Since I have done this blog, one of the most popular features has been the various articles and pictures I have run on Hackney's lost pubs.
Put simply, a huge slice of Hackney's history has been lost, in the space of a few years, usually for the short term profits brought about by gentrification. House building makes more money than pubs.
Other London boroughs are little different. Certainly Islington and Camden, but this week brings news of the worst story yet, with one of the few decent pubs left on the Isle of Dogs, the City Pride, being sold for £32 million. And no, that is not a mis-print.
Rather than comment further, I shall quote from local worker Jim Fry:
"I'm sick of decent pubs closing to make way for posh hotels and fancy gastropubs. All I want after work is a quiet drink with my mates with some peanuts and pork scratchings - not paninis and sun-dried tomatoes.
There's mowhere for normal people to go. Everything is about milking the most cash out of suited and booted City workers."
His point was reinforced by Mark Tolson:
"Pubs are the life and soul of the area and the local community. When they close, that sense of community disappears and you're left with nothing but office blocks."
London loses to the developers - again.
Recent Comments