6 minute read
A Final Thought
community A Final Thought…
Is it all doom and gloom for pubs?
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by JAMIE WRIGHT
It has been a familiar story over the past few decades; the English pub is in terminal decline. One of the touchstones of English and British culture for hundreds of years, part of the fabric of village and town life no longer has such a favoured position in our hearts, it seems. The figures seem to bear this out with around 5,000 pubs lost in the past five years alone. And then came the Coronavirus pandemic. Aside from the human loss, the hospitality industry, which includes pubs, has been hit disproportionately by COVID-19 with some sources suggesting that the industry as a whole lost £100 million for each month of lockdown…
Well…that paints a sombre picture and you could be forgiven for thinking that the direction of travel is one way. Pubs have tried to change their appeal over the years to deal with each of the bumps in the road: becoming more family friendly; improving the food offering; trying to shake off negative stereotypes. People’s image of pubs is often limited to throbbing town centre pubs, replete with large screen TVs, the occasional scuffle and bouncers on the door- not everyone’s idea of a good night out. Now local residents of Bromley North ‘village’ might not thank me for revealing their secret. Seemingly a million miles away from the homogeneity of the town centre, there is an oasis which seems to have been transported from a by-gone age. As the cars zoom by at the intersection of Kentish Way and Widmore Road, nestled behind Bromley Baptist Church, there is a quiet pedestrian walkway to Park Road. Suddenly the noise of 21st century Bromley dissipates and is replaced by residential calm. Our first stop on our little pub crawl was the Crown and Anchor. At dusk on this balmy August evening, it stood handsome and white-fronted on the corner of Park and Palace Roads with hanging baskets cascading from their planters. There was a little book exchange shelf outside too - which was a nice touch. Inside was lively with a real mix of ages which was also good to see. I took my Bexley’s Own beer outside to the garden area, complete with a seaside mural and comfy seating area. https://www.crownandanchorbromley.com Suitably refreshed, we poured out onto Palace Road, headed for the Anglesey Arms. Dusk had darkened and the smart frontage of the pub was illuminated now. The interior again in this Shepherd Neame house dating to the 1870s, was cosy and welcoming but as the weather was still so warm, we repaired to the garden, holding on to our Whitstable Bays. https://www.angleseyarmsbromley.co.uk We continued along Palace Road no more than a couple of minutes to the White Horse. This is how I picture a pub; filled with laughter and conversation and with the intimacy of a front room. We opted for an Atlantic Pale Ale and asked the friendly landlady to turn on the lights of the pool table and whiled away the time on the green baize. https:// thewhitehorsebromley.godaddysites.com An actual stone’s throw from the White Horse is the Red Lion on North Road. On the night we arrived, some of the locals had just come back from a trip to Sandown Park and a buffet table was laid out for them- this really is a community pub for the locals. There was a wide range of beers on offer but I couldn’t resist an Abbot Ale and it was excellent. There is food available here too and the stone-baked pizzas looked amazing (although we limited ourselves to some chilli nuts). Towards the back of the pub is a dart board (the pub is active in the darts leagues) and we inexpertly played 501 as the pub neared closing time. https://redlionbromley.co.uk As an admirer of pub culture, I think Bromley North really can count itself lucky. But perhaps it isn’t luck - here smuggled in among the houses are little gems. The quintessence of the British pub is to be found here; homely, welcoming and warm. I look forward to another trip here soon.
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