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Pub Review: The Vanbrugh

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The Vanbrugh
91, Colomb Street
SE10 9EZ

If ever there was an evening to go to the Vanbrugh, it’s a July evening in the middle of a Greenwich heat wave. As the weather makes a setting and the setting is what really makes The Vanbrugh, so regardless of some pretty significant shortfalls I enjoyed my time there.

Don’t be fooled by the poncey Flash website (show me a good Flash website and I’ll show you a flying beer barrel), the Vanbrugh has a decidedly laid-back atmosphere. It’s been sectioned off into a few distinct areas: there’s the rather forgettable small and dark bar area, outdone in size and style by both the large traditional garden and the permanent marquee that leads to it. Yep, marquee, and it’s bizarrely furnished with huge red Chesterfield sofas and matching lighting. It works though, as you feel more part of the garden than the pub, yet it’s cosy at the same time.

I am not without my gripes about The Vanbrugh, though. When I say it’s laid-back, I mean laid-back. The barmen look and act as though someone’s just shaken them out of a coma – not unfriendly, but somehow not all there. No real effort’s gone into the drinks or food selections either, which are indistinguishable from every other pub in the area. I rarely eat in pubs but I chanced it here and it didn’t stack up. It wasn’t dreadful, but the nachos were so stingily dressed that I may as well have turned up with my own bag of cheese Doritos, and the broccoli & cheese bake was strangely watery, with stodgy chips not tasting of much. Kudos for managing to go beyond soggy lettuce and onion in the side salad, but really if you have to rely on your side salad for a good review, it’s not a great sign.

Back to the plus side, The Vanbrugh is one of the busiest places I’d been to. Not wonderfully located next to the train tracks near Maze Hill station, one can only assume folks seek it out and it’s been recommended to me on many occasions, both of which speak volumes. Food and zombie barmen aside, it is certainly worth a visit for a nice place to just have a drink and be still for a while. Just make sure you don’t sink too far into those sofas, you might slip into a coma and be forced to join the staff there on a permanent basis…

Pub Review: Greenwich Park Bar & Kitchen

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The Greenwich Park Bar & Kitchen
1 King William Walk SE10 9JY

I wasn’t expecting a lot from this place. I was expecting a bland, chain-style tourist trap. Humble pie time I’m afraid: someone’s clearly put a lot of thought into the (new) new look Bar & Kitchen and has carved out a well-defined and satisfying niche.

The Bar & Kitchen wouldn’t be too out of place with an ‘EC’ postcode and a few Friday night suits, which is actually a refreshing change amongst the town’s raft of ‘local’ pubs with a posh edge (read Gastropubs). The décor is quite dark but stylish: some well-spaced wicker sofas and fairy lights at one end, and a formal dining area at the other.

Where the Union does Ales, the Bar & Kitchen does cocktails, with a list more extensive than the food menu. There’s also happy hour from Monday to Friday between 5pm and 7pm, where the cocktails are £3.95 rather than the usual £6 or £7 (cue happy suits and stilettos). The menu focuses on a few select dishes that presumably change regularly and I was intrigued to see Macaroni cheese on there; very random in June but it beats veggie lasagne any day.

The barman was friendly and took an interest in my unusual choice of vodka and apple juice with lime juice. Actually, what happened was he misheard me when I asked for cranberry juice but he made such an effort with the banter about me inventing a new cocktail, that I didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d made a mistake (plus I was secretly hoping “the Rosie” would make it onto the cocktail menu!). Other than that there was a wide selection of lagers and a few wines to choose from.

I don’t imagine anyone’s socks will be knocked off by a visit to the Bar & Kitchen, but it is a pretty little place with a clear agenda and that makes it a success as far as I’m concerned. Amidst a sea of local, country-ish pubs with real ale and pies, you need a few fairy lights and cocktails every so often, so if mojitos are your thing I’d say give this place a(nother) go.

Theatre Review: The Maids

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The Maids at Greenwich Playhouse
“The Maids” at Greenwich Playhouse

Jean Genet’s troubling story of two servant sisters with murderous intentions towards their employer is re-designed for the 21st Century in The Maids by fresh-from-drama-school theatre company Nomads of Bazaar.

The action centres on sisters Solange and Claire, maids to the flamboyant Madame, who express their frustration and resentment at their situation by acting out their fantasies about killing their boss. Loosely on France’s famous Papin sisters, who murdered their mistress and her daughter in 1933, The Maids is a 90 minute real-time glimpse into the true misery of inevitable and interminable servitude.

