The COVID-19 crisis could lead to many pubs going bankrupt as with no income they struggle to pay rent and utility bills despite being closed. The Railway Tavern on Station Rise, Tulse Hill has to pay nearly £2k + VAT per week and has launched a crowdfunder appeal, pledge £10 to receive a pint voucher and £30 for a bottle of wine. The Railway Tavern is also organising a benefit party as soon as safety permits - get your tickets here.
The Hope on Norwood High Street is also looking at ways to diversify and offering a Sunday meal service. Famed for their Sunday Roasts, orders can be placed via The Hope Facebook page @hopeSE27 - including for the West Norwood Chilli for #StayHomeSundaySupper on Sunday 3 May.
From the old to the new, Norwood Forum welcomes the Queen of the South, 367 Norwood Road, replacing the White Hart which in March had its licensing application passed. The Queen of the South will be a gastropub with authorisation for the following licensable activities: “Plays, Films, Live Music, Recorded Music, Performances of Dance, Entertainment Similar to Music/Dance, Late Night Refreshment and Sale by Retail of Alcohol.” The sooner the better.
Know Your Norwood – The Horns Tavern
The Horns Tavern, 40 Knights Hill, is the oldest pub in the area. Nearby or on the site a tavern has existed since the seventeenth century and is visible on the earliest map of the area drawn in 1745. At the time Norwood was mainly meadows and woodland stretching from Bermondsey to Croydon and the Horns would have been frequented by travellers and day trippers. Famous tipplers may have included Samuel Pepys on his visits to the nearby gypsy fortune-tellers and later Charles Dickens who had friends living here. The pub was also responsible for the positioning of St. Luke’s, built in 1822. The Lambeth Manor Inclosure Commissioners stipulated that no building should be erected within 100 feet of any existing building without the owner's consent and given the proximity of the Horns Tavern the church was built on a north-south rather than the normal east-west axis.
