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?

The Pilgrim Pub, 247 Kennington Lane (next to Tesco) extension to opening hours

I do not have good internet access over the Christmas period, hence posting frequency has been (and will be) down somewhat.  Needless to say, I'm keeping an eye on local goings on. 

One "naughty" licensing application eg. submitted over the Christmas period, pertains to The Pilgrim pub at 247 Kennington Lane.  Due to the fact that these are not normal "planning" applications, they're not picked up by the ordinary "alert" processes.

The Pilgrim have requested an extension in opening hours until 1am every day.  See here.  To approve or object to this extension, you'll need to contact one of the councillors in Oval ward.

Local trees being chopped down, inadequate recycling and extension of Kelly's pub licensing hours

Over the last week, I've received a number of emails from readers on a variety of hyper-local topics that don't quite warrant posts of their own, so here's a quick summary:

Firstly, one resident has noted that Lambeth Council are being rather heavy handed in their removal of trees in SE11.  I've been informed that two trees have already been culled from Chester Street / Denny Street.  I could only find one of them (or its remains, at any rate).  What a mess!







Alarmingly, another two trees are scheduled for removal shortly, and yet all of the trees that have been chopped (or are facing the chop) look healthy.  Here are the two concerned (left on Denny Street and right on Chester Street):





The resident in question has contacted the council, but wanted me to publicise the danger that the trigger-happy council pose to the trees.  A visit this evening yielded more info on  the tree on Chester Way and it seems that some of the residents are protesting the cull:






















The poster on the left points out that it would take two decades to grow another cherry tree, and adds that the tree is being destroyed on the basis that the trees roots are exposed and it therefore may form a danger.  Is this not a "Health & Safety gone mad" blooper of the year?  The poster designer has instead suggested that it would be better to raise the pavement than destroy the tree.  Hear, hear!

This is probably a question for the Princes Ward councillors, but it would be good to receive clarification about the reasons for the tree removal. Perhaps additional residents need to act to prevent the removal of established trees if the only reason for cutting them down is exposed roots.  The tree on Denny Street doesn't contain an explanation about why it's facing the chop:

This issue probably should  be drawn to the attention of the Kennington Association, as there may well be other local trees that Lambeth wish to cut down, and residents deserve some prior warning or explanation in order to protest if necessary.

Secondly, one reader has noted that I've previously praised Lambeth Council's recycling procedures and good performance in the area of recycling.  The correspondent begs to differ and is unhappy with the frequency which which the one bin on his block is emptied.  (Recycling collections generally take place weekly in Lambeth).  The reader has attempted to get his block's bin emptied more frequently, but has had no success.  Cllr Jack Hopkins (so I'm assuming this refers to Oval Ward) did respond to one email from the correspondent, but subsequent emails on the matter have not received a response.  Does anybody else on local estates in the area suffer from the same issue?  I know that many estates suffer from people using recycling bins as rubbish bins (I'm unclear if this is lack of understanding of policy or willful misuse), but are there a dearth of recycling bins in the Borough, particularly given the size of some local estates?  It would be good to draw this to the attention of the Council if it's a wider problem.

Lastly, one reader wanted to highlight their objection to a request made by Kelly's Pub (in Clapham Road) to extend their opening hours to 5am from Thursday to Sunday.  I don't intend to go into detail here (suffice to say that the request seems wholly unreasonable), since Jason Cobb has covered that patch of SW8 adequately on his Onionbag blog in a post here and another here.  Do remember to submit objections since the Council won't hear residents' voices otherwise.

Owner of Queen Anne pub, Denise D'Courtenay, murdered in Dominican Republic

There was an article in The Sun this morning that noted that Denise D'Courtenay, the owner of the Queen Anne (strip) pub, in Vauxhall (it's the bright orange one on Vauxhall Walk) was murdered whilst taking her annual holiday in the Dominican Republic.  According to the Mail, her body was found a week after she went missing.  Her death is particularly tragic since she was due to retire next month.

According to the Sun, the pub was a haunt for "footballers, soap stars and rappers", which is somewhat surprising since I've always thought it looked a little intimidating from the outside (that's probably always the case when it's somebody else's local).  Anyhow, our area being what it is, I'm sure Denise was well known and loved by the patrons of the pub and other business owners.  Please feel free to leave any memories of Denise or the pub in the comments section.

