So what fate for the Crown on Court Yard?

Now I wonder on the fate of the Crown on Court Yard.  

Over the last year I have returned to its long history in Eltham ever since I discovered it had closed.

And this picture sent to me by Hayley Smith has set me off all over again.

There is no doubting that little seems to be happening there and yet its presence across the internet is still boldly announced.

I counted six references to the pub all of which appear to suggest that the place is open for business and yet Hayley’s picture tells another tale.

And the Councils’ planning site offers up no hint that there are any schemes to do anything with the site.

So perhaps it will reopen soon under new management and a face lift.

Of course I would welcome news from anyone in the know.

The present building stands on the site of the older one which has a rich past and so having written about the place I rather would have liked to have a drink there.

In 1840 it was being run by John Blundell who was still there the following year, but seems to have retired by 1843 when the place was in the hands of John Martin who seems very much a young man with a determination to go places.*

At the age of 19 he is there in the 1837 land tax records renting a stable from a James Wright and land from a Mrs Dobson, and by 1843 is in the Crown renting the building and the yard.

And as he began his long partnership with the Crown I wonder what its former landlord did with his retirement, which sadly was not long for John Martin died at the age of 51 in 1844.

Not so John Martin who was to serve pints for another three decades.

Not that I am going to repeat that story which is there for all to see on the blog.

Instead I am going to leave you with this image of the Crown from 1977 and reflect that the past
can still look better than the present

Today the pub’s outward appearance has not changed that much although  the boards announcing the latest offers along with the window display do make it look cluttered.

And there is the bus stop just as I remember it, open to the elements.

*Walking along Court Yard in the June of 1841, looking for John Martin and Hannah Simmons
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/walking-along-court-yard-in-june-of.html

Picture; the Crown, in 2015 from Hayley Smith and in 1977 from the collection of Jean Gammons