The dialogue is quick, angry and often hysterical, and the play-within-a-play setting certainly keeps you on your toes as it blurs the borders between fantasy, theatre and reality. It’s all well put-together, with the sisters’ clever use of a camcorder to film their role-plays giving The Maids a dimension that I’m sure Genet never intended, but that really adds pace and structure.

Camcorder aside the 21st century setting is perhaps a little awkward, as presumably there aren’t many maids left in Paris in 2009 and I think the stilettos and cordless phones somewhat lessen the shock intended. Don’t get me wrong, semi-incestuous homicidal sisters will still evoke considerable discomfort no matter what their footwear, it’s just that the modern styling makes the premise a little shaky.

The two leads have a difficult job but as Simon Cowell would say, they give it 110%, particularly Emilja Ellen as the dominant sister, whose monologues are a one-woman emotional rollercoaster. Irena Grgona’s hysterical Claire could have used a little more subtlety, but she looks fantastic as the submissive (if equally unstable) younger sibling. But it’s Claire Spence’s preposterous yet credible performance as Madame that steals the show as a fantastic caricature of the rich and pointless. Granted her 15-minute, 1-dimensional role is perhaps a little easier than the others’, but full marks for execution and for managing to glean at least two humorous moments from a very dark script.

The colourful but troubled life of Jean Genet weeps out of every word of this play, and it’s not the thing to go and see if your established theatre comfort zone is a few chuckles and a happy ending. The Maids is all about feeling a uncomfortable, shocked and sad, so in that respect I’m sure Genet, whose raison d’etre was to ‘stick it to the man’ long before stilettos came along, would be very pleased with the Nomads of Bazaar’s efforts.

The Maids by Jean Genet
Greenwich Playhouse until 5 July Tues-Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm
Ticket Price: £12 (£10 conc.)

Pub Review: Cutty Sark Tavern

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Cutty Sark Tavern

The Cutty Sark Tavern
4-7 Ballast Quay, SE10 9PD

I was hoping the Cutty Sark Tavern would be the ‘green shoots’ of my pub review feature, because having been somewhat scathing over the last couple of weeks I felt in need of a positive review to show the publicans and patrons of Greenwich that I’ve not become irrevocably mean. Well, thank goodness the Cutty Sark Tavern is a great pub, then.

The Cutty Sark Tavern dates from the 18th century and is a commanding, if slightly wonky, building on a lovely cobbled Georgian street in East Greenwich, with an awesome view of Canary Wharf and the river. Tucked away on the riverbank, the Cutty Sark Tavern is well off the tourist track so is a firm favourite with local professionals and I can see why.

The interior is a little Disney Moby Dick, but then the clue’s in the name I suppose and though the nautical theme isn’t exactly groundbreaking, the ships’ wheels on the walls and customised barrels to sit on work well here. The low ceilings make it feel cosy but there’s plenty of space and an imposing winding staircase taking you to the upstairs bar, where you can find some normal chairs if you want to eat. On a Wednesday evening The Cutty Sark Tavern wasn’t packed, but I can imagine that it gets busy on warm days as the patio is on right the river, with a wall perfect for perching your pint on and watching the Thames Clippers go by.

The drinks selection is ale-focused and they have cloudy cider on tap, as well as a few football lagers. They’re not exactly punching above their weight with the menu but it’s fairly reasonably priced and they’ve given some consideration to the vegetarians, which always warrants a plus in my book. Best of all, the staff are great: a very friendly set of young gentlemen who know their drinks and I had a good bit of banter with our server over a game of dominos he’d set up at the bar. A bit random but entertaining nonetheless.

All in all I’d say this is a tavern well worth a visit and next time the sun is out of an evening I’ll definitely be heading there again. Happy Rosie is back – anchors away!

Pub Review: Lord Hood

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Lord Hood
300 Creek Road SE10 9SW

Back in 2005-06 there was a local campaign to ‘Save the Hood’ when its existence was threatened by council plans for redevelopment. According to its website, the pub’s patrons won out with some stellar arguments about its being 200 years old, “friendly to women” and “not a wine bar”. With that kind of progressive thinking how could the council bring in the JCBs, right? Unfortunately for the Lord Hood, I can’t find much to savour in its salvation.

