Mansion House Pub seeks seven day opening until 4am

You'll all be pleased to hear that a new pub is to open in Kennington (or, perhaps I should more accurately say, Newington, but more on that later) just next door to the Old Red Lion.   Mansion House Pub (46 - 48 Kennington Park Road) is to re-open (allegedly some time in May, although they'll need to get a move-on if the scaffolding is anything to go by).  Theoretically, it's good news.  The pub plans to specialise in Real Ale and "pan-Asian cuisine" (I confess I'm a tad sceptical about the cuisine... would you ever visit Toulouse Lautrec if they said they offered pan-European food?  Possibly not.)  But a new pub/restaurant beats an empty building, and new jobs are good for the area so you might tell me to quit whinging.  You all miss my whinging, right?

I predicted some time ago when the Old Red Lion were opening that two pubs would be unfeasible on account of the fact that the Public House business has become mired in regulation (smoking ban) and taxation (on just about bogging everything), and a lot of people (judging by the top deck of my bus) prefer to drink straight from a can of Tesco's lager...  Also, Kennington is stuffed full of pubs at present, and it's hardly THAT far to walk between the Old Red Lion and the White Bear Theatre Pub, is it?  Sid Boggle (a reader here at Lurking) has heard heard that the pub might be named Oaka, presumably because the company that owns it is named Oakham Ales.  How original.  Let's hope they change their mind... 

The local SE11 public might rather hope they'll change their mind about something else too.  That is, the opening hours.  If you go and take a look at the hoarding outside, and you happen to be 8 feet tall (I am not joking), you will see that the Oaka or Mansion House or whatever it's called is applying for licencing hours from 7am to 4am.  What, just on Saturday nights?  Umm, nope.  That would be EVERY NIGHT.  If you don't believe me, you can go and read the Licencing Application on the Lambeth website.  And if that wasn't enough (because, arguably, people that drink until 4am are known for their quiet comportment), they've applied for live music licence from 10am until 3am!  Oh dear.  Clearly somebody didn't do their research.  Remember the hubub when the White Hart/Tommyfield threatened to try and open until 1am.  The Cleaver Square residents got their way, I believe.  Gosh, it would be great if a modern, suave, inner-city, urban-priest would show up at this point to protect our poor "run down" Kennington and save the day...  I wonder whether there might be the odd loose canon in the area who could lend a hand?

Fortunately, some rather tall soul has noticed this attempt to ruin our quiet residential area (ignoring the double red-route main road that never sleeps) and has scrawled in GREAT BIG letters on the hoarding "4am", so I spotted it as I strolled around the area.  Surely it's illegal to place a licencing notice so high up that nobody can actually read it?  Already a concerned reader and local resident emailed me to ask for support.  So, here is some support:

46 Kennington Park Road is in Princes Ward.  Cllr Stephen Morgan (our resident enthusiastic emailer), Cllr Mark Harrison and Cllr Lorna Campbell will no doubt only be too pleased to hear from you.  They have actually posted the news on their own blog, but judging from lack of comments, nobody is reading!  Just click on their names, and you can send them an email!  Why not email them all for good measure?  There's more information about Making A Representation re. licencing here.

I'm rather late off the mark, so you'll need to send in a response by 27th April 2012.  Be quick, and can somebody tell the Kennington Association et al?

Ale Festival, Apple Day, Incredible Edible Festival, Urban Bees, AGMs - events this weekend and beyond

This is a late post, but I'm hoping some of you might catch it in time to attend some of the following events.  This weekend is a good one to stay south of the river unless you're inclined to join demonstrations because it's going to be tricky to get north of the river by road.  Trafalgar Square and surrounds will be unpassable on Saturday due to the Stop the War Assembly, and Westminster Bridge will be blocked on Sunday due to the anti-Health and Social Care Bill Block the Bridge event.

But there are plenty of autumnal ways to eat, drink and be merry in Kennington this weekend:

There's the Garden Museum's Incredible Edible Big Harvest Party.  The Garden Museum is over in SE1, in the old church next to Lambeth Palace.  They're celebrating local food growing with community stalls, seed bomb making, an Incredible Edible scrapbook(!?) and the opening of an insect hotel.  Visit (and bring your own seeds) on Saturday 8th October from 10:30am - 4pm

Then there's the annual autumn Roots and Shoots Apple Day 2011 where there will be over 100 different types of apple to sample, along with juicing and fruit preservation workshops.  That's at the top of Walnut Tree Walk, just off of Kennington Road.  There will also be activities for children; apple bobbing, corn dolly making, story telling etc. - This is one of my favorite days.  Go and visit on Sunday 9th October from 11am - 4pm.

Then the Old Red Lion pub (42 Kennington Park Road) Ale and Food Festival with stalls, music, a hog roast and a fine selection of ales.  It's held on Saturday 8th October and Sunday 9th October from 12 noon.

Also, some future dates for the diary...

Don't forget on Monday both the Kennington Association and the Vauxhall Civic Society are holding their AGMs on Monday 10th October (oops!).

The Kennington Association AGM will be held at the Durning Library, beginning at 6:30pm.  Their special guest is Val Shawcross, member of the London Assembly for Lambeth and Southwark.

The Vauxhall Society AGM will be held at St Stephen's Church, St Stephen's Terrace, SW8 1DH at 6.30pm to begin at 7pm.  The guest speaker will be Sue Foster, Lambeth's Director of Housing.  She'll be speaking on regenerating Vauxhall.