Also, see August 2010 article re. the pub turning into the Tea house theatre, and there's a photo of the sign outside (thanks Twitter) that indicates it will re-open in April 2011.

Closure of Lambeth Walk pub

I received an email a few days ago from Janus Polenceus (English Dem. candidate for Stockwell Ward), alerting me to the fact that The Lambeth Walk pub (17 Lambeth Walk) was closing.  It appears that it finally closed yesterday.  You might remember that the English Democrats had a particularly innovative idea about a memorial museum for Lambeth Walk and support of the pearly Kings and Queens in the by-election last year (as well as some other rather dubious views), so it doesn't surprise me that they're still focusing on this rather sad looking street.  Indeed, I think it's about time more of us focused on Lambeth Walk, and how dilapidated it has become (considering how lively and vibrant it once was), and there are various other people making a noise about it, as I remarked in Doing the Lambeth Walk 2010 style.  I'd be interested to hear from other local Princes Ward candidates (particularly Cllr Harrison, as he's very local) about whether they have any ideas for re-invigorating this area (that don't just involve "obtain Section 106 money by building new housing").  How difficult would it be to organise a weekend market?  Would it be popular?  Well attended?  It might be a way of encouraging further business down there, and since it's a no-through road, it might suit a market and a market in turn might stimulate some small local businesses to take advantage of the cheap local commercial units.  I've seen units recently advertised for only £6,000pa, so it's not beyond the reach of very small businesses, but it would need passing trade.  Why has this famous street been so neglected?

I was about to launch into, "end of an era", "shame about yet another pub closure" rhetoric (it doesn't take much to set me off), when I noted that Holding An Apple (a local blogger) went on a second local pub-crawl that focused on Lambeth Walk pubs (and very interesting it is too).  He had this to say, "These days it looks moribund, with broken windows in the upstairs rooms adding to the air of neglect. The last time I saw anyone drinking outside the pub they looked like geezers who ate pitbulls for breakfast, so I am not too surprised at its decline."  So I shall not be launching into any ill-advised rhetoric :)

But seriously... scary looking locals hanging around dilapidated pubs is just another way of saying, "this area has been abandoned and could do with investment".  Back in February, local councillors advertised a an anti-social behaviour meeting, but I never saw any follow-up.  Were any blog readers present, and can they advise on the outcome of that meeting?  Is it unrealistic to consider that the Council should do anything at all to reduce anti-social behaviour, and promote investment?  If it is, then how might locals help re-inject some life into the area?  Has anybody thought about organising a Big Lunch there, for example?

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.

The White Hart pub - explanation for renaming

Being well-connected online sometimes pays off.  Shortly after the post I made yesterday, I was followed on Twitter by somebody who owns a group of pubs, amongst them, The White Hart.

Here is a slightly cut down version of why there is a proposed name change for The White Hart and why the White Hart is planning to close and re-open as The Tommyfield:
* The White Hart is a very large modern space on a very busy junction. The primary argument for retaining the name would be that it is a wonderful old pub, and changing it's name would be like ripping its soul out. However, it's not felt that this is a strong argument re. The White Hart due to the fact that the pub's original interior has not been retained.

* In order for a pub to thrive, it needs a very distinct identity, in order to differentiate itself from the multitude of pubs in the area and draw people from further afield. "The White Hart" is apparently the fourth most popular pub name in the country. The owners think it makes sense for a pub to have a unique name to mark it out. A name change is recognised not to make a pub better, but it's one change among many that can galvanise a business. The White Hart will change on a multitude of fronts, and a new name is the single most direct way of communicating this change.

* The pub is in need of more significant refurbishment than originally anticipated and considerable income needs to be generated to facilitate this. Unfortunately, turnover at The White Hart has been in decline for several years (partly due to its own shortcomings. Consquently, the owners have had to take a "hard-nosed commercial view on the issue". Pubs have come under enormous pressure in recent years: the smoking ban, ever-increasing duty on alcohol, big business rate rises, escalating cost of good quality meat & fish, rising minimum wage etc etc. All of this squeezes profit margin and forces the focus to be on creating the most appealing pub possible.

The question for local SE11 residents, of course, is whether what makes a pub appealing to the general public is the same as what makes it appealing to them?

Cllr Mark Harrison has commented on the previous post on the issue of extending licencing hours that, 'The Doghouse and the Little Apple both have 1am licences on Fridays and Saturdays. People who want to object [to the extension of hours] 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.'