To start with the positive, the exterior is actually rather promising. Nothing flashy but with an old town house pub look and a bit of greenery it looks like a welcoming, unpretentious sort of place. However, there’s a line between ‘unpretentious’ and ‘not trying at all’, and once you get inside you realise that this place has long since crossed that line. It has the shabby red velvet and dark wooden bar stool thing going on, with a dartboard and pool table, but it all looks like no-one’s touched (read: cleaned) anything for 20 years +.

We got a few good hard stares from the locals when entering; they were about 6 in number and made up the entire clientele. The Internet buzz about this place is that it’s all about the Live Music – especially jazz and folk – but thank goodness for beardy musicians because there was little sign of the 60 people who apparently attended the ‘Save the Hood’ meetings and I wonder how this pub would survive otherwise.

The service was a little unfriendly and the barmaid seemed pretty put out when we asked what selection of ciders they had – Magners and Strongbow, which is pretty indicative of the average drinks selection. The beer garden doesn’t add much either: perhaps I was too harsh on the Pilot Inn, as the Lord Hood’s concrete patio slab adjacent to the main road certainly made me wish I were back at GMV.

I acknowledge that the Live Music here can be a huge draw for many and that a good gig can really make a place. Therefore I reserve ultimate judgement on this place until I check out the Jazz, but frankly I can’t think of any other reason I would want to go to the Lord Hood again.


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Greenwich Hospital Respond to Andrew Gilligan

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Earlier this week, Andrew Gilligan wrote about the plans for the redevelopment of Greenwich Market. Here is the response of the market owners, Greenwich Hospital.

Temporary Market

The Environmental Statement referred to assessed the principle locations of the temporary market not the final proposals. We assessed a maximum site area of 10,000 sqm (to include storage, access etc) to  accommodate the temporary market. The final details of the temporary market will be submitted to Greenwich Council in early June. The temporary market will allow for the same number of stallholders as existing and will be of a similar size in terms of floor space.

Paragraph 3.16 of the Environmental Statement refers to the gross Market area which includes the circulation area in front of the shops and the seating areas of George II and the Coach and Horses.

Paragraph 3.25 of the Environmental Statement refers to a brief for the temporary market with a floor space requirement of 1,000 sqm which was an approximate area and not what was tested in site terms. The Environmental Statement relates to the main site application and was written before the final plans for the temporary market were fully defined. The temporary market will be judged on its own merits through the planning application process. The proposed marquee will accommodate the same number of stalls on a similar size footprint.

Retailer relocation

Greenwich Hospital is in discussions with all the retailers in the market and has a relocation strategy in place. Through this process it will be able to relocate all the existing retailers from the current market during construction either into other Hospital owned units in the town centre or 6 of them to the temporary market units.

Obviously it is difficult to give specifics due to the fact that our discussions with tenants are ongoing and confidential.

We have just received planning consent for a change of use of 2-5 College Approach to create 4 retail units. There is only 1 vacant unit in the Greenwich Hospital Estate as the other is under offer and this is by a tenant moving from elsewhere in the estate, however this will in due course create 1 more available unit within the estate.

There is another unit on the estate that the tenant has chosen to vacate and so we expect that this will come back to Greenwich Hospital soon. All this will total 7 units, which together with the 6 retail units in the temporary market will provide 13 options to relocate tenants. This is not withstanding the fact that some tenants have indicated that they would rather leave the estate than be relocated either due to the direction their businesses are taking or because they were merely taking advantage of a short-term let opportunity. There are other possible relocation units around the Hospital’s Estate, for example, the Greenwich Tourist Information Office will vacate 46 Greenwich Church Street to return to the Old Royal Naval College next March.

Regenerated market floor space

Although the covered area of the market has reduced slightly by less than 10% the actual market footprint has remained broadly the same, as have the number of stalls that can be housed. This point is dealt with fully in the Design and Access Statement of the planning application.

The historic footprint remains and is very slightly wider, so the existing stall layout can be accommodated.

The proposed canopy has fewer columns/masts than the existing canopy. They are wider in diameter but they are dual-purpose, as they will carry rainwater down and electrical supplies up to high level lighting etc.

Increase in build density

The total floorspace of the proposals has increased from the existing floor space. This is partly related to the reuse of the existing inefficient service yards with the provision of a new building to the west of the existing market.

There are increases in building heights within the site to accommodate the new facilities. However, the buildings remain below the roofline of the existing Nelson Road roofs and are hardly visible from outside the site.

