Thursday 25 March 2010

The White Hart pub, Kennington seeks to extend licensing hours

Thanks to SE11 Action Team (Labour blog) for publicising the fact that The White Hart pub, in Kennington, SE11 is seeking to change its name to The Tommyfield and extend its opening hours on Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 1am.

From what I can gather, this is generating some consternation from the fine upstanding people of Cleaver Square, and other locals, who do not support extended licensing due to the fact that the pub is in a residential area.  If you want to support or object, you must do so by 19th April. 

Whilst we're on the matter, I dislike the industrial sized dustbins that seem to congregate outside the pub, turning the corner between Cleaver Street and Kennington Lane into a pinch point at which pedestrians and cyclists struggle past one another in an uncouth manner (but I can't really see anywhere else they can go).

For advice on how to comment on the licensing proposals, see Lambeth Council's advice for residents and local businesses.  You'll need to email, write, telephone or fax :

Email: licensing@lambeth.gov.uk
Address: Licensing, 2 Herne Hill Road, London, SE24 0AU
By telephone - 020 7926 6108
By fax - 020 7926 6130.

Quite why the attractive name, "The White Hart" is to be changed to "The Tommyfield" is beyond me. It seems that the name "White Hart" has some kind of historical significance for the area, evidenced by the fact that it was also the name of a pub in 35 Belvedere Road, Lambeth (but maybe that's just coincidence). See here.

Additionally, there's a map here showing The White Hart Fields between 1792 and 1799 (presumably prior to residential expansion). But then perhaps we should not maintain an emotional attachment to such changeable names, for it appears that in the early 17th century, the White Hart Fields were previously known as both "eight acres" and "Coney Warren" .

I actually think "Coney Warren" would make a great pub name (think cozy, fire-lit, local and friendly), but perhaps not for the type of establishment that The Tommyfield seeks to become!  In the meantime, do pop into The Black Prince.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe (but may be wrong - this is based on a half-remembered conversation I had with a barman a long time ago) that the doghouse already has a late licence for friday and saturday which they use on an ad hoc basis (depending on how many customers they have on a given night)

If this is right, it may affect the council's decision on the white heart/tommyfield application.


M Poole-Wilson

Mark Harrison said...

The Doghouse does already have a 1am licence on Fridays and Saturdays, as does the Little Apple.

People who want to object will need to demonstrate that problems will result from the extension. Objections from the immediate neighbours of the White Hart will carry the most weight.

I'm going to get in touch with the owners to ask about the name change- it doesn't appear to be a popular move and the new name is a bit weird.

Mr and Mrs MacDoodle said...

Aha, I know the answer to this thanks to the barman. Tommy Field is an area of Manchester famous for fish and chips. The new Tommyfield will be a specialist in fish. Still prefer the old name though and don't see why they can't keep it, just adding more fish to the menu!

Sid Boggle said...

As a small pubco, I'm still curious about whether they mean to re-brand all their pubs. The fish thing sounds a bit bogus - the pubco is called Tommyfield...

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