Taken on a “tenancy at will” from Enterprise Inns, Nick became landlord here in only June of last year previously being the bar manager at Hoopers in Camberwell. There was always some uncertainty as to what was going to happen and now he’s been asked to leave. What is going to happen is unclear as the gorgeous pub has just got English Heritage Grade 2 listing (granted as of today 20 April).
Nick has said “We’re pretty much in the dark regarding the exact details of the sale and future plans for the pub. We’ve just been instructed to get out. It’s been suggested that the sale hasn’t actually gone through yet and won’t until both the pub and upstairs flats are totally vacated (making it a much more attractive prospect to the mystery buyer/developer), but I can’t say for sure what the real facts are and what is just rumour.

There may be some point in kicking up a stink and campaigning, it may be a waste of energy better spent house/job-hunting. All I know is that Sunday is going to be very emotional and lots of shambolic fun. It’ll be a party people will talk about for years – many of my friends have already booked Monday off work in anticipation.
Hopefully we’ll be full to the ceiling and won’t run out of booze too early.
Please join us and help give this amazing place the send-off it deserves.”
The Ivy House, 40 Stuart Road, Peckham, SE15 3BE

Check out some more pictures on our flickr stream.

UPDATE (21/04/12)

Following an application to English Heritage sent in a few months ago from SELondon CAMRA The Ivy House has been given Grade 2 Listed status. This means that without permission the building will not be demolished and the interior will not be altered.

Blackheath is split into two parts. Blackheath Village is built around the railway station on the south side of the Heath. Across the Heath, on the north eastern tip, is the area known as Blackheath, Royal Standard.

Dominating the green that is colloquially named after it (which is officially named Bartley Park), the Standard has stood here over 150 years. The pub is owned and operated by Orchid Pubs, a national chain of nearly 300 pubs that has been trading since 2006.

Inside, there is a homely feel – plenty of moody lighting and distinguished-looking ornaments. At one end there is a mini lounge, complete with a breathtaking table, made from a cross-section from a large tree, surrounded by leather sofas.

The bar holds five hand pumps – London Pride is always on, along with  two national guest ales and two local guests. Food is currently served until 10pm; the menu is fairly standard, with all the grub you would normally expect, and there is also a kids menu. Sundays see the traditional roast and a recent addition to the calendar is Curry Night on Wednesdays.

Other weekly events include poker night on Mondays and a quiz on Sunday evenings. The pub is well equipped with large screen televisions and endeavours to show most major sporting events. There is also talk of possible live entertainment in future. Another bonus (particularly for me!) is the free wifi, meaning it’s the perfect place to work from home!

For the smokers, or those that enjoy drinking with the sun on their back (and who doesn’t?) there is a small patio out the front, and a secluded ‘secret garden’ out back.

Meet the Manager - Bruce Wright

Where were you born?

Romford (for my sins!)

What was your first job?

As a glass collector at Romford Social club – I’ve been in the business my whole professional life!

What are your hobbies?

Beer hunting!

What do you like to watch on TV?

When I find time, I like Fringe, Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men (although it has gone off the boil since Charlie ‘died’)

What is your favourite sport?

Football to watch, basketball to play

What is your favourite ale?

Changes monthly! At the moment into dark malty ales – London Fields’ Love Not War, Dorking’s Red India and By The Horns from Diamond Geezer.

If you weren’t a pub manager, what would you like to be?

I can’t imagine doing something else. In a pipe dream, I’d have liked to score a winning goal for West Ham.

What sort of music do you like?

Bit of all sorts. Soul, funk, vintage British Rock n Roll, mainly.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

New York. Next time I go, I’m planning to visit the Brooklyn Brewery, as I missed out last time.

What is your favourite food?

British comfort food – pie and mash and good sausages

The Old Bank Bar and Carvery, 239 Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, SE16

The pub building started life as a branch of Midland bank,later to become HSBC, it was closed several years ago under cost cutting measures and stood empty for a couple of years. The building was taken over and refurbished as a pub with restaurant and carvery facilities about two years ago by it’s present owners who were licencees of The Queen Victoria in Southwark park road SE16.

The pub is open seven days a week with normal licensing hours with a midnight closing time on Saturdays. Two real ale pumps are available at all times, which at the time of my visit were Ruddles county and Old speckled hen, although I have used it when Doombar and Greene King IPA and other beers have been on offer. The pub is a free house and the beers were resonably priced at less tha £3 a pint.