Transport and Access

The person trips obtained for the hotel are generated from survey information from a series of comparable London hotels found within the TRAVL database, the standard database for trip generation used by local authorities and TfL in London.

Analysis of this information shows that the trips associated with a hotel are typically spread out throughout the day. As such there would be little impact during either the morning or evening peak periods.

Planning policy encourages car free developments in town centres with good public transport links. However, the arrangements were discussed with the Council and stakeholders.

Whilst some guests, when initially arriving, may do so by taxi, the close proximity of the Docklands Light Railway station will encourage the guests, many of whom are likely to be tourists visiting Historic Greenwich, not to drive or use a taxi.

On a daily basis, many of the trips will be guests who have already checked into the hotel, travelling on foot to tourist destinations in Greenwich, or travelling by Docklands Light Railway or Thames Clipper River service to Central London.

The proportion of guests who choose to travel by taxi will be collected by taxis stopping briefly on King William Walk. Due to the dispersed nature of the guests’ arrival and departure patterns this is unlikely to cause significant traffic impact. Any increase in vehicles would be more than offset by the removal of the vehicular traffic associated with the current office buildings within the market and the car park in Durnford Street.

It should also be noted that, in order to reduce the likelihood of taxis waiting on King William Walk consideration is currently being given to the introduction of a system to enable the hotel to summon a taxi from the nearby taxi rank on Greenwich Church Street for guests leaving the hotel.

Public consultation

Greenwich Hospital has not kept ‘disturbing details of the development quiet’, on the contrary the consultation website www.greenwichmarketconsultation.co.uk aims to be transparent and informative which is why agendas and minutes of Key Stakeholder minutes are all online.

Whilst the results of the October 2007 exhibition showed that 50% of respondees commented that they supported the scheme with suggestions; many of these suggestions have now been incorporated into the scheme and therefore we do count these individuals as supportive.

Below is a summary of some of the main issues which have been influenced by the responses of the local planning authority, the Key Stakeholder Consultative Group, Community Liaison Group and all other stakeholders and residents:

  • Phasing of the market regeneration was rejected by Greenwich Hospital after the market traders and retailers suggested it would make trading very difficult. Greenwich Hospital responded to this by seeking to find a venue to relocate the market within Greenwich during the regeneration period.
  • Cutty Sark Gardens was considered as the first option for temporary market relocation in
    accordance with market traders wishes.
  • Market Roof: Hopkins Architects refined the design of the new market and extended coverage of the roof to both ends of the market to enable the largest number of traders to be protected from the weather; this was a direct result of concerns expressed by traders.
  • The Community Liaison Group (CLG) was set up following a decision of the KSCG to set up a body to oversee and facilitate the move of the market to a temporary location and to include representatives of the community and residents in the CLG.
  • The Old Royal Naval College was selected as a temporary market location following discussions with the Key Stakeholder Consultative Group and market traders.
  • Delaying the Closure of Greenwich Market: After many meetings with market traders and after consideration of the effects of the economic slowdown on the market traders, Greenwich Hospital decided to keep the market trading throughout Christmas 2009 in the existing market location to give traders the best chance of trading successfully over the crucial Christmas period.
  • Stall Design in the market will be worked up by Greenwich Space Management and Hopkins Architects with the help and assistance of traders who will be utilising the new stall
    designs.
  • Construction impact – development of a strategy to address the construction impacts of the market regeneration on surrounding residents has been and will continue to be addressed by ensuring the Community Liaison Group continues to meet post planning application.
  • Finish and materials – The finish and materials were the subject of a considerable number of comments made by members of the community following the Public Exhibition in October 2007 and these reflected a wish that the selected finishes should fit well within the context of Greenwich Town Centre and should be of high quality. Greenwich Hospital and Hopkins Architects considered these comments carefully and removed the red brick from the interior walls of the market,  replacing them with timber.
  • Accessibility for disabled people was considered after Greenwich Association for Disabled People submitted an email to Greenwich Hospital which stated a preference for even flooring, flat thresholds, lavatories with disabled access and additional enhanced accessibility features.
  • Second Public Exhibition was agreed by the KSCG and by Greenwich Council officers as a good method of communicating the final market regeneration plans to as wide a group of residents as possible. Greenwich Hospital was happy to facilitate this exhibition.
  • On Site storage capacity in the regenerated market area will match the existing on site storage capacity. This strategy has been developed following discussions with market traders on how storage in the new market would operate.

