One much-loved Croydon boozer has closed its doors, while the borough’s oldest pub is promising cheaper prices
Last orders: the brewers who owned the Two Brewers have sold the building – a pair of Victorian cottages, to developers
The Two Brewers pub on Gloucester Road closed on Sunday for the final time, its owners, brewers Shepherd Neame, reportedly having sold the property to a developer.
Not too far from Selhurst Park, the Two Brewers was a favourite with Eagles fans on their way to matches, or wanting to drown their sorrows after games such as Sunday’s. That will no longer be an option…
The pub was once described by this website, in a search for the cosiest winter pubs in Croydon, as “effortlessly cosy at any time of the year”, although our curmudgeon of a pub reviewer also noted: “its decor appears to have remained unchanged since the Spitfire was our first line of defence against the Nazi hordes”.
The Two Brewers was the only pub in Croydon run by Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewery, based in Kent and with popular ales such as Spitfire and Bishop’s Finger on offer at its bars.
After several rocky years for the hospitality trade, last year Shepherd Neame reported strong business figures, with record revenues of £172.3million and a “good” uplift in profit as trade publications reported it to have shifted its “focus on its pubs”.
The group, which owns almost 300 sites across Kent and south-east England, “was boosted by its estate of London pubs”, where beer sales jumped by 14.5%, it was reported as recently as October.
Yet that has not been good enough to save the Two Brewers, as the pub owners appear to be prioritising property values over beer sales.
Lower prices: that’s the offer under the Dog and Bull’s new management
Croydon CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has confirmed that the Two Brewers is a long-term closure.
CAMRA described the pub: “The Two Brewers is a fine example of an English town pub, the building being two Victorian cottages converted into a traditional charming hostelry.” Which ought to make any developers’ planning application an interesting prospect.
“It is very well served by public transport, and is near to Crystal Palace football ground.”
- In other Croydon pub news, the borough’s oldest pub, the Dog and Bull on Surrey Street, is “under new management”. And that has led to the promise of lower prices, according to the pub’s social media publicity, which makes a change…
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