Pubs gone but not forgotten

[Aqualung]

I've started this thread to allow myself and any others willing to do so to recall memories (in true Real Ale Twats tradition) of recalling great old pubs that have been ruined, mainly by closure.
I would recommend a Title to each post giving either a pub name, a brewery or an area.

[Aqualung]

This (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35755/) pub was famous back in the day (late 1970s and early 1980s?) for selling beers from the Black Country like Batham's Holden's and Simpkiss. The word was that the owner used to travel up and collect the beers himself. I can only recall the last time I visited when I think it was Burton Bridge rather than Black Country. I've no idea what it's like now but it has re-opened.

[Pangolin]

This (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35755/) pub was famous back in the day (late 1970s and early 1980s?) for selling beers from the Black Country like Batham's Holden's and Simpkiss. The word was that the owner used to travel up and collect the beers himself. I can only recall the last time I visited when I think it was Burton Bridge rather than Black Country. I've no idea what it's like now but it has re-opened.

The Sandrock was indeed an excellent beer pub but haven't been for many years. According to local CAMRA the beer range has become less unusual. Will try and visit in the spring. The Bat & Ball also used to be good, if you could find it.

[Spinko]

How about Y Bae in Aberystwyth, Quinno...

[oldboots]

This puts me in mind of the Newport Inn, a small Hampshire pub hidden away in the country side, I remember drinking Gales 5X Winter Ale there, the landlord's name was Bernard. Bernard was married to Janet who had taken over the pub from her parents in the early years of the second world war. Apart from new wall paper in the lounge sometime in the 1950s nothing had changed since then. The gents of course was outside although the ladies was an indoor facility just off the lounge.

There was uproar in the pub when it was "ruined" in the early 1980s by the construction of a corridor between the public and the gents, new wallpaper and the moving of the counter back a few inches, most but not all, of the locals eventually got over it. A proper till was installed to replace the drawer previously used.

On Saturday and Sunday nights Janet would play a selection of music hall songs and songs from the shows on the old johanna, while the assembled regulars and visitors from miles away would sing along, naturally it was standing room only and a visit to the gents would require careful consideration of which door to exit through. Many students would visit on these occasions in search of traditional village life, all under about 25 were briefly banned from drinking HSB after an unfortunate vomiting incident in the car park, "you young lads can't take the HSB" was the explanation given. I still bear the scar from falling off my bike after my first gallon of HSB there, so maybe Janet knew what she was talking about.

There was a break to the singsong for a couple of weeks when Janet, who by then would be well into her sixties, ran off with one of the regulars; she returned within a fortnight and the incident was never refered to again. The garden grew more unkempt as the years passed and the rabbits in hutches there slowly died off, and the children's swing got rustier and rustier, but the famous Ploughman's continued. This was the only food sold apart from the usual nuts and crisps, and only at lunchtime; it comprised about 6 ounces of Cheddar, a small cottage loaf, a handful of pickled onions and a dollop of "sweet pickle" (Branston). Butter on request.

The begining of the end came with the closure of Gales brewery and its takeover by Fullers, Bernard had by now passed on to the great taproom in the sky and Janet was losing the use of her legs through illness and old age, she still brought the coal in however by having the sack put on a child's trolley. After her death Fullers shut the pub but who knows maybe one day it will reopen but it won't be the same.

[ETA]

The Little Gem (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/15482/)

Where I had my first pints of, among other things, Old Peculiar, Youngs Winter Warmer, Salisbury Bishops Tipple (do we want another thread for ales gone but not forgotten?), and many others.

I keep hearing rumours that it will re-open now it's been sold, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Mobyduck]

The Sandrock was indeed an excellent beer pub but haven't been for many years. According to local CAMRA the beer range has become less unusual. Will try and visit in the spring. The Bat & Ball also used to be good, if you could find it.

I was last in the Sandrock about eight years ago, didn't review for some reason, the most exotic beer on was T.T. Landlord and it was turning a little gastro. Also went to the Bat & Ball and drove down to the carpark in a little Ford Fiesta, you really needed a Chieftain Tank to negotiate the potholes in the unmade road.

