The Florence, Herne Hill

Anonymous Scott again. The landlord (manager), telling people to go in drink in Tulse. Tell you what, why dont you go back to East Dulwich and take our gay 'pub' with you.

11 Dec 2007 17:25

The Florence, Herne Hill

Thought as much. It's a chain. Although the way Scott was talking, you'd have thought he owned the place.
I went passed there yesterday and couldn't believe how many mothers and babies were in there. Was the same in the Prince Regent. Have people mistaken the word pub for creche. Pathetic

9 Jul 2007 16:42

The Florence, Herne Hill

Hello Scott,

Thanks for your comments. My earlier posts are a bit ranty so I'll try and keep it more civilised this time.

I agree with BennyBeans in that Ganley's was far from perfect, and did need improvements, but it did have a good down to earth atmosphere which I feel is now lacking in the Florence. I think it was thriving (maybe not so much on Friday and Saturday nights), but the the landlord obviously saw a chance to take the money and run, with real estate prices in SE24/SE22 going through the roof. Who can blame him.

And who can blame you for seeing a great opportunity to create a funky bar in Herne Hill for the ever growing number of upwardly mobile professinals who want somewhere cool to drink.

To me it feels like it's all gone very selective, as you know well that ordinary folk are not going to want to drink beers at those sort of prices or frequent such a place anyway. (Minimum LAGER price is �3.10 @ 5%) Also, if you have no screens in the pub showing sport, you again will be rid of the 'undesirable' elements of the community. This is all quite cynically contrived and a deliberate squeezing and pricing out of a large section of the community.

Sure, there are no laws to say you can't do what you're doing, and in your scene, you're obviously a big success,.I'm just disappointed that I no longer can pop down my local boozer and be surrounded by a broad range of people, watch sport and not be irritated by nerds who for some strange reason believe they are cool.

It feels very bland and shallow in there now, and don't get me wrong, it's good to see the back of the old irish blokes on the wall and the celtic crosses but it was a darn sight better than what's there now.

I think it's about getting a balance within the area, and with the Escape Bar and the Commercial both attracting fairly similar crowds to the Florence, and not showing sports or being tradional, we are now in a situation where there is no variety. The Prince Regent is now right off since that was done up.

I'm sure I'm very much in the minority now and probably seem bitter and old fashioned, however I'm sure if you were to do some local research you may find alot more people like me who haven't bothered to complain.

Regardless, I wish you luck in your business venture.

PS the footie season may be over, but it's just the small matter that England are playing Estonia tonight in a crucial qualifier and half of Herne Hill will be in a small bar in the Half Moon trying to get a view of the only TV in the area that will be showing it.
The Florence will be half empty. What a waste of such a great building!

6 Jun 2007 17:24