Out and about for the second day in a row - locally this time. Through Victoria Park and up onto the footbridge over the former New Barnet gasworks site. The redevelopment plans have stalled yet again as the developers plans got kicked out due to the locals not wanting tower blocks looming over the park and surrounding area. Ironically I can see the Builders Arms pub from here - already with a large block of new flats built right next to it. And the new residents have already started complaining about the noise from the pub! 🙄 I hope it's days aren't numbered as a result - it only took complaints from one person to kill off the much loved Cat & Lantern pub in nearby East Barnet Village.
Back in the day I used to be a regular at this local watering hole. Back then the landlord was Bill Turley, an ex-copper and taxi driver. He was a real character - like a cross between Dirty Den and Basil Fawlty! It was a proper old fashioned traditional boozer back then and many fine nights were had in there. The real ales were of particularly good quality - a pint of Coombes was my favourite. 🍺 However, times change, and often not for the better. After over 30 years Bill and his wife Sheila retired from running the pub. Fortunately the pub stayed in the family and their son took it over. The place remained virtually unchanged. Sadly Bill died a few years later, the lovely pub beer garden was sold off and a house built in it's place. In more recent times I heard bad things - the pub had been taken over and refurbed becoming the first branch in London of the American 'Karen's Diner' chain. Not my sort of place to hang out, but as the place was virtually next door to Tudor Park I thought I'd pop in for a pint on the way home to check it out....
From the outside the old Hadley Hotel looked virtually unchanged. I went in through the front door as usual - expecting to be confronted by the front bar as I entered. Instead I was confronted by a smartly dress young chap sitting as a table - no sign of any bar! 😲 He asked if I had a reservation for a meal? I asked where the bar was as I just wanted a pint? 🍺 He directed me to a room on the left. I walked in to find a horribly modern and trendy looking bar. I scanned the selection of beers on offer - just the usual gassy generic keg rubbish. No real ales at all! I had noticed a clue outside at the side of the building - there is now a Nail Bar in the basement - is what used to be the beer cellar. So no space to keep real ales any more. All the old decor and character had been stripped out - turning the place into a bland and soulless bar. I had heard from a mate who had also been there recently that he hated it and the place had been totally ruined - even the acoustics in the rooms had changed with the modern decor from soft to harsh and tinny sounding. 😬 I looked at the tasteless range of beers on offer at the bar and decided I wasn't that thirsty after all - and I knew without asking that the prices would have been hiked. And regardless of price there was nothing that I actually wanted to drink. I turned round and walked out without even having a beer - I doubt I will ever set foot in the Hadley Hotel again. 😞
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