Ready to open: The Dark Horse has galloped towards tomorrow’s big day
Less than six months since Croydon lost one of its more cherished old boozers, when profitable brewery Shepherd Neame opted to close The Two Brewers on Gloucester Road, its only pub in the borough, the place is set to re-open tomorrow, with new owners, different beers and a new name.
The pub has been bought by the team that was previously behind the bar at the Royal Standard, and tomorrow The Dark Horse opens after undergoing three months of refit and decoration work.
Given how the pub – a short walk from Selhurst Park – had always been a favourite with Crystal Palace fans on match days, the new name could be very fitting.
When Shepherd Neame got out, with the pub being offered for sale at £400,000 at the start of the year, locals feared it would be bought by developers for flats.
The pub was once described by this website, in a search for the snuggest winter pubs in Croydon, as “effortlessly cosy at any time of the year”.
And CAMRA had described the pub in its previous guise as “a fine example of an English town pub, the building being two Victorian cottages converted into a traditional charming hostelry”.
The re-opening should finish the latest round of “Croydon musical bar stools”, as Emma and Paul complete the move from the Royal Standard, in central Croydon, where Esther Sutton, the landlady of Addiscombe’s The Oval Tavern, has taken on the licence.
The Dark Horse will offer Bass and Proper Job ales, plus guest beers and a wide range of lagers and cider.
‘Cosy at any time of the year’: inside the new-look Dark Horse
The new owners are hopeful for opening night, despite what an insider has described as “a lot of technical difficulties”.
They have an Instagram account: @darkhorsecroydon.
Today, the Croydon and Sutton branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, declined to comment on the re-opening, preferring to wait until their members have had an opportunity to try out the refurbished pub, and its beers.
One official did express “regret” over another change of a traditional pub name.
“The Two Brewers is a pub which sold cask beers throughout the existence of the Croydon and Sutton branch of CAMRA,” they said. “Any further comment must be reserved until we can actually visit and assess the refurbished pub, and what is on offer.”
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
