OK, this is only a fleeting post, but one to inform the debate.

As a nation we don't use our local pubs any more. Like our local shops we only moan when they are gone.

The Blythe is a brilliant exception. The Napier is also worth a visit, and if we did perhaps it would be more receptive to our needs. "oh if ony it did X and Y we would go"

The Chandos is just frightening. Such a shame from a lovely Victorian building.

The Ivy is something special, with a relatively unspoiled interior, from a golden age of pubs, and a history to match. It had started to get a decent clientele when the curse of the pub chain hit it. More valuable as housing. A second curse, on the Office of Fair Trading and the resultant Beer Orders Act 1989 that paved the way for the pub chains, that were even worse that the big brewers.

And I continue to struggle with the gentrification of SE London and the gastro pub. I shudder when I see what they have done, and continue to do, to the Woodhouse, the Clock, CPT (RIP) and the Rye Hotel. OK by all means serve food, but all four were popular before they had to do another refurb, than another refurb. I can't even drag myself down to East Dulwich any more. Well at least the Ivy is a refuge, and I can still go to the Nuns Head and Gowlett to get some relief.

Now the big question SE23. Is the YOHO really worth saving? To quote the Wonderful punk/folk band the Mekons: When they were converting the Forest Hill Hotel WHERE WERE YOU?

The Forest Hil Hotel was as wonderful at the Ivy, yet it had been run down and no one batted an eyelid when it shut. Did any of you know that this lovely building even existed? I could cry when I see the Greyhound in Sydenham where I used to see Vic Reeves before he was famous, and many others.

And as others have said, isn't HOP more worthy of a decent boozer (no station pub due to the Temperance movement, or something similar).

Finally, Hoopers Bar in East Dulwich closed in December after a few years of trying to draw the middle class punters in. Good beer, music and an attempt at pub food. Talk Talk control prevent me from accessing my favourite pub sites on my PC (the world has gone crazy), but there is a lament to it saying words to the effect "we provide you a perfect pub, yet you stay at home drinking cheap supermarket booze". Would the YOHO fair any better?

Proud to be part of the movement that saved the Ivy House.

Good bye and good night.