[Wittenden]

The Little Gem (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/15482/)

Where I had my first pints of, among other things, Old Peculiar, Youngs Winter Warmer, Salisbury Bishops Tipple (do we want another thread for ales gone but not forgotten?), and many others.

I keep hearing rumours that it will re-open now it's been sold, but I'm not holding my breath.

Apparently it's got a licence: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/malling/news/village-pub-saved-from-housing-threat-189773/ . Incidentally, and anecdotally a former landlord was also landlord of The Bell Inn (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/58983/). A pub I am tempted to wax lyrical about in this thread,if nostalgia rears its head. The Bell is still trading I hasten to add.

[rpadam]

Apparently it's got a licence: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/malling/news/village-pub-saved-from-housing-threat-189773/ . Incidentally, and anecdotally a former landlord was also landlord of The Bell Inn (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/58983/). A pub I am tempted to wax lyrical about in this thread,if nostalgia rears its head. The Bell is still trading I hasten to add.
This is the latest news from the 'Save the Little Gem' Facebook page:


"Good news, work on the refurbishment will recommence in December. Sadly we will not be open before Christmas and we have no expected opening date as yet, but we will be open as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience and support!"

[Brainypool]

This puts me in mind of the Newport Inn, a small Hampshire pub hidden away in the country side, I remember drinking Gales 5X Winter Ale there, the landlord's name was Bernard. Bernard was married to Janet who had taken over the pub from her parents in the early years of the second world war. Apart from new wall paper in the lounge sometime in the 1950s nothing had changed since then. The gents of course was outside although the ladies was an indoor facility just off the lounge.

There was uproar in the pub when it was "ruined" in the early 1980s by the construction of a corridor between the public and the gents, new wallpaper and the moving of the counter back a few inches, most but not all, of the locals eventually got over it. A proper till was installed to replace the drawer previously used.

On Saturday and Sunday nights Janet would play a selection of music hall songs and songs from the shows on the old johanna, while the assembled regulars and visitors from miles away would sing along, naturally it was standing room only and a visit to the gents would require careful consideration of which door to exit through. Many students would visit on these occasions in search of traditional village life, all under about 25 were briefly banned from drinking HSB after an unfortunate vomiting incident in the car park, "you young lads can't take the HSB" was the explanation given. I still bear the scar from falling off my bike after my first gallon of HSB there, so maybe Janet knew what she was talking about.

There was a break to the singsong for a couple of weeks when Janet, who by then would be well into her sixties, ran off with one of the regulars; she returned within a fortnight and the incident was never refered to again. The garden grew more unkempt as the years passed and the rabbits in hutches there slowly died off, and the children's swing got rustier and rustier, but the famous Ploughman's continued. This was the only food sold apart from the usual nuts and crisps, and only at lunchtime; it comprised about 6 ounces of Cheddar, a small cottage loaf, a handful of pickled onions and a dollop of "sweet pickle" (Branston). Butter on request.

The begining of the end came with the closure of Gales brewery and its takeover by Fullers, Bernard had by now passed on to the great taproom in the sky and Janet was losing the use of her legs through illness and old age, she still brought the coal in however by having the sack put on a child's trolley. After her death Fullers shut the pub but who knows maybe one day it will reopen but it won't be the same.

An interview with Janet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPtLB5VKI1U)

Christmas Eve 2009 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP2ALx4JF3Y)

[oldboots]

Brilliant!!!

I shall save that link for when I am old and shall wear purple.

Many thanks.

[Mobyduck]

An interview with Janet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPtLB5VKI1U)

Christmas Eve 2009 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP2ALx4JF3Y)

Beggars belief why with that prospective footfall, a place would be closed, with the right management and foresight it looks a winner.

[Tris39]

Cross Keys (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/54757/) was a lovely traditional 'village' pub when I was a regular in the late '80s. Small, oak settles, an island bar with gantry, log fire and plenty of knick-knacks. It seems to have changed beyond all recognition even since the first review and apparently has a gallery along with a much larger interior; God knows where they got the extra space.
Now look at it: https://www.thecrosskeyschelsea.co.uk/pub/

[Aqualung]

The Sandrock was indeed an excellent beer pub but haven't been for many years. According to local CAMRA the beer range has become less unusual. Will try and visit in the spring. The Bat & Ball also used to be good, if you could find it.

