FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS PART 8

FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS PART 8

     Amazingly, I only have eight Wetherspoons left to visit, ten if you count the two that were shut, and eleven if you count Heathrow Terminal 5 (airside) which my niece Sam checked out for me. However, apart from The Barking Dog which is still being refurbished, those remaining are all a long way from Wanstead - and each other. So each pub will take up a whole day whereas I've often been visiting more than one on each outing. One day, I actually went to five Spoons, the last one just to use the toilet.

     But there's no urgency, especially as the summer is here and I can spend more time in the garden with a good book and a nice Shiraz. In fact, it makes sense to spin out the remainder and integrate some local events - like England v Iceland at Wembley on June 7.

The George, Wanstead part 8

     Apart from the Penns (father and son) mentioned in part 1, other celebs linked with Wanstead are the poet Thomas Hood, Elizabeth I favourite Robert Dudley, dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan and a plethora of Eastenders actors including Jessie Wallace (Kat Slater), Tom Watt (Lofty), Ricky Norwood (Fatboy) and Nick Berry (Simon Wicks). Sir Tony 'Baldrick' Robinson and snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan were pupils at Wanstead County High School and TV athletics commentator Ron Pickering once taught there.

     Celebrity solicitor Mark Stephens also lives in Wanstead. At various times he has represented Arthur Scargill, Greenpeace, James Hewitt, Mike Tyson, Salman Rushdie Johnny Depp and Julian Assange.

     Having lived in Wanstead for nigh on 30 years I've only spotted Ricky Norwood, Tony Robinson and Mark Stephens. And I actually worked with the late Ron Pickering at the BBC, unaware he had a Wanstead connection.

     In my previous post I visited the Charter Oak in Welling, one of the 61 Great Trees of London. Well, I love a list and was surprised to find that also on that list is the George Green Sweet Chestnut in Wanstead ..... 

     .... it was probably planted in the early 1700s, is opposite The George, and I've walked past it hundreds of times without appreciating its significance. 

       A further twist is that in 1993, a similar chestnut tree close to this one was the centre of The Battle of George Green. When it was discovered that the 250-year-old tree was to be removed to make way for the M11 link road, protesters built a tree house, assigned it a post code, and declared it to be the Free State of Wanstonia. Eventually they were evicted by force and the tree was chopped down. We purchased the house where I still live in 1996 - after the link road had opened. Had the new road not been built I very much doubt we'd have moved to Wanstead as the traffic would have been horrendous. In another twist, a year after taking up residence, we were awarded £11,000 compensation!

See also this this video.

           

The Wibbas Down Inn - Wimbledon

Don't be fooled by the modest frontage - this huge pub zig-zags into the far distance where there is a similar entrance in a different street. The Wibbas Down, an early spelling of Wimbledon, stands conveniently next the New Wimbledon Theatre where I saw tribute band Beatlemania .....

     The theatre looks great from the outside but the interior has seen better days, much like the audience. Still, they knew the words to all the songs, ending with a rousing Na Na Na Na Na-Na-Na-Na whilst fiddling with their phones trying to switch the torches on. Then straight over to The Wibbas Down Inn for a nightcap and a shorter queue for the toilets.

I'm very fond of these suburban theatres where, without spending a fortune, you can see the best tribute bands and stand-up comedians. I hadn't been to a Beatlemania show before but they were excellent, almost as good (and cheaper than) The Bootleg Beatles who I've seen many times.

The Watchman - New Malden

     The Watchman is a former police station which opened in 1892 as a branch of the main police station in Kingston, known as 'the Watch House'. So the local bobbies were known as 'Watchmen'.

     A small memorial garden has been retained to the left of the pub. It is dedicated to the memory of 23-year-old Constable Frederick Atkins who died in 1881 after being shot three times. His killer was never found. But the murder was instrumental in allowing officers on night duty to be armed. 

    New Malden boasts one of the largest South Korean communities in Europe .....

     Approximately 20,000 Koreans live in the area around New Malden, including around 600 from North Korea. Many of them settled here in the 1970s when the South Korean Ambassador lived in New Malden and Samsung opened its first UK offices there.