On a related note... Please do check out a wonderful photo blog here, as somebody has painstakingly photographed a number of open (and closed) pubs in the Kennington and North Lambeth area, in what should prove a useful historical record (if pub closures continue at such a steady rate).

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.

Black Prince pub and a visit to the Cinema Museum

I had a spiffingly SE11-esque day on Sunday...

First, we went to lunch at the Black Prince pub (6 Black Prince Road). I heard that it had been refurbished back in December, and the effort appears to have paid off. The interior is lovely, all dark wood, with two fires at either end of the pub. Service was impeccable and all of the bar staff were really friendly. There appears to be a variety of beers on tap. Food was mid-range (think prices similar to The Bear, Camberwell), but good. We ordered two roast dinners (I strongly recommend the cheese/quince tart veggie option), and our only foodie complaint is that the veg. were rather al dente. However, I'm aware that that's something of a fashion statement at the moment so I'm inclined to charitably assume that they weren't just undercooked. I noticed a number of nice touches eg. pie evening on Tuesdays at more than reasonable prices. Mmmm. Pie. I love pie. We will definitely be back for pie night.

Anyhow, the Black Prince is a really lovely pub (I have no connection), and it's definitely cheaper and quieter that The White Hart, and has none of the "ick" of the Dog House. My one issue with the whole experience is actually my fault. The pub markets itself (even on the outside) as a "live sports" venue, which I failed to notice. But even with that knowledge, I feel that there's a slight clash of aims. In order to satisfy both the patrons who are eating, and those who are there for the sport, the TVs show the football without volume and pleasant classical music plays in the background (somewhat frustrating for fans, you might think). Even with that huge concession, it felt a little bit uncomfortable to be surrounded by cheering football fans when trying to eat a roast dinner! My advice to diners is to try and sit in the cove at the other end of the pub, away from the screens. I couldn't quite decide whether the pub was aiming for the monied gay folk of SE11 or trying to be a kind of "local" for football fans (not that these two groups need be different, mind). I'm not convinced that it manage to pull off either as well as it should, but I will definitely be back, and I recommend it to readers!

The second part of the afternoon was spent visiting The Cinema Museum in Duggard Way. I'd never been before, and wanted to go and check it out, especially as it's currently in danger. It appears the site has been bought by a property developer, who will probably eventually want to turn it into flats. On the one hand, I have some sympathy for their plight, but on the other hand, the museum does come over as a kind of private collection for a select few individuals. It's rarely open to the public, but since they were holding a fund raiser at the weekend, it seemed worth popping in. I'm glad I did. The building that houses the collection is the administration wing of the old Lambeth Workhouse, and it's an exquisite building. I've taken a few photos so you can see what I mean (apologies for quality, but they were taken on my mobile phone camera as I forgot the other one).

The upstairs room is wonderfully light because of large windows on all 3 sides:



The Chaplin figure fits the space perfectly:



Some of the museum memorabilia:





Posters for sale:




This item particularly caught my eye.  Although it was taken on the Old Kent Road, it captured a particular era in London when small (though dangerous) cinemas could be opened up in shop fronts.  Made me feel quite nostalgic for a time I never knew...

There are better photos on The Cinema museum's website here and here.

According to their website, the Cinema Museum are looking to move once again (and indeed open the collection to the public) and are considering venues...

Elephant and Hippo and squatting and Olive Morris

A year or so ago, I noticed that 1 Bowling Green Street (Elephant and Hippo pub) was mentioned in various legal news articles re. the question of regaining possession of the property. I didn't mention it at the time, and the case really only came to any attention because it involved a point of law (whether /any/ court could grant a stay of execution re. gaining possession of a property). The eventual ruling was that any court may indeed grant a stay of execution, but I'm afraid I have failed to figure out who exactly has possession at the moment. I presume that eventually the claimant (Admiral Taverns (Cygnet) Ltd) did win the possession back, (irrespective of how the case went re. the point of law), but I suppose that the question of possession might have had to wait for the Appeal court ruling, and if that's the case, the defendant still has possession.