I remember finding the Bat & Ball but little else other than a wide choice of beers!


The Little Gem (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/15482/)

Where I had my first pints of, among other things, Old Peculiar, Youngs Winter Warmer, Salisbury Bishops Tipple (do we want another thread for ales gone but not forgotten?), and many others.

I keep hearing rumours that it will re-open now it's been sold, but I'm not holding my breath.

I remember going to the Little Gem with my boss who lived in Maidstone.


I went to around a third of the Gales estate back in the day but don't recall Braishfield being one.

[Aqualung]

Cross Keys (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/54757/) was a lovely traditional 'village' pub when I was a regular in the late '80s. Small, oak settles, an island bar with gantry, log fire and plenty of knick-knacks. It seems to have changed beyond all recognition even since the first review and apparently has a gallery along with a much larger interior; God knows where they got the extra space.
Now look at it: https://www.thecrosskeyschelsea.co.uk/pub/

That one doesn't ring any bells at all for me. I've tended to go along with Elvis Costello's viewpoint when it comes to that part of London.

[oldboots]

I went to around a third of the Gales estate back in the day but don't recall Braishfield being one.

Probably the furthest West of the estate and not easy to find pre-satnav, The Baytree in Southampton might have been as far West as you got, that pub might be the subject of another post. I think I have a map of their pubs that they produced about 1978 somewhere.

[Aqualung]

Probably the furthest West of the estate and not easy to find pre-satnav, The Baytree in Southampton might have been as far West as you got, that pub might be the subject of another post. I think I have a map of their pubs that they produced about 1978 somewhere.

They spread further West later on. I think they had one or two in Warminster but I'm going from memory here, it may have been somewhere else. I have a vague recollection of going to one in the Northern suburbs of Southampton.

[rpadam]

I love a good graph, so the table in today's 'Shut up about Barclay Perkins' blog posting about Ownership of UK pubs 1990-2017 (http://forums.pubsgalore.co.uk/showthread.php?28957-Shut-up-about-Barclay-Perkins-Ownership-of-UK-pubs-1990-2017) was calling out for one to illustrate the changes to the pattern of UK pub ownership over the last 26 years.


1745

So two huge trends going in completely opposite directions between 1991 and the mid-2000s and then back again to the present day, all within the context of a market declining at an ever-increasing rate (in terms of numbers, although - notwithstanding the the micropub sector really taking off - the average pub size is going in the opposite direction).

[Aqualung]

I love a good graph, so the table in today's 'Shut up about Barclay Perkins' blog posting about Ownership of UK pubs 1990-2017 (http://forums.pubsgalore.co.uk/showthread.php?28957-Shut-up-about-Barclay-Perkins-Ownership-of-UK-pubs-1990-2017) was calling out for one to illustrate the changes to the pattern of UK pub ownership over the last 26 years.


1745

So two huge trends going in completely opposite directions between 1991 and the mid-2000s and then back again to the present day, all within the context of a market declining at an ever-increasing rate (in terms of numbers, although - notwithstanding the the micropub sector really taking off - the average pub size is going in the opposite direction).

That picture is muddied by Heineken (Star Pubs and Bars) who are effectively another pubco that happens to be part of a global brewing abomination. I was in Margate yesterday, a place I had never visited before going there to do the JDW. I went to two proper micropubs, a bar that is barley bigger than the average micro, a place that is essentially a keg micropub, the JDW and one proper pub. The proper pub had two Gadds' beers the one which I tried being excellent. I didn't see any mainstream cask dross apart from in the JDW where you would expect it. I assume that I had never been to Margate before this decade as it was rubbish. I'd go back there anytime if only to have another go at finding the Little Prince (I couldn't even find the shopping area where it's situated!). I think things are looking up but slowly. As far as I'm concerned Marston's are one of the villains as they seem to think that having half a dozen breweries gives them the right to not stock any genuine guest ales. At least Greene King do have some pubs with proper guests.

[Pangolin]

This puts me in mind of the Newport Inn, a small Hampshire pub hidden away in the country side...

