26 thoughts on “The Grove is back! Apparently”

  1. woah, it looks quite smart doesn’t it? the website’s okay, from what it’s saying it looks like they’ll be a wealth of young-professional girls with sunglasses on the top of their heads laughing near glasses of white wine. i’m all for that kind of thing.

    Something i’ve wondered about for a while is if the camberwell-online gang have ever gone out for a drink together and actually communicated in the rEaL WoRlD? i think it’d be fun, maybe we should all go to The Grove one night?

    just saying.
    X

  4. Yes, some of us have met up for a ‘real life’ drink before. We still bear the scars, both physical and emotional.

    There have been mutterings recently of a rematch; seems like the time might be right.

  5. Not really my sort of thing — a bit “yuppie ” sorry for the inverse snobbery but the food menu looks bog standard crap. boring decor and I’ll bet the drinks will be boring as well. — Oh well at least they are spending money on the building — it really needed it and I suppose it has to be good for the area. Not sure it fits in with the Camberwell Ethic though.

  8. Don’t be too quick to knock the place — although Young’s have sold out to the capitalist shareholder recently — they still remain a pretty decent brewery and most of their pubs (particularly the more traditional ones) are still a cut above most other pubs in London — The Founder’s Arms next to Tate Modern is a bit too clinical for my liking so I hope they let the grove develop a more homely character…I would like to meet everyone on the blog for a drink one day too…maybe we can sample The New Grove and include a review on our very first newsletter?

  10. @Nick W. hear hear;

    @eusebiovic: “The Founder’s Arms next to Tate Modern is a bit too clinical”. Oh come on there’s nothing ‘Founders’ about it. It’s CRAP. Youngs sit between the really big co’s and the really committed. Actually can’t think of any of the committed off hand. Maybe Fullers?

    Youngs, as you intimate, have just finally totally sold out, like selling their brewery. Can’t get more sell out than that, really. Anyway as a family firm they’ve always relied in the main on selling their beer under tie to inspired individuals who make their pubs what they have been — Gotto at the Ship and the Alma in Wandsworth a good example — When they couldn’t find a good individual and didn’t know what to do with the pub they owned — a la Wickwood on Flaxman Road (SE5) — they sold out to property developers. Like all PubCo’s (which is what they must be becoming) their interest is in selling as much beer as possible (nothing wrong with that) while making as much rent as they can. They’ve just done it in a slightly more time honoured, family, way than the really BIG PubCo’s have been doing in the last 20 years or so. Now the gloves are off. They’ve sold their brewery and they bought the Grove. They’ve got the Landlords from the Clockhouse on Barry Road SE22 to take a lease on it and I hope, really hope, they do a good job.

    @Iffy: It’s out of date yet, as ever with Camberwell, poignant and still immediately relevant

  11. Hmmm, this place looks like a slightly more poncey Wetherspoons.

    On another note, where do people go for some fun after about midnight — 1am in Camberwell? I know the Hermit’s is sometimes open a bit later and the Redstar has what looks like some good drum and bass nights…? Any secret late-night hangouts?

  12. The Sun and Doves is open ’till midnight Friday & Saturday. If there proves to be long term demand we’ll start staying open until 1am

  14. There’s always the snooker hall, Jono’s, opposite the bus station.

    I’ve been in there a few times late at night and it’s always been okay, pretty quiet, friendly etc. I think you’re meant to be a member, but I can’t remember having too much hassle getting in, maybe I had to pay a couple of quid or something.
    I’ve seen people staggering out of there in some right states at 10am, so I think it’s probably open all night.

    It’s been a long, long time since I had either the stamina or the inclination to stay out boozing till 10am!

  15. Near to the snooker place is the Old Dispensary which is open to 2. Its nothing special but good for a stop off on the way home from central Camberwell / that London

  17. RE the Grove

    I’ll tell you what, why don’t we all knock it for being too middle class / corporate / fake and not go. Then when it closes down we can all whinge that there’s nowhere nice to go.

    Or we could go, see what we think, give the management any feedback and help it develop into a business that adds value to us and the wider community.

  19. It looks like they have used generic stock pictures for the website so I wouldn’t judge it too quickly. Once the place is finished and they can take proper photographs and upload them onto the website it might be look pretty good. I will definitely welcome a new haunt as my old fave, the Castle, is just not the same what with that terrible screen showing cr*p TV all the time and the new menu… Has anyone had a coffee at the House gallery? A good coffee shop is a sure sign of gentrification, according to property gurus
    http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article1390447.ece

  20. Good article.

    So would we accept the Hoxton model of gentrification as whilst it’s less comprehensive than the Angel model I proposed previously it has the benefit of being a bit less mainstream which I may appeal to those who consider themselves as too cool for Angel. You know, the ‘arty’ (*sigh*?) types in your midst.

    And no telling me to go live in Bexley this time please…

  22. The more pubs in the area the better. I liked the BRB on occasion, and will I’m sure like the new Grove on occasion. Anywhere that serves a decent pint of bitter is welcome. And, you might suppose curiously for someone who only smokes with a pint in hand, I also applaud the non-smoking policy. Though it will be redundant come summer!

  23. NO SMOKING. As I’ve said before, we’d go no smoking if I could be sure our turnover wouldn’t drop. July 1st will be interesting.

  24. What’s wrong with the Monkey?
    always good for a 60’s style boogie of a friday
    friendly crowd too…

  25. bunbohue — sadly the Monkey ruined it’s shabby lived in homely feel when they embarked upon that disastrous refit a couple of years back…it’s never been the same since — a pub should have their floorboards as dark as possible not as blond as possible…

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