A bar menu is available during the week at lunchtimes with a carvery on offer on Saturday evenings and Sundays priced at £8-95 and £6-95 for over sixties, serving very generous helpings. There is a disabled ramp and disabled toilet and the toilets are kept very clean. Do not be put off by the Millwall FC. flags that adorn the market square outside the pub, it is in a very staunch area for Millwall fans including yours truly, but the fans who patronise the pub, particularly on matchdays are mostly over forty and will make anyone welcome to come and join in the lively pre match atmosphere.

I use the pub an a regular basis myself and would thouroughly reccomend it to fellow CAMRA members.

Meet the Manager

Paul is the manager of the Old Bank which is one of two pubs in the area owned by Maurice O’Sullivan, the other pub is the nearby Queen Victoria.

Paul, where were you born?

Tullamore, County Offlay

What was your first job?

A barman and cellarman at the Lantern pub in my home town.

What are your hobbies?

I love listening to good music, and playing the guitar.

What do you like to watch on TV?

Football, Millwall.

What is your favourite sport?

I like watching all types of gaelic games and of course football.

What is your favourite real ale?

Sharps Doombar.

If you were not a pub manager what would you like to be?

A professional musician in a proper band, with real instruments and no synthesized sounds.

What sort of music do you like?

I listen to a lot of folk and rock, but I like all kinds of music. The Beatles were a great band but they weren’t a boy band.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I like visiting home the best.

What is your favourite food?

Thai food

The Montague Arms was bought by Peter Hoyle in 1967, and over years became the perfect alternative and eccentric venue. Its interior an Aladdin’s cave with hundreds of unusual and genuine items including a penny farthing, a blunderbuss, deep sea divers helmet, pre-first world war vacuum cleaner, telegraphy equipment, numerous stuffed animal heads which according to their plaques were shot by African big game hunters between the wars, controls off old steam ships, an incredible full sized stage coach. An absolute I-spy of ridiculous and fascinating items.

Nationally recognised as a treasure of a pub, its stage has seen every type of performer, poets, avantgarde experimentalists, story tellers, musicians and rock bands galore. Its many events, including the unwrong quiz, has for some time now have been hosted and organised by the dapper and be-suited Frog Morris.

It has served real ale from hand-pump and its featured breweries last year were Timothy Taylor, St Austell and Black Sheep, plus Sam Smith bottled beers.

Its licencees were Stan and Bet who ran the pub from day to day and lived above it. Sadly they have recently passed away, both being of impressive age. They owned almost all of the paraphernalia, which has real financial value and is in safe keeping at the moment. That paraphernalia’s future is now dependent on how their estate and wills are resolved.

Peter Hoyle the building’s owner has more or less passed matters to his son Martin to consider how to take things forward from their family’s perspective. One of the options must be the dreaded selling for conversion to flats or worse. In short the situation is in turmoil and uncertain.

Check out some pictures of the interior on our photostream

As you may be aware, in conjunction with the Surrey County Cricket Club, South East London Camra is running a beer and cider festival at the Oval.  The festival will be of modest size and will be held on 18 and 19 May. It is likely that it will need some twenty volunteers to run the festival on each of the days.CAMRA Volunteers will be provided with tea, coffee and soft drinks and a meal for each day worked. Volunteers are also entitled to reasonable amounts of free beer, supervised by the CAMRA Festival Organiser. There will be a secure area to be used by CAMRA Volunteers when resting etc. such as a lockable room away from the public area. At the moment we are seeking volunteers, who must be members, for some key posts, though it is of course possible for volunteers to fill more than one role;

Bar managers – this role will be to ensure the good running of the bar during the festival, assisting staff and customers as necessary, monitoring,  reporting, anticipating and helping to resolve situations.

Beer selection and ordering sub-committee – a thousand customers each day means some 115 ferkins need to be sourced and organised.  will require to be done about 10 -6 weeks before the fest -  a number of evenings required to put order together.

Cellarmen – set up and during fest. preparing beer for dispense, monitoring quality and uptake, beer hygene, and  safeguarding Camra festival equipment.

Staffing officer – responsible for seeking volunteers for the two days, signing in of staff, ensuring staff know the rules of conduct, health and safety issues and the general arrangements of the festival. Will require to be done in lead up to festival laising with volunteers, organising staff badges  and during festival.

Heath and Safety officer – a required Camra post with some initial paper-work to complete. Camra HQ produce H&S festival guidelines which need to be followed, some liaising with the venue’s H&S manager  will also be needed plus trouble shooting during the festival.