A splendid pub indeed, and a regular weekend visit for the superb 'doorstep' sandwiches! Sadly but not surprisingly I believe that it has now been converted to a private residence.

[Pangolin]

I'd go back there anytime if only to have another go at finding the Little Prince (I couldn't even find the shopping area where it's situated!).

Shopping area is not quite the right word - it's in an ancient cinema building painted a hideous and unmissable shade of pink, next door but one to Barnacles steak & ale house. Not open when I visited.

[Brainypool]

A splendid pub indeed, and a regular weekend visit for the superb 'doorstep' sandwiches! Sadly but not surprisingly I believe that it has now been converted to a private residence.

Saddened to read that, and seems like a great waste of a classic popular pub by Fullers to me...

[sheffield hatter]

The begining of the end came with the closure of Gales brewery and its takeover by Fullers, Bernard had by now passed on to the great taproom in the sky and Janet was losing the use of her legs through illness and old age, she still brought the coal in however by having the sack put on a child's trolley. After her death Fullers shut the pub but who knows maybe one day it will reopen but it won't be the same.

That's very sad.

Permission granted in 2016 to convert to a house, according to WhatPub.

[Gann]

Anyone who was around in South Hertfordshire and near to St Albans in the late 70's when CAMRA really started to get going will have broken their real ale teeth in this one..

And as an output of Hatfield Poly as was, I've several lost nights from the memory bank..

The Barley Mow (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/14803/)

[Gann]

And now with the correct instruction for header ..

Anyone who was around in South Hertfordshire and near to St Albans in the late 70's when CAMRA really started to get going will have broken their real ale teeth in this one..

And as an output of Hatfield Poly as was, I've several lost nights from the memory bank..

The Barley Mow (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/14803/)

[Aqualung]

And now with the correct instruction for header ..

Anyone who was around in South Hertfordshire and near to St Albans in the late 70's when CAMRA really started to get going will have broken their real ale teeth in this one..

And as an output of Hatfield Poly as was, I've several lost nights from the memory bank..

The Barley Mow (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/14803/)

I remember it well, it must surely have been the first rural "beer festival" pub. One evening a small convoy of cars took off from Central London with the objective of "going through the card". I don't think anyone managed it with Old Peculier being the main stumbling block.

Some years later the Wicked Lady (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/14890/) at Nomansland Common emerged. It had a small front bar with a few beers but further back there was a room that they put a counter across the front of, put stillage along the side walls and installed a proper cooling system. I can't remember how many beers they had on at a time but they certainly had enough room for a couple of dozen casks. It sounds a bit gastro now and apparently sells Doom Bore!

[oldboots]

I think I've mentioned this pub a couple times in the past, it has a very special place in my drinking life as it was the scene of my conversion to "real ale". When I was very young I shunned bitter (and mild) after an unfortunate incident with some Whitbread Trophy and stuck to Draught Guinness. A friend suggested I try Gales HSB and that was that, I was hooked and never looked back.

The Bay Tree was a small two bar Gales pub with a function room upstairs, the public was at the front with a smaller lounge at the back, you could reach the lounge either by a separate door which also led upstairs or via the Gents from the Public. The building probably dated to just after the Second World War as the area was heavily bombed and badly redeveloped afterwards. I attended the college across the road and we used the pub for our morning tea break as it opened in time and for lunch. Lunch would be a "Rat" pasty with lashings of brown sauce and as many pints of HSB, BBB or 5X as we could manage, on special occasions a third of a pint bottle of Prize Old Ale would be drunk or we might forget to go back and try the Gales Country Wine Challenge. In those days there were about 30 wines in the range usually arranged in alphabetical order along a shelf, the challenge being to see how far you could get along the shelf; Mead usually defeated me as it was particularly nasty but once on to Parsnip it got better. My college notes from that time are sometimes unreadable and show clearly how much I had drunk, we used to have to catch up with notes from soberer classmates.

