Queens 'under new management' (archive thread)

[editor]

Brixton's much loved pub on Bellefields Road /Ferndale Road, The Queens, is currently being refurbished after being taken over by new management.

Word is that the place has been bought up by the Dogstar... anyone know anything more?

[Mrs Magpie]

Well, there was a rumour running around the Albert that the Merretts have bought it. I hope not, unless it's the step too far that crashes them into ignominious liquidation and spiralling business-busting debt. Although that would be dreadful for their creditors of course.

[hatboy]

Another bit of Brixton character and a pub for the poor disappears.

[Pie 1]

a touch melodramatic hatboy & as for "the poor" I don't recall the're booze being significantly cheaper than any other normal boozer around here.
But I hope it not the Merrits

[editor]

Originally posted by Pie 1
a touch melodramatic hatboy & as for "the poor" I don't recall the're booze being significantly cheaper than any other normal boozer around here.

I'd say that the Beehive is the nearest thing to a 'pub for the poor' around here, if such a thing exists.

[Donna Ferentes]

Does the Crown and Sceptre count?

[Mr Retro]

I was having a few pints in Kellys in Stockwell yesterday and somebody mentioned the sale and they had heard Dogstar had taken it over.

I was under the impression that Dogstar was no longer owned by Merritt?

[Furvert]

oh for fucks sake, at this rate there's going to be absolutely no little boozers with character left.

the day anyone tries to take the windmill over, i swear, i'll be there with a fucking kalashnikov!!!

[hatboy]

Originally posted by Pie 1
a touch melodramatic hatboy & as for "the poor" I don't recall the're booze being significantly cheaper than any other normal boozer around here.
But I hope it not the Merrits

Not really. The Queens was very tolerant of people and their problems. The lock-ins, a sly smoke, people being abit pissed or OTT - all OK. You could even get a free beer off them occasionally if you were known in there.

If it's Dogstar or Merrett (I reckon the Dogstar is not entirely independent of him), it will be for the well-behaved, the well-healed and the well-adjusted only.

[Anna Key]

I've also heard the 'bought by Dogstar' rumour and the 'bought by Merrett' one. Then someone said last night it's been sold to the owner of some pub in Dulwich.

I've had such fun in that pub, with the badly behaved, the poorly healed and the maladjusted.

[IntoStella]

Very sad news. We need to find a new place to hang around late at night wth chaotic alcoholics. Still, there's always Tate gardens.

Who was that muttering ''Or anna key's garden?" Hush yer mouth.

Originally posted by Anna Key
Then someone said last night it's been sold to the owner of some pub in Dulwich.

What we heard was that the guy is the owner of a pub in Dulwich Village (which is actually a road). I've double checked on t'interwebthingy and I'm sure there is only one -- the lovely Crown and Greyhound. While this hopefully bodes well in terms of it not becoming a mindless doof doof bar, I should imagine it will be taken a long way upmarket. But then the Queen was so spectacularly downmarket that this is arguably unavoidable. I still think it's a shame, though.

[Pie 1]

Originally posted by hatboy
Not really. The Queens was very tolerant of people and their problems. The lock-ins, a sly smoke, people being abit pissed or OTT - all OK. You could even get a free beer off them occasionally if you were known in there.

I

Ok, fair enough , I got the wrong end of your 'poor' reference.

[Anna Key]

You could also play pool in there... at 10.30am... with hair of the dog... and Nancy Sinatra on the jukebox... Simple pleasures... not much to ask... Are you ready, boots? Start walkin'

[Pie 1]

Originally posted by IntoStella
But then the Queen was so spectacularly downmarket that this is arguably unavoidable.

[corporate whore]

Should the new owners be those of the Dulwich Dog, then all may not be lost, as long as they don't try to replicate said pub's rugger and sweater-round-the-shoulders atmosphere (or indeed, appaling Sunday lunches).

However, doing up a pub almost inevitably results in the incumbent clientele shifting on to pastures new (see another Dulwich boozer, the EDT).

The redeeming features of the C&G are its beers (Leffe! On tap!) and, of course, it's ridiculously large garden... only one of which will be possible at The Q..

[Donna Ferentes]

Originally posted by corporate whore
The redeeming features of the C&G are its beers (Leffe! On tap!)

Sorry, where exactly do I go to avail myself of this facility?

[davey]

Originally posted by Anna Key
I've had such fun in that pub, with the badly behaved, the poorly healed and the maladjusted.

I've got a soft spot for that pub! Though I did wonder whether it was a good thing that the bar girl recently poured my pint before I got to the bar .

It had regulars that would not have got in to a lot of bars in Brixton. Perfectly harmless, friendly individuals who were just a little, well, different. Had some bizarre conversation in there .

[isvicthere?]

I, for one, will really miss the inimitable atmosphere of the Queen. There is often debate on these boards along the lines of "original Brixton character" vs. "boring yuppie interloping". Now definitions may vary, but surely no-one could dispute that the joyfully chaotic misfit-fest that was a late one at the Queen had an old school Brixton vibe all its own.

[IntoStella]

There you go, Justin. Unfortunately, though, this

Originally posted by corporate whore
Should the new owners be those of the Dulwich Dog, then all may not be lost, as long as they don't try to replicate said pub's rugger and sweater-round-the-shoulders atmosphere

...is all too true. It is an absolutely beautiful, unspoiled Victorian pub, but it could lose some of its more odious customers. All is not lost -- just try to avoid it on a Saturday night when they hunt in packs.

[Donna Ferentes]

What, they have Leffe on tap at a Post Office?

Time to go nationwide on that one, I reckon.

[I like this - "rumoured to be the most expensive pub in the country"!]

[editor]

The sign on the pub says it's now managed by a company called something like ' Antic Limited'

[corporate whore]

Justin - that's probably just a rumour spread by Dulwich types in order to keep out the riffraff. It's got a lot of faults, but is no more expensive than many other London pubs.

Anyway, back to The Queen...

[Brixton Hatter]

Had a walk past the Queen last night on my way to the Duke of Eddie and saw the notices on the windows. The people applying for the licence at the refurbished Queen are Anthony James Thomas and Maxwell Alderman - anyone know who they are?

[Anna Key]

Originally posted by editor
The sign on the pub says it's now managed by a company called something like ' Antic Limited'

From Companies House:

Name & Registered Office :
ANTIC LIMITED
1 LORDSHIP LANE
EAST DULWICH
LONDON
SE22 8EW

Status :Active

Company No. :03902705
Date of Incorporation : 05/01/2000
Country of Origin : United Kingdom

Company Type: Private Limited Company
Nature Of Business (SIC(92)): 5540 - Bars

Accounting Reference Date : 30/04
Last Accounts Made Up To : 30/04/2002 (SMALL)
Next Accounts Due : 29/02/2004
Last Return Made Up To : 05/01/2003
Next Return Due : 02/02/2004
Last Members List : 05/01/2003

Suggesting the Dulwich rumour is true.

[Brixton Hatter]

Lordship Lane eh? Interesting. I know a solicitor on Lordship Lane who's involved in the local business community there - I'll ask her if she knows anything more....