Products Manager/ Membership Officer –  Required during festival with need to place  order to HQ  before festival,   this will be a cash/credit card operation selling Camra books and other products plus recruiting new members

The following posts are already filled – Organiser, Deputy Organiser,  Assistant Organiser, Treasurer, and Cider Bar Manager.  Security will be provided by the venue. Note that the festival will be using tokens rather than cash. There will be a cricket match on during the festival and our operation will be in an 80×30 metre marquee. If you are interested please let me know.

Julian Stone
Festival Organiser
South East London Camra
festivals @ selcamra.org.uk

The Kentish Drovers, 71-79 Peckham High Street, Peckham SE15 5RS

Mention Peckham to anyone and no doubt the classic eighties sitcom Only Fools and Horses and lovable cockney rogue Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter spring to mind.  In reality, it’s a somewhat different and uncertain area from the series itself and became a victim of last year’s summer riots.  Of course, it has some of the stereotypes you would expect of a South London town such as greasy spoons and cheap outdoor markets.  There is even a Nag’s Head pub on the outskirts but unfortunately no real ale is served.  A large percentage of the community is made up of migrants from Eastern Europe, the African Continent, West Indies and the Far East, making it an intriguing den of iniquity with its shops and cafes.

The Hope, which was the only surviving pub on the high street, closed a couple of years ago to become part of the Paddy Power chain of bookmakers.  Peckham has very few pubs left and those that have survived serve only keg beer.  However, there is one pub that stands out as an oasis in an area which is very much a real ale desert.  Ladies and gentlemen may I present you with The Kentish Drovers, part of the ever expanding JD Wetherspoon chain.

On first entering the premises, it’s easy to imagine Del Boy fitting in here by trying to sell his dodgy goods to the unsuspecting locals, many of whom look as though their other place of occupation is the nearest branch of Ladbrokes but then again, the same could be said for many Wetherspoon pubs.  Rest assured, it is one of the most safest havens to eat and drink in Peckham. Inside the pub are a number of original cast iron pillars, some of which are close to three metres tall. Another remnant from its bank days are the mosaic floor patterns which were presumably once part of the banking hall.

Since Polish born Rob Tokarski took over as manager two years ago, all trouble has virtually disappeared and Rob instigated the pub’s signature cask ale, Jamaica Stout from the Carribean island’s Big City Brewing Company, which is available whenever he can get it or there is a beer festival here.  Like many pubs Wetherspoons chain, Fullers London Pride, Greene King Abbot and Ruddles are permanently on tap with 2-3 regularly changing guest beers from independent brewers, some of which are at 1.95 a pint.  Well worth it in these hard hit economic times.  Overall, the Kentish Drovers is a fine example of a real ale pub that attracts a large Afro-Carribean community.

Meet the Manager

Where were you born?
in Poland, my family are from Tczew which is pronounced T’cheff.  The town is not far from the Gdansk shipyards and is a major rail intersection. Oh its also not far from where the second world war first started

What was your first job?
I joined the Army and set up field telephones

What are your hobbies?
I still love technical gadgets wether its to play games, communicate or to listen to music.  I was last playing LA Noire which is a crime solving game set in 1947.

What do you like to watch on TV?
live stand-up comedy and  sitcoms

What is your favourite sport?
to watch it has to be formula one, but doing, I like to scuba dive and have recently passesd my Autonomous Diver level 2 qualification (level 3 is materdiver).

What is your favouriste real ale?
exmoor gold from the Dartmoor Brewery, though I like lots of different golden beers

If you were not a landlord what would you like to be?
a proffessional dive technician.

What sort of music do you like?
I’m a fan of Adele, her music is magical and real.  I’m certainly no fan of Polish pop-music which is the very opposite

What is your favourite holiday destination?
I love the West Indies, amongst other things the diving there is fabulous.  My wife and I have been to many of its beautiful islands, most recently Genada.

What is your favourite food?
You cant beat a really good chicken tandori-masala

If you wish to nominate yourself for a committee position, please email secretary@selcamra.org.uk

(7.30pm for 8pm start) Kings Arms, 25 Roupell St, SE1 8TB

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The Hope, 49 Norwood High Street, West Norwood, SE27 9JS

Website: http://www.thehopepub.net

Back in the 1990’s the Hope was in the Good Beer Guide, now thanks to new management its back in again where it should be.

I drank in the Hope as one of my pubs along with a few others in and around the West Norwood and Herne Hill areas of South East London.

Being part of the Youngs group, previously the Hope always had three hand pumps but only Youngs Bitter and Special on tap. As time went by, my visits to the pub were concerning to me that less and less people were drinking there. Though the quality of beer was reasonable, I noticed that when the previous manageress went away, Sarah (a long serving barmaid) and her partner Robin (good cellar man when asked to help) would cover and straight away the beer quality was much better.

