Drinking and DiningLatest Newsplanning

Queen Dowager pub closes for good

NewsThe Queen Dowager pub closed it’s doors for the last time on Saturday after being sold to property developers.

A series of landlords in recent years had failed to bring in the income required by Youngs to make it viable and the most recent ones were only given 9 days notice that the pub was to close despite tripling turnover since taking it over.

Licensees Shaun & Kathryn (pictured below) kept on smiling and wanted to go out with a bang so held a closing party with live music. They are now off to run a pub in Somerset – even further away from their roots in Burnley, Lancashire.


Photo: George Gimber (CAMRA)

The pub sign and fixtures & fittings have already been removed and the new owners are believed be planning to turn the building residence(s), a move which will be opposed by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who regularly oppose the change of use of pubs to residential or other business types.

[Update] a short history/obituary for the pub courtesy of the Richmond & Hounslow branch of CAMRA: A small village beer house has stood in North Lane, Teddington since at least 1747. It was previously called the Two Lawyers or Jolly Lawyers and was subsequently leased by Young & Bainbridge in 1860. It was rebuilt in 1906-7 but, like the Abercorn Arms, remained a beer house until it was granted a full licence in 1950. The pub was refurbished and extended in 2003. The former public bar was opened up to the main bar. The name commemorates Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV.

Comments

0 thoughts on “Queen Dowager pub closes for good

  • Clive Bishop

    I now live in Canada but used to frequent the Dowager.My Mother used to do cleaning there at the outbreak of the war when she was pregnant with my elder brother.He has ,therefore,used the pub in 1940. This pub will be sadly missed

    Reply
    • Ian Wilkins

      Hello Clive remember me from the 1950’s.TVGS etc,hope you and Colin are well

      Reply
  • John Clarke

    So another traditional local pub bites the dust, very much like the White Hart in Hampton a few years ago. Sadly this has been coming for a while. The brewery seemed intent on making the Dowager as unwelcoming and unattractive as possible by means of a series of poor quality and out of character “renovations” which turned a classic retro interior into something completely vanilla and nondescript. Beer quality also seemed to take a turn for the worse around the same time, so it’s hardly surprising that turnover was poor.

    Reply
  • The PubCos see their estate as Buildings that can be sold at the best price and have no interest in running a pub unless it generates more income than a sale. Some developer will make a fortune on this, whilst the people of Teddington lose an amenity. This needs to be fought when any planning consent is sought.

    Reply
  • Angela Whittingham

    My granddad celebrated his 90th birthday at the pub .He had been a regular since moving down South during the depression in the1930s! Youngs sent the dray and horses to mark the occasion .I have numerous photos of family times spent at the pub………..

    Reply
    • tteditor

      Thanks for the memories Angela – it’s fair to say that the pub has seen better days and locals seem to be torn between happy that the run-down building could be replaced and those who knew its better days.

      Fantastic that Youngs help celebrate the occasion! The only time I can think there was a dray and horses in Teddington in recent years was after the recent Abercorn Arms had a refurbishment.

      Reply
  • Ken Collins

    Sad news. I used to drink there at lunchtime in the 70’s with friends I worked with at NPL. We drank there because of its character and the beer, not because it was the nearest – even then we thought it was a more human pub than others in the area. Another great pub bites the dust.

    Reply
  • There is a planning committee meeting at the Council Offices, York House, Twickenham on Thursday 29th November at 7pm to disucss the demolition of the Queen Dowager and the erection of four four bedroom houses on the site. This will have an enormous impact on the local residents with the already limited parking, and over-stretched schools and community services. If you’d like to speak out about this at the meeting, please call 0845 612 2600 before noon on Wednesday 28th to register.

    Reply
  • Jayne Chace

    Nostalgia is nice, but my objection to the proposed destruction of the QD pub building is that it fits into the existing neighbourhood environment and the new development is too big for the location. Why not convert the pub into flats and preserve some of Teddington’s wonderful history and ambiance.

    Reply
    • tteditor

      Hi Jayne, the demolition & rebuild has now been given the go-ahead after a council meeting decided this on Thursday. 2 semi-detached houses will replace the current building (with some pre-requisites about overlooking windows for neighbours).

      Reply
  • Ian Wilkins

    Extremely sad to see the old Dowager has gone.My Grandparents ran it from 1943 to 1954,and I lived in it for 4 years.Many good memories of a very popular pub.I have some photos of the 1953 Coronation party there if anyone is interested.

    Reply
    • tteditor

      Hi Ian, thanks for the comment – it’s always sad to see any pub go. Yes if you could send some pics that would be interesting – the local history museum collect pics like this if I could forward them on as well?

      Here are a few more sad ones of the pub being demolished. The replacement houses are almost finished now.

      Reply
  • Saul Nasse

    What a shame, I first visited the Dowager in 1988 when on a trip to the National Physical Laboratory to drop off a robot! Then some years later bought a house on nearby Elleray Road, and went there quite a lot in the late 90s. My most surreal moment was to go in on my own for a pint and find a guy sitting at the opposite table, completely naked. The police arrived to take him away. We spent a couple of years away and came back to find it considerably messed about in 2003, and when we moved down to Barnes never really found a reason to go back.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *