Oryx
I live quite near the Chandos, and have been in there precisely once, and it was perfectly OK - just not the sort of pub I'd normally visit, though I'd be happy to visit again. It was perfectly friendly the time I visited, and has the atmosphere of an old-skool pub, with some nice pictures of the area in days gone by on the wall, and a mixed clientele.

It's a local pub for local people and always seems well-frequented (I pass by it quite a lot).

Why can people not just accept it for what it is instead of wanting to turn it into some East Dulwich-alike bar aimed at the young and well-off?

Sorry, but you can't live as close as me then. I hear the screaming and swearing every weekend without fail, and the breaking glasses (probably over somebodies head). You call that a prefectly pleasant place. I'd hate to see a rough place in your book! Its full of drunks (OK there must be a few normal people in there, but I wouldn't say very many). Its foul, has a rotten reputation, and if you casually hang arond over any weekend you'll see a plethora of drung deals going on 'blatantly' as me and my partner did recently, quite horrific.
This place changing would be great for the area, and allow 'normal' people to have another place to go. I used to be all for old fashioned pubs and spent most of my youth frequenting them, but these days (apart fromk the Blythe I might add) they just attract methyrs and druggie boys who like to shout at 12am like cavemen when the people in my road want to sleep!

Next time you walk by, check the broken windows (still not fixed). Apparently broken by somebodies skull I hear. Niiiiiceeeee!