The landlord at the time was Fred Gillante, a huge man of over twenty stone who used to moan about how much money he lost on a Chihuahua farm in Ireland among other tales, the barman was a hard case who looked like those sometimes drawn by Bill Tidy in his Kegbuster cartoon. Occasionally a woman would be glimpsed in the lounge but at lunchtimes it was frequently mainly by our tutors, us students stuck to the public although there were sometimes tense meetings in the Gents. Dogs were welcome in the public, most drank bitter from handled mugs, it was that kind of pub. The HSB could catch up with some people, next to the main door of the Public was a fruit machine and we had fun watching a chap attempting to open the fruit machine instead of the door one afternoon. We later spotted him asleep, draped over some railings down the road as we staggered back to college.

After I left college, somehow having managed to pass the exams, the college was renamed Solent University and the pub was renamed the Graduate, eventually it closed as a pub.

[Aqualung]

I think I've mentioned this pub a couple times in the past, it has a very special place in my drinking life as it was the scene of my conversion to "real ale". When I was very young I shunned bitter (and mild) after an unfortunate incident with some Whitbread Trophy and stuck to Draught Guinness. A friend suggested I try Gales HSB and that was that, I was hooked and never looked back.

The Bay Tree was a small two bar Gales pub with a function room upstairs, the public was at the front with a smaller lounge at the back, you could reach the lounge either by a separate door which also led upstairs or via the Gents from the Public. The building probably dated to just after the Second World War as the area was heavily bombed and badly redeveloped afterwards. I attended the college across the road and we used the pub for our morning tea break as it opened in time and for lunch. Lunch would be a "Rat" pasty with lashings of brown sauce and as many pints of HSB, BBB or 5X as we could manage, on special occasions a third of a pint bottle of Prize Old Ale would be drunk or we might forget to go back and try the Gales Country Wine Challenge. In those days there were about 30 wines in the range usually arranged in alphabetical order along a shelf, the challenge being to see how far you could get along the shelf; Mead usually defeated me as it was particularly nasty but once on to Parsnip it got better. My college notes from that time are sometimes unreadable and show clearly how much I had drunk, we used to have to catch up with notes from soberer classmates.

The landlord at the time was Fred Gillante, a huge man of over twenty stone who used to moan about how much money he lost on a Chihuahua farm in Ireland among other tales, the barman was a hard case who looked like those sometimes drawn by Bill Tidy in his Kegbuster cartoon. Occasionally a woman would be glimpsed in the lounge but at lunchtimes it was frequently mainly by our tutors, us students stuck to the public although there were sometimes tense meetings in the Gents. Dogs were welcome in the public, most drank bitter from handled mugs, it was that kind of pub. The HSB could catch up with some people, next to the main door of the Public was a fruit machine and we had fun watching a chap attempting to open the fruit machine instead of the door one afternoon. We later spotted him asleep, draped over some railings down the road as we staggered back to college.

After I left college, somehow having managed to pass the exams, the college was renamed Solent University and the pub was renamed the Graduate, eventually it closed as a pub.


I don't recognise this place at all. In my student days at UCL we tended to stick to the student union bar which sold rubbish. Some misfit or other (I don't think it was me!) discovered that the nearby Marlborough Arms (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/21997/) sold bottles of Courage Imperial Russian Stout as it was a Courage pub in those days. As a result on the odd occasion we would leave the student bar at the 14:00 closing time and get in a pint of Russian Stout before returning to the student union. I don't think there was a single occasion when this didn't end up in a total shambolic disaster! We didn't even know that it was "officially" a real ale, it was only when we discovered Young's that we started to realise the difference.
I remember the Gales Country Wines very well but didn't drink that many of them. They were real Eight Ace stuff as I recall! I think I once bought a bottle to take home from one of their pubs, possibly this (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35857/) one which I thought had closed down and at the time was seen as the most accessible one form London.

[oldboots]

I don't recognise this place at all.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9071287,-1.4008782,3a,75y,174.88h,102.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk84DY7V92odfWAxasVF0Lg!2e0!7i1 6384!8i8192 looking similar but the door to the public bar is bricked up.


we would leave the student bar at the 14:00 closing time and get in a pint of Russian Stout before returning to the student union. I don't think there was a single occasion when this didn't end up in a total shambolic disaster!

