Now I am fairly confident in saying I never went in the Man
of Kent on the High Street and of course I now never will.
If I am honest I do not know when it shut up shop but there
will be someone out there who does and will no doubt tell me.
The best I can do is sometime in the early
1990s which of course means it will have done just a century.*
It opened in 1888 and is still a fine looking building with
its brick overhang, corner spire and iron work above the door.
That said I am still drawn to its predecessor which seems to
offer up the potential for plenty of stories which I rather think I will pursue
over the next few weeks.
Sadly I have no date for the picture nor does it feature in
R...R.C. Gregory’s history of Eltham.
But like that won’t stop me digging into its past.
Picture; from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory,
1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers,
http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm
*And like all good requests, sure enough someone has come forward with the date 1991. So thank you Elthampug who tweeted me today. He remembers straw on the floor, now that I would have liked to have seen.
*And like all good requests, sure enough someone has come forward with the date 1991. So thank you Elthampug who tweeted me today. He remembers straw on the floor, now that I would have liked to have seen.
The man of kent was our local for many years, we were in there every night either to stay or meet before going elsewhere. remember john the governor, ernie the barman. i always got a seat because i had a very large alsation dog. the old pub is sadly missed, lots of memories started in there and some friendships which still exist now.
ReplyDelete