#the stool thing is from life - in some of my parents' wedding photos my mum is stood on a box bc shes uh. Much shorter than my dad

[knocking-on-peoples-non-doors]

june, wedding

from the @yearoftheotpevent prompt list

[peckhampeculiar]

Beer to stay

In November last year the Gowlett Arms’ future looked uncertain, but three months later it was rescued by former manager Jack Burbage, much to the relief of local residents. We met up with Jack to find out more about his first summer as landlord of the much-loved pub

Words Seamus Hasson; Photo Lima Charlie 

With a friendly clientele and welcoming interior, the Gowlett Arms is the type of establishment where everybody knows your name. The last time it featured on these pages was back in 2016, when local legend Jonny Henfrey was landlord.

Regulars of this much-loved backstreet pub will forever remember Jonny’s unique sense of humour and larger-than-life persona behind the bar. After 14 years at the helm, he decided to pack his suitcase and head to Margate, leaving behind the keys of his beloved boozer.

Following his decision to leave, the pub closed its doors in November 2017 leaving staff and punters unsure of its future. Luckily its former manager and long-term member of staff, Jack Burbage stepped in and reopened it in February this year. Was it daunting stepping into such big shoes?

“Up to a point,” Jack says. “I think I was already a presence here and everyone sort of knew my face as I was doing the day to day. There were definitely elements of trying to find my feet, but Jonny and me are still good mates and he’s always at the other end of the phone.  He still does a monthly DJ slot on the second Friday of the month with another guy called Nuno.”

When the pub closed Mark Gilbert, who ran the Great British Eccentrics Disco night at the pub launched a crowdfunding page called “Buy a beer for The Gowlett staff”. It raised just shy of £2,000 for former staff who found themselves out of work. It wasn’t just the staff who had concerns however; loyal customers feared the pub may be sold to a developer and never reopen.

“The rumour mill was spinning,” Jack tells me. “It took us a while to get in, originally we thought it was going to happen in two weeks then we thought it was going to happen by Christmas. Then it was the new year and then we got squatters in so that pushed everything back again.”

When Jack finally got the keys to move in, his first task was dealing with the squatters’ aftermath. “You should have seen it when we got back,” he says. “It was an absolute bombsite and it took some effort putting it back together.

“There was graffiti on the bar, they smashed all the mirrors. We lost a few bar stools but they did leave some presents on the kitchen floor upstairs. When they first moved in, the original squatters spoke to a few of the local people around here and seemed quite nice.

“I think originally it got occupied by some relatively conscious people just looking for some accommodation. But at some point during the three weeks I think they were sort of elbowed out by the people who decided to walk off with the cutlery and the dishwasher and other stuff. They left a few random open bottles of the fanciest wines and all the Becks Blue was still here but other than that they pretty much raided the bar.”

Jack’s association with the Gowlett is quite extraordinary. He grew up around the corner from the pub and for the past 13 years he’s been as much of a fixture of the Gowlett as its billiards table and wood panelling. He was employed here as a part-time barman while studying for his degree in mathematics and theoretical science at UCL.

“I specialised in fluid dynamics and gases and liquids so it seems only natural that I would end up in this industry,” he laughs. Jack went onto work full-time in the pub before taking over as manager.

He also proposed to his wife in the pub and then in 2017 on Easter Saturday he held his wedding reception party there. “My mum and dad are still living on the street and are regular customers – in fact my mum is our Sunday cleaner.”

Having taken the helm of the pub, Jack isn’t planning any major changes. A lot of the old events including the Super Sevens (a seven-inch vinyl night), the Eccentrics Disco and the Sunday night quizzes have all returned.

The renowned pizzas are back on the menu and most importantly all the old patrons have come back. “The opening night was amazing,” Jack says. “It felt like everyone who ever came here crammed through the doors.”

Jack is looking into doing a beer festival and one aspect of the pub he does have big plans for is the outside space. “We could give the garden a lot of love, we’ve got some really good ideas about that,” he says.

How would he describe the Gowlett’s regular clientele? “These streets, you don’t really go down them unless you’re specifically coming to the pub or you live here, which means we get a match of the actual community, the people who live around here and those who actually aim to get here which gives it a nice sort of self-protecting atmosphere. We always say that arseholes don’t like it here,” he laughs. “They might come and have a little look around but then they don’t come back.”  

Jack’s affinity with the pub, its customers and staff is unquestionable. As we chat his enthusiasm for the place is obvious and I’m keen to find out what it is that makes it so special to him and its legions of loyal customers.

“You know what? It’s quite hard to pin down,” he says. “I do always wonder that. I think with pubs struggling in general, it’s that thing of just the familiar faces and the actual idea of it being part of the community.”

Having lived around these streets for so many years, Jack has seen a lot of changes in the local community. Some of the older customers he remembers as a kid coming in with his parents he says have now sadly passed on and the area is constantly regenerating itself.

“It’s definitely a different situation here to what it was 20 years ago, both in good and bad ways,” he says. “I think it’s a bit tricky to sort of, write off broad cultural changes as just being the result of gentrification. Things around here are just constantly changing and I think that’s why people like places like the Gowlett, which don’t change too much.