Respect! Three bottles of IRS between sessions is heroic, it was around 11% ABV. I was a great fan of it myself and a friend of mine drank it by the crate when he was at Bristol Uni, and I mean by the crate - there was a short pile of them in a corner of his room in the hall of residence.

BTW the Le Coq version brewed and bottled by Harveys is very close to the Courage/Barclays version of the 1970s maybe a bit weaker.

[Aqualung]

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9071287,-1.4008782,3a,75y,174.88h,102.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk84DY7V92odfWAxasVF0Lg!2e0!7i1 6384!8i8192 looking similar but the door to the public bar is bricked up.



Respect! Three bottles of IRS between sessions is heroic, it was around 11% ABV. I was a great fan of it myself and a friend of mine drank it by the crate when he was at Bristol Uni, and I mean by the crate - there was a short pile of them in a corner of his room in the hall of residence.

BTW the Le Coq version brewed and bottled by Harveys is very close to the Courage/Barclays version of the 1970s maybe a bit weaker.

To describe it as "between sessions" is not entirely accurate. It always terminated any festivities.

[Aqualung]

Does anyone else remember these events? They were run by a bloke called Gerald whose surname may have been Daniels. He lived in Hampshire at a place called Church Crookham and was some sort of manager at Waterloo Station. The idea was that he would charter a train or group book a carriage to take a load of beer enthusiasts (aka drunks) to a distant attractive venue. I remember going to Keighley for the first time on one of there trips but the two that most clearly stick in my mind were Ulverston in the Lake District and Yarmouth on the Isle Of Wight. The Ulverston trip was a chartered train and is the only time I recall drinking Hartleys. The Yarmouth trip was in the 1980s but before afternoon opening came in. It was in December and the whole point of it was to latch onto the all day opening in Yarmouth to celebrate the delivery of the Christmas supplies to the Needles lighthouse. There were three of us and we immediately got a cab over to Freshwater to tick a Burt's pub (a new brewery!).
I stopped going on them because a boorish group started attending who took a plastic barrel of cider with them and thought the rest of the train would be entertained by them doing a Conga along the carriages. I don't think they even went to any pubs at the destination.

[Mobyduck]

I heard of them but never attended, I lived in Church Crookham for five years, five or six years ago, and now only five miles away.

[Aqualung]

I heard of them but never attended, I lived in Church Crookham for five years, five or six years ago, and now only five miles away.

I suspected that Church Crookham was in your neck of the woods. I suspect that the introduction of cheap advance tickets killed it off. One of them was to Burton and I'm sure you can get there cheaper today via Tamworth on advance tickets.

[london calling]

I suspected that Church Crookham was in your neck of the woods. I suspect that the introduction of cheap advance tickets killed it off. One of them was to Burton and I'm sure you can get there cheaper today via Tamworth on advance tickets.
Crookham Travel and they as far as I am aware still doing tours.

[Aqualung]

Crookham Travel and they as far as I am aware still doing tours.
Really? The last I saw of them were that they were doing foreign rail trips. I'm not sure that Gerald (Daniels?) is still with us but he did have a young henchman and I really can't remember who he was. You're dead right about the name, it was Crookham Travel!

[Mobyduck]

Really? The last I saw of them were that they were doing foreign rail trips. I'm not sure that Gerald (Daniels?) is still with us but he did have a young henchman and I really can't remember who he was. You're dead right about the name, it was Crookham Travel!

http://www.crookhamtravel.co.uk/

[Aqualung]

http://www.crookhamtravel.co.uk/
So they are still going! Back in the day they were vory useful but with advance tickets on the trains and cheap,advance bookings at Premier Inn & Travelodge they are of no interest to me.
I wonder if the Cider & Conga brigade sill follow them.

[Pangolin]

I'm not sure that Gerald (Daniels?) is still with us

I last saw Gerry Daniels about 18 months ago I think. Not sure how actively involved he is now.

[Tris39]

That one doesn't ring any bells at all for me. I've tended to go along with Elvis Costello's viewpoint when it comes to that part of London.

Yes I agree. But it was the most convenient meeting point for our frequent meet, me coming from north London with others from Acton, Roehampton, Ealing and Clapham.