Pints West 97, Spring 2013 - Bristol & District CAMRA

PINTS WEST
The Cross Keys at the crossroads
On a dismal Tuesday evening in
early February 2013 a small
group of CAMRA Bristol Pubs
Group members gathered at the Cross
Keys public house on Fishponds Road,
Fishponds to pay a final visit to the
pub before it closed for the last time
following its sale by Admiral Taverns
to a property developer. He intended
to convert it to flats once planning
permission was obtained from the City
Council so a get together was arranged
at short notice with the intention of
making a nostalgic last visit to the pub,
and to gather information as to why it
was closing with hardly a murmur of
opposition from local residents, amenity
groups or other organisations.
We met in the bar of this open-plan
pub for a drink of Sharp’s Doom Bar –
rather appropriate in the circumstances.
An events board on the wall stated that
the next forthcoming event was ‘FLATS’.
This sign of impending closure seemed
to sum up the problem facing our local
pubs, where they are often targeted for
flat conversions. We were left asking
ourselves how it had come to this.
We were soon in discussion with the landlord, who had been in the
trade for many years, and he explained that this pub was the second
oldest in Fishponds. He actually wanted to buy it from the pub company
but the property developer put in a higher offer when it went to auction
in November 2012. He said that the pub did not have a regular customer
base and relied on passing trade, but I mentioned that because the
pub had been closed and boarded up for a while not too long ago, this
was not at all surprising. Most regulars would no doubt have found
somewhere else to go for a drink and, once regular customers have gone,
it takes a long time to rebuild your customer base if a pub does reopen.
Apart from ourselves there were a few other customers, which is
what you would expect quite often on a Tuesday night these days, but
the overall impression was that it was very quiet and after we finished
our drinks we bade farewell to the landlord and his wife and wished
them luck for the future. We were also left lamenting the passing of
Fishponds’ second oldest pub and wondered if it was going to be the last
pub closure in the greater Fishponds area for the foreseeable future.
Within a month of the property being
sold, the developer submitted a
planning application to convert the pub to
flats and part ground-floor retail. Before
closure the pub had upstairs residential
accommodation for the landlord with a
two-storey rear extension/function room.
It also had an extensive rear pub garden
but that was sold off separately for housing.
The pub was also able to provide
cooked food at lunchtime because of its
downstairs kitchen facility.
At the time of going to press, the
planning application was still open
for comment, so if anyone feels strongly
enough that the pub should be saved, they
could submit their comments on Bristol
City Council’s planning website quoting
application reference 12/05726/F and
citing core strategy policy BCS12 on
community facilities, potential pub job
losses and local suppliers being affected,
and the effect on other local traders by
reduced footfall, etc. You could also
contact the local councillors Steve Comer
(Liberal Democrat) www.steve.comer@
bristol.gov.uk and Mahmadur Khan
(Labour) www.mahmadurkhan@bristol.gov.uk to ask them what they
intend doing about keeping
the pub for the benefit of the
community in the future.
The Greater Fishponds
Area Neighbourhood
Partnership www.
myneighbourhoodbristol.
com could also be contacted
about these proposals since
they are major stakeholders
in promoting regeneration
and community wellbeing in
the greater Fishponds area.
What happens next is
anyone’s guess.
Ian Beckey
The Chequers, Kingswood
Not another
supermarket
please!
St George East Councillor Fabian Breckels was contacted by local
residents concerned that the currently disused Chequers pub in
Lodge Road, Kingswood was at risk of being turned into yet another
mini-supermarket.
Fabian said, “I’ve been in touch with the owners Enterprise Inns
and I have been advised that they are looking for tenants. There is a
clear demand for the pub to reopen and the venue would be ideal as
a food-orientated establishment. Enterprise have recently renovated
and reopened the Hobgoblin in Gloucester Road so hopefully a similar
standard of renovation can happen here.”
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