Lost pubs of south east London

Proposed demolition of a Charlton pub (which was refused) led to me thinking just how many we’ve lost in the recent past.

To be specific, while trawling my pictures for a shot of The Pickwick in Charlton (no luck so far yet I *know* I have a couple) a search for pubs showed a fair few that have, or shortly will, be no more in the area.

It was striking to see so many images pop up of condemned pubs in close proximity. So without further ado, here’s a little round-up of what we’ve lost or shortly will:

Greenwich

The Lord Hood – formerly next to Up the Creek comedy club – is no more. It looked like this until it came down recently:

It was a handsome building offering a stepped rise in heights from Up The Creek to new build homes beside. The white sheet of death recently covered the building:

It will end up like this:

A huge shame to lose a characterful building.

Just down the road towards Deptford along Creek Road stood a pub that later became the Book Place shop whose owner held out for years against demolition:

I loved the exterior art and glazed tiles:

Now gone:

Head towards the Thames from here and you’ll reach a spot where permission was recently granted to demolish the Thames Inn:

No sooner had permission been given and the site was up for sale. In it’s place will come this bland block:

Head west and the Old Loyal Britons was knocked down over the past year.

This is what’s coming:

All four pubs are/were within a few hundred metres.

Charlton

The story continues heading east to Charlton. The Pickwick was under threat though developers now plan homes in the rear garden.

We also have The Victoria. This doesn’t actually have approval for demolition but it’s rotting away:

Plans were submitted to renovate but little has happened for years:

The render sees it losing the elements with character. Lazy graphic designer or the actual plan?

There are vague plans to demolish the former Clancy’s pub:

It’s all gone a bit quiet after some early plans in 2015 for a tower:

Nearby is the former Albion which is much further along the path towards rebuilding. A tower has been approved at that site:

And this is what is due to spring up:

All these pubs sites cover a narrow band running roughly parrallel along the Thames covering a couple of miles.

It’s extremely tough for pubs to operate in the current climate. High operating osts and debt-laden pub groups looking to cash in are leading to ever more shutting down.

But even if a future as a pub isn’t viable, these are often the most characterful buildings in their vicinity giving a sense of place which could be used for other purposes. It’s an uphill struggle to keep them, and to be fair Greenwich Council have rejected some plans but cannot win every battle. More protection is needed.

This post started with the intention of looking over a wider area but after covering eight in a relatively small area it’s best to stop now. Have I missed any obvious ones around here? I’m sure I have. Let me know.