Does anyone know what is planned for the row of buildings on Tooley Street flanked by The Antigallican and St John's pubs? The buildings are owned by More London but I've heard nothing as to the plans for the site.
More London have been casting around for years for ideas as to what to do with them. At one point there was discussion with the Pool of London Partnership about it being used to house a sort of careers and job scheme. Because of the state of the buildings, they are likely to keep the facades, but gut the interiors and probably turn everything between the Antigallican and the St John's Tavern into a single building.
I'd be more worried about the Antigallican if I were you. More London's plans involved turning this into the usual anonymous All Bar One kind of crap, instead of valuing the history behind the existing pub and its lovely mahogany bar. Everything on their site has to be shiny and new, you see, even if most people would appreciate a real traditional pub with some character (the Antigallican genuinely does get its name from the Anti-French societies which sprung up in London during the Napoleonic wars).
Which reminds me - the Tenants Association had a seat on the More London s.106 advisory board, which was usually a good place to find out what was in the pipeline. Is anyone from the reconstituted local residents group attending those meetings?
There is nothing sadder than the sight of a derelict corner pub leading in to a streets that's no longer there
I cant wait for all those buildings to be renovated and reintegrated into more London .
Lets face it the way a development like that integrates in to what went before and is till there is the most interesting aspect of it. and should not be an after thought.
Im still puzzled by old photographs that show one side of a street runing down to the river that was left standing near where The Fire Station building is.and if it was considered worth keeping why was it pulled down.
Edited 3 times. Last edit at 24 November 2005 10.53pm by mickysalt.
There are draft proposals that involve preserving most of the existing frontage of the terrace, including all but the rear bit of The Antigallican which is being removed to provide space for a service area for the new bar / retaurant / retail bits. Andrews comments that More London intend to turn it into an All Bar One style of bar assume too much at this stage because no tenants have been signed up for this space or the pub in the later building at the other end.
Hopefully, whatever DOES go in there and the adjacent buildings will not be 'crap' in most peoples judgement. However, it is true that the Antigallican bar itself is no longer there. I can't comment on the quality of the thing because I never saw it, but it seems someone found it worth removing! I think the process of consultation to agree the retention of original external details along the terrace is still going on. However, it does appear that the first building to the right of the Antigallican will be replaced with a new structure.
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