The
Rise and Fall of The Montague Arms – By Kevin Mullan ©July 2022
The Montague Arms is
to rise again! I say ‘rise’, but the truth is somewhat more complicated. This
May (2022), a second planning application was submitted to Lewisham Council by
CMT Construction. The first – a proposal to completely demolish the existing
building and build flats, with a token small ground-floor premise to
accommodate the provision to maintain an A4-Class element (i.e. a licensed
establishment) – was withdrawn in 2021 after much opposition, including from
local councillors. Having taken the time to register local residents’
objections to the lack of a realistic public bar and live music space for the
community, the developers have come back with a plan that they hope is more
amicable.
Now, the proposal is
to retain the core building and extend the property. Additional rooms will be constructed
upstairs, lengthening the existing storeys. The flat-roof area, that once
housed the Mont’s famous stage back in the glory days, will be incorporated
into a new two-storey residential block. The rest of the ground floor will
remain as a fulfilment of the A4 stipulation, but obviously that means a
much-reduced pub area. So what about any capacity for live music events, I hear
you ask? That’s where it gets interesting.
The Monty is not so
much rising as falling. Under the new application, the cellar is to be dug out
to create a subterranean gig space with appropriate headroom for audiences and
performers alike. The space will extend under the whole of the existing
property. It will host underground music – in a very literal sense! This works
for the developers in a two-fold way: those who were concerned about the previous
disregard for a viable pub/music venue are perhaps now more likely to be
placated; new residents in the redeveloped ground floor and upstairs, plus
those who live in close proximity to the pub, will be insulated from
performance noise due to the underfloor location.
The question now is
how, in reality, do local residents feel about the revised plans? Are they
appeased? On 17th July, a meeting of local residents was called by a
young local couple, James and Agatha, who posted flyers in letterboxes along
Queens Road and knocked on residents’ doors in an attempt to mobilise and
canvass local opinion. Under the heading ‘Would you like to save the Montague
Arms together? Let’s do it!’, the flyer invited residents to gather outside the
pub to discuss ‘…ideas for the space and to start actions towards reclaiming
it!’
Curious to find out
who and how many would attend and what the local sentiment was, I strolled up
to the premises at the meeting time of 2pm on a roasting hot Sunday afternoon. I
was fearful that the extreme weather would drastically affect turnout, but
gradually more and more people joined along the Kender Street side until there
were approximately 14 of us; a diverse group in terms of age, sex and race with
a surprise guest, Martin, who older readers may remember from the days when
Peter Hoyle was the pub’s owner (think stuffed zebras, a horse carriage and
various nautical artefacts).
I soon established
that James and Agatha were the organisers of the rather anonymous group, themselvesonline,
that had printed and distributed the flyers. I introduced myself as a member of
a small group of local residents, self-styled as the Montague Arms Restoration
Society (MARS). Our activities had been limited to keeping an eye on planning
applications and research into ownership. The pub was not up for sale or lease
and, as the first application had actually proposed full-scale demolition, any
ideas that the MARS group had along the lines of raising money towards a
community-owned leasehold had long ago been written off by us all as being pipe
dreams.
While congratulating
James and Agatha on their proactive work in mobilising the natives, I
discovered that not only had they put flyers in local doors, they had also
pinned meeting notices to the boards on the Montague’s windows. Disturbingly,
these had been removed and replaced by laminated posters from the developers.
In an attempt to defuse hostility and combat misunderstanding ahead of the
gathering, the posters stated in block capitals ‘WE ARE NOT DEMOLISHING THE
MONTAGUE ARMS’ followed by a series of bulleted messages summarising the
developers’ new plans, including, as the third bullet, ‘The entertainment space
is moving to the basement where noise can be better contained.’
This seemed to me like
an aggressive-defensive move by the developers. Not all former frequenters of
the pub live along Queens Road, myself included, and it was by sheer luck that a
friend who had received a flyer alerted MARS to the planned discussion.
Attendance was no doubt affected both by the weather and the ignorance caused
by the tearing down of publicly visible notices. Were the owners in fear of us?
Well, we were soon to find out.
Suddenly, as we were
all busy introducing ourselves to each other and reminiscing about good old
times, a tall man appeared and announced that he was the owners’
representative, Eddie, and that he “looks after” the property. He reiterated
the message on the posters: there are no plans to demolish the pub, any
suggestions or rumours to the contrary were – in his words – “fake news”. He
claimed the intentions are to renovate, build an extension and allow for a
lease on the pub and cellar space. Apparently, he understands about commercial
viability as he has “a meze restaurant in Clapham”.
Eddie explained to us that
the building needs urgent work, that the interior is in a state of disrepair
and decay and that any further hold-ups to the application could prove costly.
The Council was already dragging its heels and, with emphasis, he added that
local objections would make things worse. Then, to our enormous surprise, he
produced a bunch of keys and said “Come, I will show you inside.”
What could we do, but
file inside in a single line through the residents’ door entrance? Once inside,
we were met with cobblestones and the old fireplace – hidden from public view
ever since a recent owner built a new partition. The musty smell of a building
that has been missing the presence of humans regularly opening and closing
doors and windows wafted up our nostrils. “Be careful!” warned Eddie. We
followed him up the uncarpeted staircase.
It became apparent
that the whole of the upstairs had been stripped of carpets, wallpaper and
furniture. The communal kitchen was an empty space, as were the bedrooms.
Everything looked like an attempt had been made to start an upgrade from
scratch, but that work had been abandoned before any improvements could be made.
“As you can see, the place is unfit for human habitation,” said Eddie. It was difficult
to disagree.
We moved back
downstairs, onwards to the ground floor and into what used to be the bar area.
In rather messy surroundings, it was hard to recognise it as the place in which
I have both enjoyed and endured music of all types and styles over several
pints. The bar was minus its copper sheeting panels; the spirit shelves had
lost their mirrors; the raised seating area no longer had its benches; the
antique ceiling fans that kept punters cool on stuffy summer nights were
nowhere to be seen.
Once again, Eddie pointed
out that much work needs to be done and illustrated where the new end wall to
the pub would be by standing close to the main entrance doors and spreading out
his arms. At one point he gazed upwards and exclaimed “There are holes in the
roof!” One of the group attendees retorted “Yes, mate. Those holes are where
the fan system was screwed in!” The cellar was not included as part of the show.
Following the tour,
the residents filed back outside and reconvened to share their thoughts. I
think it’s fair to say that opinion was divided. There were those who couldn’t
contemplate anything other than a return of the ground-floor stage and even the
fan system – the idealists – and those who accepted that the new application is
probably the best we can hope for, all things considered – the realists.
Personally, like one
of my fellow MARS members in attendance, I fall into the latter category. It’s
not what we dreamed about, but it’s the only offer in town for a return to a
pub and live music venue. My concern is that the basement space will, by
necessity, have to include room for the pub’s beer cellar and toilets – what
impact will that have on the entertainment space and maximum audience capacity?
There are yet-to-be-resolved issues, relating to disabled access and Health
& Safety inspection. Also, will the asking price for a lease be set at a
realistic level?
It’s likely to be
several years before we know all of the answers to the above questions – that’s
if Lewisham Council Planning Committee approve the development, of course.
