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Imagine Golden Lane and Community Cafe next Saturday at Under Crescent House
Imagine Golden Lane and Community Cafe next Saturday at Under Crescent House
There are four Golden Lane Estate related facebook accounts and you can follow them here: goldenlaneEC1
Shakespeare makeover
A Listed Building Consent application is in for a makeover of the Shakespeare pub.
http://www.planning2.cityoflondon.gov.uk/online-applications/applic...
It includes no fewer than 12 new signs - some internally illuminated - a ruby red paint job and new exterior lighting. I would say none of these are in any way in the spirit of the original building - or the original Shakespeare, which was rather nicely designed, both inside and out.
A glass screen is also proposed on what was until a few years ago pavement - but which was colonised by the pub and is now referred to on their drawings as an outdoor dining area - decorated with what looks like the logo from Quality Street toffees.
As this is a GII* listed building we should surely expect much better than this. The pub is presently shabby, badly maintained, and covered in signs-boards and other clutter (none of which has listed building consent). But I reckon the present proposals definitely make it worse, not better and merely consolidate past bad decisions made before the building was protected; for example pseudo Victorian windows where there were previously rather nice wide ones.
Incidentally the application includes a photo of the on-site notice advertising these applications to the public - but they are certainly not on-site today. I wonder how many people know about this?
Views: 305
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by SARAH BATTY-SMITH on
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Roland, I have been tardy at looking at this and fear that it is now too late to object. I think tomorrow Thursday 6th February 2014 is the last day, I could be wrong though. I am sure the pub is listed so how can it be allowed to have these changes? Surely the glass frame outside falls within that too. Shouldn't the CoL be saying that the glass screen is not within the grade 2 listing? Does it go through if no one protests at the pubs proposals?
Inside now is a dot matrix menu board that looks soooo tacky. I marvel at its ugliness every time I walk past.
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Does anyone know anything more about the pro posed changes? What do people think?
Personally, I think the pub has improved no end under the new management - I can eat good food now at my local - frito misto! Lobster! Parma ham... I am really interested to know what we all feel.
Simon
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Christine, yeah definitely good on the right occasion. They are Anglo-Italian and the mother, when about, used to cook with Delia! It is not fine dining - it is a pub - but pizza is better and cheaper than can be had locally, pasta is reliable and they sometimes make soca and sgabei. As pubs go this is okay. Before it was all beer and crisps and, frankly, urine!
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Simon, I agree with your description of the Shakespeare. They are a nice family. The staff are friendly and courteous when they serve you good food from a good varied menu, with a decent selection of wines, spirits and beer at a reasonable price, that doesn't leave you feeling you have been mugged for the sake of pomposity.It is a pub, it is not pretending to be fine dinning, it is a business that that has to work around different customers at different times of the day, such is the nature of its city location. It will not be to everyone's taste, but nothing ever is. My own idea of a nice evening (fine dinning?) is the above, in the company of good friends - family or something with a romantic attachment,as opposed to , is my knife the proper distance from the fork, or whether the toilet seat is from the wrong era, garnished with conversation you have no interest in. I find theses tedious attacks on the Shakespeare distasteful and unnecessary. For those people who are averse to dot matrix boards avoid that stunning iconic building THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE as it has a dot matrix board just inside the main doors, you don't even have go press your nose against the glass it can be seen from the upstairs of a passing bus.
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Permalink Reply by Maria Elizabeth Prior on
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James, you have lots of good points. At least the Shakespeare is having a makeover, unlike Crescent House, for example, with its paint flaking everywhere, poor repair jobs, like the ones Nathan showed on another post, and rubbish being allowed to sit on the landing for long periods, and so it goes on.
james kelly said:Simon, I agree with your description of the Shakespeare. They are a nice family. The staff are friendly and courteous when they serve you good food from a good varied menu, with a decent selection of wines, spirits and beer at a reasonable price, that doesn't leave you feeling you have been mugged for the sake of pomposity.It is a pub, it is not pretending to be fine dinning, it is a business that that has to work around different customers at different times of the day, such is the nature of its city location. It will not be to everyone's taste, but nothing ever is. My own idea of a nice evening (fine dinning?) is the above, in the company of good friends - family or something with a romantic attachment,as opposed to , is my knife the proper distance from the fork, or whether the toilet seat is from the wrong era, garnished with conversation you have no interest in. I find theses tedious attacks on the Shakespeare distasteful and unnecessary. For those people who are averse to dot matrix boards avoid that stunning iconic building THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE as it has a dot matrix board just inside the main doors, you don't even have go press your nose against the glass it can be seen from the upstairs of a passing bus.
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