to none.

Unfortunately like a lot of businesses the Covid pandemic happened and the business could not survive the lockdowns and other forced business  constraints put on them at the time, the restaurant  closed and later became a pizzeria restaurant called Amore and Sapore, which also only lasted a few years.

Lets hope this place is a success and lasts longer. 

 

 

More Pub Closures

by | Jan 7, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

More Greenwich Pub Closures.

Well, here we go again, as soon as you think there is going to be a revival or restoration of pubs in the London borough of Greenwich, expectations come crumbling down, recently we have lost the 300 Bar in Creek Road, and the Star of Greenwich in  Greenwich Park Street.

The Star of Greenwich was one pub that I wanted to succeed in as it was a Community pub run by the community for the community but it was unable to get a deal for £50K in rent arrears by their landlords, Greenwich Hospital,  which operates independently but is overseen by the Ministry of Defence. I hope this pub can come back in some form that is similar to the Star of Greenwich community mindset.

We also have two pubs planned to open this year but after Antic Pubs again got into financial difficulties, they will not see the light of day. They were the planned Volunteer in Powis Street and the Plumble on Plumstead High Street. Unfortunately, after Antic was saved from administration they had to sell off 10 pubs to the ‘Urban Pubs and Bars group’ the two long-awaited new pubs were quietly side-lined and forgotten about. I don’t know if Antic or Urban Pubs and Bars own the lease to these two properties now.

The good news is that according to the Murky Depths website, there are signs that the Gun Pit in Woolwich may have been resurrected and may in future be opening again, as a hotel rather than another hostel.

Another bit of bad news is the forced closure of the Plum Tree Beer Shop on Plumstead Common Road, which although they class themselves as a beer shop is a micropub by any other definition. Unfortunately, they have had to close due to outstanding issues with their landlord. They say they will give everyone an update next week. Let’s hope this is just a temporary closure and they will be back in business soon.

 

 

 

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.