Greenwich Hospital believes that the application for the regeneration is in accordance with Greenwich Council’s Unitary Development Plan and that it will demonstrate the highest standards in design, landscaping, detailing and finish and that the regeneration will maintain and preserve the architectural integrity and identity of the town centre. Greenwich Hospital does not believe that the essential character of the market will change. Rather the hotel will make the market an attractive place for more people for more of the time and bring a more positive atmosphere to the market in the evenings and on non market trading days. The new roof will be a considerable improvement on the current roof. There is broad support for the principle of regeneration from many Greenwich stakeholders and residents but that is not evident in the article.

It is particularly disappointing that someone who has written on the subject so often failed to attend the recent public exhibition when he could have discussed the plans in more detail Greenwich Hospital response to Andrew Gilligan article of 27 May 2009 with members of the project team; even though he was explicitly invited to do so by the Member of Parliament.

Pub Review: The Pilot Inn

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The Pilot Inn
8 River Way, SE10 0BE

Greenwich Millennium Village is a strange place. Despite being the nearest you can get to the tube in this part of town, having the mammoth o2 on its doorstep and being a hefty residential stronghold, it somehow always feels like you’re in the middle of a computer-generated environment, miles from anywhere. The Pilot, GMV’s ‘local’, is much in keeping with its sim-city surroundings and despite being generally ok, it lacks a lot of the character that makes the town pubs successful.

Owned by uber-chain Fullers, the Pilot ticks most of the corporate pub boxes with a wide lager selection, Rosé in bulk and every flavour of j2o you could want. However, there’s a decided mediocrity about the place, with its uninspiring ale selection, forgettable décor and split-level interiors that make it disjointed and a little unwelcoming. The food is rather expensive (£10 for Scampi & Chips), and again, pretty middle of the road. The staff, apart from a standard issue try-hard manager, are a little on the gruff, robotic side – when I asked the barman if I could order food his reply was ‘Yeah why not?’, before taking a good 5 minutes to process my order for one meal. They also had a seafood specials promotion going on, but at 6pm on a Saturday they had crossed 5 out of 7 meals off the list, as they were unavailable.

Despite all this, the Pilot does have one saving grace in its spectacular beer garden. The water features, hanging baskets and ivy fences all look like they’ve been given the creative effort and thought that the rest of the place so conspicuously lacks and it’s a lovely place to sit with your Magners. There’s even a BBQ stand where they apparently cook sausages and burgers in the summer (assuming they have any left). Its only slight drawback is that it being north facing and fully enclosed, it does get rather chilly, but then this is Britain so perhaps I’m expecting too much!

All in all I think the Pilot is trying to be a country pub in a city spot and it’s this air of artifice and sterility that lets it down. It’s certainly not the most terrible pub you’ll ever go to and the garden is definitely worth a look, it’s just that it all left me feeling a bit cold. And not just because I forgot my jacket.

Greenwich Society Responds To Andrew Gilligan

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Chairman of the Greenwich Society, Tim Barnes, responds to the recent article by Andrew Gilligan titled “What’s The Point of the Greenwich Society?”.

I regret the attack on the Greenwich Society by Andrew Gilligan on his Web-site, under the title, ‘What’s the Point of the Greenwich Society.’ As Chairman of the Society I can confirm that he is not a member of the Society nor has he ever approached me about his concerns over the Olympics and Greenwich Park or over the development of the Market. He has used his position as an Evening Standard journalist to claim for himself the ‘voice of Greenwich’, but his views are not representative, and he has not entered into the debate locally by joining the Greenwich Society nor arguing for his point of view, in any local forum, as far as I am aware

Andrew Gilligan’s opposition to the Olympic Equestrian events in Greenwich Park is well-known. He uses his column in the Standard to argue his point, and seems impervious to the assurances that have been given by those responsible for maintaining Greenwich Park and those at LOCOG charged with bringing the equestrian events to Greenwich, that there will be no lasting damage to the fabric of the Park or to the trees, and that the Park will not be closed off to users until the run-up to the Olympics in August 2012 when security considerations require closure for about 6-8 weeks. The Greenwich Society held a Special General Meeting convened by proponents of NOGOE, ( the organisation opposed to the Park being used for the Olympics, with whom it is clear that Andrew Gilligan has had much greater contact than with the Greenwich Society) and the proposal to oppose the holding of the cross-country events in the Park was decisively rejected. There was no dissent from the other motion which committed the Society to engage in constructive dialogue with LOCOG and the other organisations charged with bringing the Olympics to Greenwich. That is what we are doing.

