As if pubs weren't under enough of a threat already, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated things dramatically.

In SE23, the Sylvan Posts has stayed shut, the Dartmouth Arms is apparently up for sale, All Inn One was under threat before the pandemic, the Capitol was on Spoons' list for closure...

Since they started reopening, I have been to a small number of local places that are open - not sure I am entirely comfortable with it, even staying only in the beer gardens. But I want the pubs to be around in a year's time, and that will only happen if we try to use them.

On the downside, the pubs that are open need to do more about large groups of people gathering in pubs with no attempt at physical distancing. (I don't believe all 12 were from two households.) There's been quite a lot of that so, as well as using your local, you could also encourage them to remind people of the social distancing rules.

Anyway, local pubs definitely open - perhaps someone could update on the ones they know?

Bird in Hand - ?
The Hill - ?
Sylvan Posts - closed?
Dartmouth Arms - ?
All Inn One - ?
Capitol - open
The Signal - ?
Railway Arms - ?
The Honor Oak - open
General Napier - ?
The Chandos - open
Prince of Wales - open
Two Spoons - open
Grounds and Grape - ?
Blythe Hill Tavern - open

I've only covered those in SE23 but feel free to add other pubs and bars close by.

Naturally it is of concern that good pubs may be under threat.

It may the case though, that very few real regulars of All Inn One believed the pub was under any threat at that time.

Yes, it was planned to be demolished and the developer had publicly committed to building provision and space into his new hotel for a re-instated pub.

An out-of-ward local councillor, Liam Curran took it upon himself to run a campaign in which he alleged that the hotel would never be built because the developer would build flats instead and thereby deliberately "lose" the space for the pub.

Speculative allegations made, not supported by any published scintilla of evidence.

The council made it clear to the developer that it did not propose to support the planning application and the developer withdrew from the deal and the whole plan collapsed. The council never did publish its Planning Officer's report, despite calls for them to do so.

Having worked hard for 19+ years to build up the business from the ruinous state they acquired it in and convert it into a successful Bar Restaurant and made plans to move on, Richard and Julia Channon had to re-shape and re-launch their business after the deal collapsed.

Cllr Curran for his part ran an off-manifesto campaign to have the council approve and implement measures to "protect" local pubs, failing or otherwise, from "predatory" developers. Interestingly these measures may not have made the successful progress through to full approval as planned by Cllr Curran.

It is evident these ineffectual and malformed measures deliver no material benefit or provide any protection to pubs whatsoever.

What success has Cllr Curran had with the failing Dartmouth Arms and the Sylvan Post? He is silent for the meantime.

As for The Capitol, Tim Martin has boasted he has an £11m programme of measures to make safe his JD Wetherspoons chain in the pandemic.

Unfortunately a number of reports say these measures are ineffective or do not exist at all and that the Spoons are being operated in a distinctly unsafe manner.

https://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20442

Separately and in response to the pandemic, Lewisham council has instigated many measures to provide financial support and easements to many small businesses.

These of course cannot be offered for anything other than the short term and even on that short term, some pubs do not seemingly have the required robustness or viability or durability to stay open.

This post was last modified: 20-08-2020 10:55 AM by jgdoherty.

Bird in hand opened this week
Signal opened almost immediately with pretty good trade