“I think communities might change and adapt constantly but there’s no reason why that should be harmful necessarily. People have definitely been migrating to Peckham for some time and I think that’s no bad thing.”

[peckhampeculiar]

Beer to stay

In November last year the Gowlett Arms’ future looked uncertain, but three months later it was rescued by former manager Jack Burbage, much to the relief of local residents. We met up with Jack to find out more about his first summer as landlord of the much-loved pub

Words: Seamus Hasson; Photo: Lima Charlie

With a friendly clientele and welcoming interior, the Gowlett Arms is the type of establishment where everybody knows your name. The last time it featured on these pages was back in 2016, when local legend Jonny Henfrey was landlord.

Regulars of this much-loved backstreet pub will forever remember Jonny’s unique sense of humour and larger-than-life persona behind the bar. After 14 years at the helm, he decided to pack his suitcase and head to Margate, leaving behind the keys of his beloved boozer.

Following his decision to leave, the pub closed its doors in November 2017 leaving staff and punters unsure of its future. Luckily its former manager and long-term member of staff, Jack Burbage stepped in and reopened it in February this year. Was it daunting stepping into such big shoes?

“Up to a point,” Jack says. “I think I was already a presence here and everyone sort of knew my face as I was doing the day to day. There were definitely elements of trying to find my feet, but Jonny and me are still good mates and he’s always at the other end of the phone.  He still does a monthly DJ slot on the second Friday of the month with another guy called Nuno.”

When the pub closed Mark Gilbert, who ran the Great British Eccentrics Disco night at the pub launched a crowdfunding page called “Buy a beer for The Gowlett staff”. It raised just shy of £2,000 for former staff who found themselves out of work. It wasn’t just the staff who had concerns however; loyal customers feared the pub may be sold to a developer and never reopen.

“The rumour mill was spinning,” Jack tells me. “It took us a while to get in, originally we thought it was going to happen in two weeks then we thought it was going to happen by Christmas. Then it was the new year and then we got squatters in so that pushed everything back again.”

When Jack finally got the keys to move in, his first task was dealing with the squatters’ aftermath. “You should have seen it when we got back,” he says. “It was an absolute bombsite and it took some effort putting it back together.

“There was graffiti on the bar, they smashed all the mirrors. We lost a few bar stools but they did leave some presents on the kitchen floor upstairs. When they first moved in, the original squatters spoke to a few of the local people around here and seemed quite nice.

“I think originally it got occupied by some relatively conscious people just looking for some accommodation. But at some point during the three weeks I think they were sort of elbowed out by the people who decided to walk off with the cutlery and the dishwasher and other stuff. They left a few random open bottles of the fanciest wines and all the Becks Blue was still here but other than that they pretty much raided the bar.”

Jack’s association with the Gowlett is quite extraordinary. He grew up around the corner from the pub and for the past 13 years he’s been as much of a fixture of the Gowlett as its billiards table and wood panelling. He was employed here as a part-time barman while studying for his degree in mathematics and theoretical science at UCL.

“I specialised in fluid dynamics and gases and liquids so it seems only natural that I would end up in this industry,” he laughs. Jack went onto work full-time in the pub before taking over as manager.

He also proposed to his wife in the pub and then in 2017 on Easter Saturday he held his wedding reception party there. “My mum and dad are still living on the street and are regular customers – in fact my mum is our Sunday cleaner.”

Having taken the helm of the pub, Jack isn’t planning any major changes. A lot of the old events including the Super Sevens (a seven-inch vinyl night), the Eccentrics Disco and the Sunday night quizzes have all returned.

The renowned pizzas are back on the menu and most importantly all the old patrons have come back. “The opening night was amazing,” Jack says. “It felt like everyone who ever came here crammed through the doors.”

Jack is looking into doing a beer festival and one aspect of the pub he does have big plans for is the outside space. “We could give the garden a lot of love, we’ve got some really good ideas about that,” he says.

How would he describe the Gowlett’s regular clientele? “These streets, you don’t really go down them unless you’re specifically coming to the pub or you live here, which means we get a match of the actual community, the people who live around here and those who actually aim to get here which gives it a nice sort of self-protecting atmosphere. We always say that arseholes don’t like it here,” he laughs. “They might come and have a little look around but then they don’t come back.”  

Jack’s affinity with the pub, its customers and staff is unquestionable. As we chat his enthusiasm for the place is obvious and I’m keen to find out what it is that makes it so special to him and its legions of loyal customers.

“You know what? It’s quite hard to pin down,” he says. “I do always wonder that. I think with pubs struggling in general, it’s that thing of just the familiar faces and the actual idea of it being part of the community.”

Having lived around these streets for so many years, Jack has seen a lot of changes in the local community. Some of the older customers he remembers as a kid coming in with his parents he says have now sadly passed on and the area is constantly regenerating itself.

“It’s definitely a different situation here to what it was 20 years ago, both in good and bad ways,” he says. “I think it’s a bit tricky to sort of, write off broad cultural changes as just being the result of gentrification. Things around here are just constantly changing and I think that’s why people like places like the Gowlett, which don’t change too much.

“I think communities might change and adapt constantly but there’s no reason why that should be harmful necessarily. People have definitely been migrating to Peckham for some time and I think that’s no bad thing.”