All this information is relayed to our membership through our bi-monthly newsletter, which we would be interested to learn if Andrew Gilligan has read, before committing himself to the disparaging comments in his article.

His attack on the Society’s attitude to the development of Greenwich Market is equally ill-founded. His initial article in the Standard to the effect that Greenwich Hospital was going to close the Market, caused an avalanche of concern. The Hospital is not going to close the Market and never intended to do so. It intended to re-develop the Market and its Greenwich Town Centre estate, and any sensible person would see that there was considerable scope for improvement. The way in which Greenwich Hospital has gone about its plans has been admirable. They have put them on public display in Greenwich Town Centre on 2 week-ends, when there was considerable feed-back. They have actively collaborated with the Stakeholders Group which has been involved in critical examination of the proposals and has revised them as time goes on. It should be said that the stall-holders are represented on this Group.

The end result is in the Society’s opinion a considerably improved Market, which will help to re-vitalise Greenwich Town Centre. We disagree that because the Market is currently extremely crowded at the week-ends, that means there is no room for improvement. The Society is actively seeking to engage with the Council and other interested parties for the partial pedestrianisation of the Town Centre and the regeneration of Cutty Sark Gardens which would enhance further the experience both for visitors to and residents of Greenwich. Why is there no mention of these matters in the criticism of the Society for failing to act in the local interest in matters of traffic management?

The comment that the Society has spent more time talking to LOCOG and the Market developers than they have in talking to the people of Greenwich is a travesty. We have constantly informed our membership of what we are doing and sought feed-back. We have on many occasions taken issue with developers, rather than (as the snide comment suggests) being in the developers PR pockets. The re-presentation of the Lovells Wharf plans after the Society led the opposition to the original multi-storey proposals, is just one example where the Society has taken action to avoid a development which would have a very deleterious effect on Greenwich.

I have little doubt that Andrew Gilligan will continue to use his Standard column to argue that he and his contacts represent the authentic voice of Greenwich. I wonder if he contemplates the possibility that he might not have this unique insight and that others who have had many years of experience and commitment to the local community, among whom I number all members of the Executive of the Greenwich Society, might have an equally valid view.

Tim Barnes Chairman of the Greenwich Society 25th May 2009

Pub Review: The Ship and Billet

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The Ship & Billet
1, Woolwich Road, SE10 0RA

I actually meant to go to the Ship and Billet on last week’s pub review outing, but when circumstances compelled me to go solo I was far too scared to go into this pub on my own. Its run-down exterior with heavily tinted windows and general demeanour of a ‘local pub for local people who aren’t me’ were just too, well, scary. This week, feeling braver (and having a male companion) I ventured in and, as is the case with most scary things, was left wondering what all my fuss was about.

Let’s be clear, the Ship and Billet is about as far from the usual Greenwich Gastropub as you can get. It looks a bit like the Queen Vic would look if left unattended for a few years, with a faded red and gold pub issue carpet and sparsely furnished. The ‘no smoking’ sign was written on a post it note and whilst waiting for our drinks someone actually came up to us and asked us if we wanted to buy a ‘second hand’ TV from a carrier bag. All the other clientele, about 7 of them, seemed to know each other and spoke in a language that, though English, was completely incomprehensible.

Despite all this, I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable there. The locals were smiling enough and the barmaid was the most friendly I’ve yet to encounter in a Greenwich pub. She was chatty, made a few jokes and when the first pint of Guinness was not a success, she gave it to us for free. That level of service would be classed as exceptional anywhere.

The extras are also fuss-free: Sky TV for the sport, a cockney pianah in the corner and karaoke on the weekends with ‘Dave the Rave’. The staple of the bar is lager and cider so there’s no ale, few wines and spirits, and food is scant unless you count 17 bags of scampi fries as sustenance.

All in all the Ship and Billet is not the place to go if you are after a posh pub experience – it’s grubby, shabby, still a bit scary and definitely a local’s pub – but there’s a warm welcome here and absolutely zero pretension, which in this neck of the woods is a rare find. As Delboy said to Rodney, probably in this pub in fact, “he who dares, wins”.

