There doesn't appear to have been much notice that it was closing tonight. Perhaps it's time to handover to the new owners (Paddy Power), or perhaps Declan's shut it as a protest at having planning permission refused*. All we know is that in a street where once there was a fair offering of pubs, there's now only one pub left open on the High Street – right at the far end, the White Swan. Bookies are the new pubs....
Or perhaps the relationship between Bookies and pubs is like the relationship between Chelsea, victors of the FA Cup, and Portsmouth, losers faced with defeat, debts and relegation.
From tomorrow, all we'll be able to do is peer in the windows from the outside. (No, that's not a footballer at the first floor window, it's the man who missed his penalty for Portsmouth on the telly inside.)
*Though, to be fair - as Sue just pointed out to me - we did know (and publicised) that their last gig was on as couple of weeks ago. Still, it's a bit of a surprise to me anyway.
One of the regulars told me when I passed by that Declan had moved a lot of the booze out and up to his other pubs in New Cross earlier in the day...so the bar might run dry earlier than they'd hoped!
ReplyDeleteIf it weren't for the fact that this pub is gonna be a bookies, it wouldn't be worth a mention. I won't miss it. If you want scuzzy shithole youve still got the Birds Nest. Better pubs and beer are available (Royal Albert, Dog and Bell, Duke, Montague Arms, Wickham, etc)...
ReplyDelete@mushroom it's a fair comment about the quality of the pub, but once it is a bookies there is no chance of an enterprising owner/manager creating a better boozer that could increase footfall on the high street after the shops close and encourage greater evening-time use. As for the planning permission refusal, an appeal has been launched (as predicted) which I'll be writing about next week when I'm back in Deptford.
ReplyDeleteAye, and I was thinking when I went past the Crown and Sceptre, where they've stripped the tiles from the outside and surrounded it by hoardings (flat conversion?), it's very rare that a pub, once closed, reopens as a pub.
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