“If the Montague Arms had been a film,” says Andy McKinna, a former regular from New Cross, “it would have been a cult classic.”
Described by The Sun as “one of our strangest, and best, boozers”, the Monty – as it was affectionately nicknamed – won the Rough Pub Guide’s best pub in the country award in 2008 and the Newsshopper Golden Pint award in 2010.
Now, having stood empty for nearly two years after its closure in 2012, the New Cross pub is getting a makeover and is due to reopen in March.
Run by landlord Peter Hoyle and Stan and Bet Pownall since 1967, the pub earned a reputation for idiosyncrasy, not least for its unusual decor and experimental live acts.
Anika Torruella, a writer and former punter from East Dulwich, remembers its eclectic interior: “A 1910 bicycle, model ships, a floral patterned Victorian toilet, a stuffed zebra driving a Georgian coach and three human skeletons. The place was fantastic.”
As well as performances from big names such as Gang of Four and Anna Calvi, the pub hosted a range of oddities including Mr. Blobby’s comeback show and an orchestra so big that “the horn sections had to sit at tables because they didn’t all fit on the stage,” remembers performer Frog Morris.
Notable punters included Paul McCartney, Nick Cave and – according to local folklore – notorious East End gangsters, the Kray twins.
But in 2012, following the deaths of Stan and Bet, the iconic pub served its last pint, and its treasures, stuffed zebra and all, were sold at auction.
“There was a lot of mourning for the pub itself and the wonders inside,” says McKinna, “but for me the sadder loss was that, without a focus, the community around it dissipated.”
Today, the pub is more building site than beloved boozer; the long narrow space is littered with discarded furniture and paint tins.
“It’s going to have a sort of steampunk theme, cogs and gauges: the brewery is going to look like it’s powered by steam,” says new owner Noel Gale, who has worked in the Camden pub industry for ten years. “We’re not going to be able to recreate exactly what the previous owners did, but it will definitely have a feeling of what it was before.”
As for continuing the pub’s musical history, Gale has plans for big acts once a month. “The rest of the time we’ll just do the sort of quirky music that they had before,” he says.
And, in a throwback to its previous décor, he adds: “We are going to do a lot of taxidermy.”
“Of course the new incarnation will be different, and so it should be,” McKinna says. “I’m still not sure how I’ll react the first time I walk back through those doors.”
After all, as McKinna himself says, “the rule was generally to expect the unexpected.”
If its past is anything to go by, an evening at the Montague Arms is set to be anything but predictable.
Don’t forget the great music heritage. Please keep the stage and lights.
‘Fever Jam’ jazz and blues nights. 2010/11
http://biginabox.com/2014/02/07/fever-jam-at-the-montague-arms-201011/
Brillant news !!! Looking to get myself in here with the newly aquired lads before a millwall game . My first memory of this pub was having my first legal pint and dancing to quo with a couple of elder malts till lock in time . This pub has mirrored my emotions through the years , i found myself in a personal matter one late friday and i also had a quite torrid break up in the pub which had half the pub supporting me from arms round the shoulders and private one to ones in the gents. Lets treasure this pub and even though im a few pounds heavier and wiser in years im sure to be marking the opening with a pint of the black stuff and a play on the jukey . Good times are a coming
If they start charging £4.50 minimum for a pint they can forget about the local community being interested.
….regular visitor for past 30 or so years…Peter London, Jimmy Jones, etc….fantastic pub…even got a couple of vynals from the old days. Driven past many times over the last couple of years and wondered what was going on. Now I know! Best of luck to all of you involved, You’ll never re-create what Stan and co. created but I wish you all the very best in “complimenting” it. Can’t wait for another great evening in Queens Road. Best wishes to all concerned.