The pub has theoretically been boarded up for the last year or so. I only noticed because the fabulous elephant and hippo 3D model seemed to disappear from the front. But even before that, it looked rather quiet deserted. In any case, I have heard on the grapevine that the pub is currently squatted. Can anybody advise whether there are plans to turn it into one of those squats that offers community services, in the same vein as The Library House in Camberwell? It seems the Library House have a day in court tomorrow (Jan 18th) and their blog indicates they have asked for supporters to attend an 8am breakfast, if anybody feels like going along... Anyhow, I have often wondered whether the other old pub (the pink one) (formerly The Cricketers) on one side of the Oval is squatted too as have seen movements that might indicate so. If there's lots of squats in SE11, it's all good news, as [notice the badly designed plug], Olive Morris would have agreed.

Who was Olive Morris I hear you asking? (Some people try to answer that question here). She was an amazing, right on lady from Lambeth! She was a campaigner who was well ahead of her time, promoting groups for black women in Lambeth (Brixton specifically) and at the forefront of the Black Panthers and black rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Central to her life at one period was the squat at 121 Railton Road she started occupying in 1972 (and which was occupied by squatters until 1999)! If you want to find out more, why not pop into the Gasworks art exhibition named, "Do you remember Olive Morris?" or check out the Remembering Olive Collective blog, from which I've drawn the above information. The Gas Works gallery is open from Wednesday - Sunday. I went today, and it's great to see that this very important woman is not being forgotten, but it made me wonder how many other brave women from this Borough are waiting to be rediscovered. I know that Olive Morris has a whole administrative building to her name, but I wonder whether she has a blue plaque anywhere...

Very exciting - Google Streetview is live for London

I'm very excited... I've been waiting for this day for a few months. Google have finally gone live with their Streetview facility for London. I think that the SE11 photos were taken around July/August 2008. Let's take a quick tour around SE11:

Firstly, the assault course on Kennington Park on a lovely sunny day;



A trip to Cleaver Square. No boules as I presume it's midday on a weekday:



A quick visit to St Peter's church:



Before we nip into Chariots!:



Phhew, thirsty work! Time to visit the Dog House:



Let's go and get some exercise on Lambeth Walk Open Space:



And finally, how about doing the Lambeth Walk?



Sadly, there are a few "strategically" placed buses (I'm presuming accidentally, but who knows?) which means that a number of views around SE11 are missed. However, I've managed to find one of the slipway ramp next to MI6 that the photographers were caught on during (mentioned yesterday):



Fantastic!

A secret pub - The Royal Oak - (the other one)

I have plenty of exciting updates from this weekend, including the North Lambeth Parish Fete (including a few photos). See, it is possible to attend a different SE11 fete or festival related event each week during the summer. What other postcode can boast such attractions? I'll try to post pictures when I return from work this evening.

This post, however, is on another matter. You should see from the top map that all of the pink markers represent pubs (or clubs) in SE11. There are still a few question marks where I actually need to check whether pubs still exist or their exact names. However, when I formed the map, I referred to Google, a couple of "pub" sites and my own knowledge. I suspected that there was a pub on Fitzalan Street because I was sure I'd walked past it, but I couldn't find anything on Google... Here's my guess as to why....

The Fitazalan Street pub (Kennington) is named "The Royal Oak", exactly the same as the Kennington Lane pub (Vauxhall), which is much better known. I have now added this pub to the top map, but there is surprisingly little information about it. An old blog post by somebody who visited at the end of 2007, last year. There's a mention on the (now apparently defunct) blog of Lambeth Walk Open Space (which the pub looks over), and what might be a number of very old descriptions. It looks like a very comfortable pub, full of locals from the surrounding estates, but I will try to pop in at some stage. Whenever I've walked past, there are always people happily drinking outside. Does anybody have any furthur information?

Kennington Park

I visited Kennington Park (and also the Imperial War Museum Park in SE1) on Saturday, and consequently was able to go and have a wander in the small parade of shops up there.

It looks as though the pub on the corner, which I think was formerly "The Tankard", is nearing the end of a comprehensive refurbishment. Definitely looks as though it will be worth trying when it's finished as it has a great upstairs outdoor terrace area.

There's not a great deal more of note around there... Another dry cleaner, another Fish and chip shop (making a total of 6 in SE11), except for a motorbike shop. It hadn't occured before, but I think SE11 is an area where possible motorbike enthusiasts gather, especially considering that there's another shop on Kennington Road that repairs motorbikes, and one of the Vauxhall arches is a huge supplier. I've seen people taking motorbike lessons on Saturday mornings near Vauxhall Street and around the back of the railway arches.

Anyhow, I managed to take some fabulous pictures in a brief visit to Kennington Park, which I've added both here and on the map: