The Anchor and Hope closure

by | Apr 2, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

 

The Anchor and Hope closure.

The Anchor and Hope pub on Riverside, Charlton, closed unexpectedly in March. After some basic investigating, it would appear that the landlord, Mark Brooker, died recently after a short illness.

It would seem his brother owns and runs The Bull and the Red Lion on Shooters Hill, and his late father ran the Anchor and Hope before him, so we are talking of a bit of a publican dynasty. Hopefully, the pub will be back up and running again soon. On one local forum, someone has said that they relinquished the lease back to the brewery.

With its outside area overlooking the River Thames. I especially loved going here in the summer when the sun was shining.  Unfortunately, so did everyone else, and it can get very popular when the weather is nice.

It is also within a short walk of the Valley football ground, which makes it very popular with Charlton fans on a match day.

The Riverside area redevelopment is also due to start soon, I hope it doesn’t affect this great boozer. It’s heartbreaking, the number of good pubs we have lost in Greenwich over the last few years.

 

 

 

The Guardhouse Mystery

by | Apr 2, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

 

The Guardhouse Mystery

Is it a prank, a joke or a scam? Surely it can’t be for real.

There have been rumours that the Guardhouse in Woolwich is too close or that the Young’s brewery is selling the lease off.

This I can understand, as although the Guardhouse is a great pub, it just doesn’t have the same attraction as the Dial Arch pub, which is another Young’s pub just 50 meters away.

The pub has a lease that expires on 14th April 2139, and they pay a peppercorn fixed rent.

Last December, the local newspaper, the News Shopper, published an article saying the Guardhouse  is up for sale at the exclusive  Savilles estate agents for £1 million, and it had the viewing instructions as follows:

Viewings:

Staff are unaware of our client’s intention to dispose of this property.  Consequently, all customer visits must be carried out discreetly and under no circumstances should any direct approach be made to any members of staff.  Should you wish to view the property, then make a prior appointment via the sole selling agents, Savills.

The News Shopper then added at the end of the report that the pub itself had been asked for a comment,  so they obviously know about it by now. 

I cannot believe this is seriously how Young’s go about treating their staff,  if it is true then shame on them.

The fact that this viewing instruction is still up on the Savills website months later makes me wonder if this is really all a prank

As I have said, it would not surprise me if the lease is sold on, but to do it like this is underhanded and ridiculously impractical.

How on earth is a speculative client possibly  able to view the property  without the staff being suspicious  about strangers who are wondering  about the place going into places the public have no place being.

Whilst looking at the Guard House lease on the Savills website, I also found that the lease for the Old Mill on Plumstead Common is also up for sale. I hope they have told their staff.

Come on, Savills, the game’s up; everyone knows about the lease sale by now. Take the sneaky wording down from your website. It doesn’t look very professional.

 

 

The missing Irish element

The missing Irish element

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

 

The missing Irish element

..

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.

 

 

 

Good Choice

by | Jan 10, 2025 | Pub, Uncategorized

The one that slipped through the net.

 Whilst sitting in the River Ale House on Woolwich Road,  I was flicking through the London Drinker magazine which is published bimonthly by the Campaign for real ale (CAMRA), when I noticed that the opening of a new micropub in the borough in late 2024, had occurred and I knew nothing about it.

It’s  called the Good Choice and is located just within the borough boundary at Avery Hill.

With a draughts drinks selection of Stella, Guinness,  Moretti (fake Italian beer), Cruzcampo (fake Spanish beer) and Inch’s cider or Neck Oil IPA. It’s fair to say that unlike many other Micropubs they have not embraced the wonders of real ales. Gathering from photos on their Instagram photos they do fancy cocktails also.

As I said this place slipped my radar since it opened  on 27th September 2024, in what used to be a carpet shop, so I hope to do a review of the place sometime  soon.

Whether they do real ale or not, the opening of a new pub in the borough is always good news, especially  after losing so many pubs lately.