On Saturday 15th October, there's an Urban Bee open day and Foragers Walk, starting at noon from St Agnes Place Keeper's Lodge (in one corner of the park).

Then, on Sunday 16th October, Keyworth Primary School in Kennington (that's Faunce Street in SE17) is to be turned into a pop-up restaurant by food writer Philip Dundas in aid of "Magic Breakfast".  You'll need to book, but for £30, you'll receive a three course meal (with wine).  To attend, please RSVP philip@pip-dishes.co.uk or call 07764 336 220.  Magic Breakfast is a charity that provides free health breakfasts to schools in which over 50% of children receive free school meals and who might not otherwise eat a health breakfast.

Film at Roots and Shoots, pub quiz at Old Red Lion, Free Tai Chi and volunteer bus-painting in Kennington Park

There will be a screening of Forest of Crocodiles at Roots and Shoots this week on Wednesday 6th April at 7pm. Entry fee is £5 and you'll need to book (call 0207 587 1131).  It's a 52 minute documentary on the fears of white South Africans.

A once a month quiz night is now taking place at the marvellous Old Red Lion pub on Kennington Park Road.  I think it's probably my favourite pub in the area.  They have an outside yard, and a naturally-lit conservatory area for when it's colder, and little cubby holes off to the side for small groups, and food...  I believe the Campaign for Real Ale people support it as they're visiting in April.  The quiz will take place on the second Thursday of the month, at 8pm (but arrive at 7pm onwards to be guaranteed a table) and the next quiz will be held on April 14th.

Anybody interested in volunteering to repaint the children's bus in Kennington Park in the playground this Saturday should contact:  chloejocasta (then insert the at symbol) gmail (then insert a full stop) com.  The Friends of the Park are also eager to review the new children's fitness equipment in the park, and they'll be there on Saturday to collect people's views.

And finally... on a related note, Free Tai Chi (it's free, thanks to funding from the Kennington Association, but donations are welcome), will recommence in Kennington Park on Thursdays from 14:00 - 15:00 and Saturdays from 11:00 - 12 noon.

Quick pub update: Tommyfield + Old Red Lion

The Tommyfield pub finally launched itself last Friday and is now officially open for business. In case I didn't get to the bottom of it, the pub has been named after the first British Fish and Chip shop, which opened in Oldham (so not really very SE11-related). I was going to go along to the launch, but it looked /so/ crowded from the outside on the launch night, and I am very shy (tee hee), so I haven't yet been in. They're still serving British food, although at apparently more reasonable prices. London Appetizer has visited and listed some rather delicious sounding fare. Asparagus with fried duck egg and toast, rabbit confit and Eton mess all make my list of "must tries", but that would set me back £25. It's not cheap, but is reasonably well-priced by London standards. Keith Barker has written a cheeky not-quite-review, mentioning our Kylie Appreciation Society!! I shall try and eat there soon and post a review once I've done so. Visit their website for more on their food, and drink offerings.

On to the next pub-refurbishment... The Old Red Lion now has a banner up outside, proudly proclaiming that it's re-opening on 11 June. They have a website, but the pub is still listed as "coming soon" in a somewhat tantalising manner. In the meantime, you can observe on Twitter their mounting minute by minute excitement as they count down days until launch! I'd like to know whether they'll be serving food, and what their "niche" market is... No more info. to report as yet.

Red Lion pub to become Old Grey Lion and more on new Tesco

It seems as though there are some rather slow changes afoot on the northern section of Kennington Park Road. Perhaps this is spurred by the road's proximity to the long-awaited Elephant and Castle social-engineering project regeneration.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd heard a rumour about a proposed new Tesco on Kennington Park Road. I was getting confused, and thinking that this referred to the store opposite to the tube at 62 Kennington Park Road. That's the current site of Payless Food & Wine, who appear to be thriving as a result of not quite living up their name. However, upon further investigation and a helpful tip from a reader, it seems that the shop that has closed/is closing is actually at 38-40 Kennington Park Road (Right Price Food & Wine). I've walked past the site, and it hardly strikes me as large enough for a Tesco, even a Metro-sized one, but perhaps it goes back further than I remember.

Even more intriguing is a pub related piece of news that I learned of only in the past few days. Apparently the adequate, large, but somewhat characterless Red Lion pub (42 Kennington Park Road) is to become The Old Grey Lion! It has been purchased by Antic-Ltd who have it listed on their site here. No more info. about that refurbishment at present, but you'll read it here first (hopefully)!

Confusingly, there is another pub, named The Mansion House (46-48 Kennington Park Road) to the South of the Red Lion/Old Grey Lion that has been closed and derelict for some time. I'd like to know what's happening with that, because in the current climate, I doubt the road can sustain two pubs next door to one another! And just because I like to highlight small and under-publicised services in SE11, you might also be interested to know that to the right of Priceright / proposed Tesco is a small gateway that leads through to an organisation named Shaka Services who work mainly with London's African, Carribean and Asian population to provide sexual health / AIDS / social care, housing and immigration services. As far as I know, they're still operative, but I can't find any recent information confirming their status. 38-40 Kennington Park Road is also listed as a needle-exchange. I hope the rumoured Tesco proposal won't jeopardise such vital services.