The missing Irish element

The missing Irish element

by | Mar 14, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub, Uncategorized

 

The missing Irish element

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Well, here we are,  it’s almost St Patrick’s day. Unfortunately, Greenwich is missing two vital establishments essential in celebrating St Paddy’s day: a good, genuine Irish pub.

Greenwich, up until last year, had just two Irish pubs. It now has none.

I’m not suggesting for one minute that St. Paddy’s Day can not be celebrated in anything but an Irish pub, but the atmosphere would just not be the same.

Sticking on a green foam hat and strongly pushing Guinness as the only thing that should be drunk that night doesn’t cut it.

In June last year, the bailiffs took repossession of the Old Gun Pit in  Woolwich, which was touted as Southeast London’s oldest Irish pub and is currently being refurbished and awaiting reopening.

Last month, reconstruction also started on Hardy’s Free House in Trafalgar Road to upgrade the bar to a restaurant and increase the capacity of its hotel section by building upwards.

Both these establishments are the only Irish pubs in the Borough of Greenwich, and both are, at the moment, undergoing major building works.

When they reopen, there is no guarantee that they will still be Irish pubs.

The make-up of any pub is directed in part by its clientele. If the old regular Irish clientele returns, then the pub will be re-established as an Irish pub. If the pubs are trying to push for a rather upmarket clientele, then the old regulars will not return, and they will end up like other touristy places throughout the borough, charging overpriced drinks to people who have more money than sense.

To be fair, neither of these pubs is within a catchment area for tourists, so I’m fairly confident that the Irish influence will still prevail at both pubs but in nicer surroundings, and I hope this time next year they will both be celebrating St Paddy’s Day.

I never got the chance to do a pub review on the Old Gun Pit, but I have done a review on the Hardy, so after they reopen and clientele adjustment has settled, I will do an update review on this pub and review on the Old Gun Pit.

I am assuming that it will still be called the Old Gun Pit. Upon reopening, it may be called something completely different.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

LTN Chaos

by | Dec 7, 2024 | Community, Greenwich Park, Travel

Greenwich Low Traffic Network Chaos.

As I left to walk to Charlton train station this morning (Monday 2nd December) I could not understand why Victoria Way and Charlton Church Lane were a mess of heaving traffic and the roads between were busy with traffic that are normally very quiet.

At first, I thought the traffic was caused by the Blackwall tunnel being closed for some reason,  but that was not the case.

I later learned that this was all caused by the new traffic Lower Traffic Network (LTN) project between  Westcombe Park, Vanbrugh Park and East of Greenwich Park. Well, thank you Greenwich Council you’ve made our lives a living hell at the expense of a quiet life for the affluent middle-class areas around Westcombe Park, Vanbrugh Hill,  Maze Hill and Greenwich Park East.

Greenwich Council said before this project was implemented that they suspected there would be more traffic flowing through Charlton and they said they were going to monitor the situation. Well, Greenwich  Council it is like every weekday is now like the closing time of a Charlton football match day. All you have done is move the problem onto the Charlton residents.

The single-car wide bridge near the bottom of Victoria Way was especially mad, with frustrated drivers driving up the hill being blocked by inconsiderate drivers coming down the hill and not giving Way as they were supposed to.

On the third day, I looked down the hill to see hardly any cars, and I thought that perhaps I had got it all wrong. That was until I looked up the hill to see the number 380 bus blocking the whole road as it struggled to turn right from Eastcombe Avenue into Victoria Way. With the extra traffic, the 380 bus service has struggled in Eastcombe Avenue and Charlton  Church Lane where traffic flow is often reduced down to a single-width road.

What does amaze me though is that when I return from work in the evening, all the traffic that you would expect to be there as it is in the morning rush hour is non-existent.

Where is all the returning rush hour going? and why can’t they use that route in the morning?