What do you think of the Ship & Billet? Post your comments below…


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From The Horse’s Mouth: Greenwich.co.uk Talks To LOCOG

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Apart from the acronyms, LOCOG (The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) and NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events) haven’t found much common ground over the past year. On this site both Sev D’Souza of NOGOE and Andrew Gilligan have highlighted many residents’ continued opposition to the Equestrian events at Greenwich Park. Their protest was borne out of concerns about potential damage to the park, and the considerable inconvenience to the residents caused by the closure of the park, with no demonstrable benefits. In light of this I went to the LOCOG meet and greet session at the park on Saturday and spoke to Equestrian manager Tim Hadaway and press officer Fran Edwards to ask their side of the story, and to find out what their perception is of local views about the Olympics at Greenwich.

As part of the advisory group that recommended Greenwich, Tim was directly involved in the decision: “Greenwich won out on its good transport links, proximity to Stratford and scope to host elements of the Modern Pentathlon.” Asked why these were such key enticements, Tim says “the bid was won on the strength of these being the London Games – we need to keep as many of the events as we can within the city”. Sites outside London would have been “far more challenging, both financially and logistically speaking”. He is also philosophical about Zara Phillips’ pro-Windsor comments, calling them “one person’s opinion” and saying that representatives of Zara’s have since written to NOGOE asking not to be connected with their campaign.

Horse on Greenwich Park

On the locals’ concerns regarding potential damage, Tim believes LOCOG have made good headway: “When we first started speaking to people, they would say ‘you’re cutting down all the trees aren’t you?’ They had visions of a Grand National-style motorway of horses carving up the whole site.” Now, however, Tim feels that initial misconceptions regarding damage have been largely corrected: “We can’t [damage anything] – English Heritage and The Royal Parks wouldn’t let us even if we’d wanted to.” So the trees will stay in their entirety then? “There will need to be some slight pruning on the lower branches of some trees for the cross-country, but nothing that won’t grow back. We won’t be cutting down any trees.”

Regarding the cross-country course, it will only last 1 day and Tim says the hoof damage from the 75 horses will be “minimal”, with the preparation focused on improving the grass’s irrigation leaving the ground “in a better state than before”…

However, the enduring bugbear – the park’s entire closure for the cross-country – is unavoidable. Fran says the lockdown is necessary “for the venue to be swept to ensure it is secure and to ensure that all facilities and buildings are in place. We take security very seriously”. The entire closure will last a maximum of 6 weeks, with the area that will house the main arena staying closed for at least 3-4 months. LOCOG are hoping for a phased re-opening of the park as early as a few days after the end of the cross-country.

The road closure plans are not yet concrete, so all I could get was the perennial promise of “minimal disruption” and although Romney Road will now fall outside the perimeter of the course, it is likely to be closed for at least the fortnight of the events to facilitate spectators.

Some would argue that these inconveniences are a small price to pay for the general excitement and prestige of having this event on our doorstep. LOCOG also believe that the much-debated legacy of the games will result from this prestige: “This event will become part of Greenwich’s history, people will remember the images they see of Greenwich during the Games and want to come and hunt it out after the Olympics.” They again speak of bringing equestrian sport to a new audience by having it in an urban setting, however they are vague when asked about ticket provision for locals. Apparently Greenwich Council are keen to allocate some tickets to local schoolchildren, but LOCOG are far from committed to this arrangement, and competition for tickets is likely to be high in the equestrian world. In other words don’t expect a ticket to be dropping through your door.

Overall LOCOG do admit that Greenwich has been one of their most notable PR headaches. Neil Walker, Community Relations Manager, attributed this to people being “frustrated” in the beginning because the nature of the Olympics means that they work back from an end date rather than having an upfront plan, so they “couldn’t always give all the answers people wanted.” It may sound a little ‘back foot’ to some, but Tim feels confident that they’ve been “open” as plans change. Fran and Tim even talk of being “pleasantly surprised about the positive reaction from locals”, boasting support from the Greenwich, Blackheath and Westcombe Societies, as well as Friends of Greenwich Park.

Despite the institutional support for the equestrian events here, both Fran and Tim admit that many residents will remain unmoved. “You will always get those people whose minds you can’t change and this may be the case with NOGOE”. With the planning application to be submitted near the end of this year, the way will soon be open for the mandatory public consultation that is now looking likely to be the final standoff. Watch this space.

What do you think? Are you convinced by LOCOG’s assurances? Do you believe their timescales for closures?