     In 2004, Tesco reported that their New Malden store attracted the biggest consumers of fruit and vegetables in the country, presumably because of the Korean diet. And, if I may racially stereotype, there's no sign of litter on the streets.

The Good Yarn - Uxbridge

     The Good Yarn was previously Pearson's menswear shop. Founded in 1837, the tailors traded in this building from 1968 to 1993.

     More recently, the pub has been adopted as the headquarters of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party ......   

     I suspect it is no coincidence that these funsters ended up in what was the constituency of Boris Johnson, guaranteeing TV exposure on election night. 

     The OMRLP was established in 1982 by musician Screaming Lord Sutch to satirise British politics and as an alternative for protest voters. Having once seen his band live, going into  politics was a good move.

     Over the years their manifestos have always featured bizarre proposals such as pram lanes in shopping centres, a 'total bastard' tax, 99p coins and filling in the Channel Tunnel.

     But a few of their early policies were eventually adopted including the legalisation of commercial radio, all-day pub opening and the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18. (Now the loony Labour are considering going one step further and allowing 16-year olds to vote).

      2019 General election result for Uxbridge and South Ruislip

             Boris Johnson (Conservative)                                         25,351

             Ali Milani (Labour)                                                            18,141

             Joanne Humphreys (Liberal Democrat)                             3,026

             Mark Keir (Green Party)                                                     1,090

             Geoffrey Courtenay (UKIP)                                                   283

             Lord Buckethead (Official Monster Raving Loony Party)      125

             Count Binface (Independent)                                                  69

             Alfie Utting (Independent)                                                       44

             Yace "Interplanetary Time Lord" Yogenstein                           23

             Norma Burke (Independent)                                                         22

             Bobby Smith (Independent)                                                         8

             William Tobin (Independent)                                                      5

                                            

NB Count Binface was formerly known as Lord Buckethead. Astronomer William Tobin was British. Because he had not resided in Britain for more than 15 years he was not allowed to vote but eligible to stand as a candidate. Despite his campaign slogan "Don't vote Tobin, let Tobin vote" five people did vote for him, the lowest number for any candidate in the election.

     Update: One of the defining images of the 2024 General Election was certainly of Jacob Rees-Mogg who not only lost his seat but ended up pictured alongside Monster Raving Loony candidate Barmy Brunch.

     Despite its political credentials, The Good Yarn can't claim to be the most important pub in Uxbridge.

      The Crown & Treaty (not Wetherspoons) was built in the early sixteenth century as Place House and is where, in 1645, King Charles I held peace talks with the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War. The king's stubborn attitude had a lot to do with the resulting Treaty of Uxbridge achieving little ..... and his execution four years later.

  

      The Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge is worth exploring. It is advisable to book a tour, which I did.

 

     The Bunker served as the operations room during the Battle of Britain in World II, to coordinate the defence of South-East England. It was the world's first integrated air defence system, something the Germans were never aware of and never considered doing themselves.

 

     Whilst Richmal Crompton might not have been taking the dictators seriously, the RAF certainly was, and the Bunker, 60ft underground, was completed in seven months, just a few days before war broke out.

The Village Inn - Rayners Lane

There's not much to see here but the Art Deco Zoroastrian Centre is worth a mention. Formerly an Odeon cinema, it is the only official temple of its type in the UK.

Zoroastrianism is an ancient Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest faiths. There are only around 4,000 Zoroastrians in England and Wales, with half of them living in London.

STILL TO VISIT ....

J.J. Moon's - Kingsbury NW9 9EL

J.J. Moon's - Wembley HA9 6AA

The Barking Dog - Barking IG11 8TU currently closed for refurbishment.

The Moon & Stars - Penge SE20 7QS

The Moon Under Water - Watford WD17 2BS

The Nonsuch Inn - North Cheam SM3 9AA

The Tailor's Chalk - Sidcup DA14 6ED

The Whispering Moon - Wallington SM6 8QF