Things got worse when all of a sudden the previous landlady told everyone at the Hope she was throwing the towel in, and that some publican from Ireland may be taking over. Two of the three bar maids spoke to me and said “come on Ian, you’re a CAMRA member cant you write a letter to Youngs and nominate Sarah and Robin to be considered” – so I agreed to. On reply I received a really nice letter back from Mr Geff Bygraves who represented Youngs for South East of England. He said thanks for the letter along with many others written on their behalf, and that Sarah and Robin would be amongst those for interviewing.

A few months after, celebrations were in order, as Sarah and Robin took over on November 2008. Straight away the quality of beer tasted better and better, even the other drinkers were saying that their beers were much better too. As time went by, repair work was being done by loyal locals as well as Robin’s father and the rest of the family. Piece by piece the pub now has a lovely back garden with seats and benches, a fish pond, flowers, and a newly built function room that holds up to forty people. In addition the pub remains one of Youngs oldest pubs.

Inside, the seats get regularly filled now – especially by pub’s the real log fire which makes a cosy feel. There are now five hand pumps, serving Bitter and Special, plus London Gold, Sambrooks Junction and an ever changing guest beer.

For three years now the Hope has had the Good Beer Guide stickers on display as well as Cask Marque to show that this pub has got better and better, what more could one ask for? Just to say that the regular following from families, and young and old will say “Come along and meet Sarah and Robin at the Hope”

Cheers
Ian Quinn

Focus on the landlady of the Hope, Sarah

Where were you born?
East Dulwich

What was your first job?
Hairdressing at a salon called Mr Twist.

What are your hobbies?
Black Ops – the PS3 on-line game. But more seriously we raise money for Help for Heroes. So far we have raised a total of £2,400, mainly going for the Tigers Regiment in Afganistan. During December we were sending packages of goodies direct to BFPO troops .

What do you like to watch on TV?
Either ghost hunting programs or Chelsea scoring lots of goals.

What is your favourite sport?
Come-on Chelsea !

What is your favourite real ale?
Right now its Youngs Winter Warmer

If you were not a landlady, what would you like to be?
A midwife.

What sort of music do you like?
All kinds, but especially Chas and Dave and in particular their Cyborg song and Gurracha.

What is your favourite holiday destination?
Barbados, though its been a few years since we last went (hint to husband).

What is your favourite food?
Has to be pie and mash, with liquor and chilli vinegar.

A neighbour of Hoopers has persuaded Southwark Licensing to review our Premises Licence on the grounds of Noise Nuisance. This will be held on Mon 30th Jan. The neighbour is hoping that the Council will prevent Hoopers hosting Live Music (+ possible other events), and will restrict our use of our outside smoking area on Malfort Road.

If this person had moved to a property near a railway line or a bus garage, it would be unheard of for them to be able to stop train services or curtail use of buses. You would ask why that person choose to live near something, such as a pub,that could cause a little bit of noise occasionally. After all, there are numerous streets or estates that ONLY consist of homes. However current legislation allows Licensed Premises to have their Conditions to be reviewed (and possible restrictions imposed) if a person living nearby can persuade the Licensing Panel of their complaint.

Here is where YOU can help. We need everyone – that includes you!!! – to email or write to the Licensing Officer, dorcas.mills@southwark.gov.uk, please Bcc a copy to me (jamiechooper@hotmail.com). Please put your address in the email please. This has to be received by the deadline of this coming FRIDAY 6TH JAN. simply stating why you want live performance to continue at Hoopers, why the use of a small area outside on Hoopers property for smokers to comply with legislation is essential (even if you are not a smoker), how you feel the pub has been operated to the local communities benefit since we took over 5 years ago, and why you feel that local businesses such as this should be encouraged to flourish. We would encourage you, to say what YOU think.

As of Friday, Mrs Mills said she had received just 1 for and 1 against the neighbour’s application, and said there was just 7 days left for representations from the public.

We need to show to the Councillors who will be unfamiliar to Hoopers, that the public overwhealmingly supports what we do, and most importantly, that restrictions that the applicant wishes to be imposed could result in our closure, as locals like us have to provide entertainment to survive.

Hooper’s is a popular and well-run pub, as well as a former Pub of the Season, and it would be a travesty if it were to lose its license under these circumstances. We would urge all supporters to contact Mrs Mills as soon as possible, and spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and any other means at your disposal.

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