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Are there really no regular bars open in Brixton on a Wednesday after 1am?

editor

editor

hiraethified
According to my own guide, there's only one single regular bar/pub open till 1am in central Brixton on a Wednesday and that's the Dogstar (which has been known to close early anyway).

There's something every Weds at the PoW with a 'cheap entry' of £5 and that goes on till 3am, but the - shamefully - only free entry bar that is definitely open after 2am time is the Royal Oak in Cla'am (or 55 at the Oak as it's known).

Or does anyone know of any other places?
 
24 hour licensing was a cruel con.

I imagined it being like in American cop shows where you can finish your shift at 5am and go for a pint in a near empty, run down, local city centre pub, where the music wasn't too loud, and it was full of lonely men who just fancied a beer.

The future is shit.
 
Fez909 said:
24 hour licensing was a cruel con.

I imagined it being like in American cop shows where you can finish your shift at 5am and go for a pint in a near empty, run down, local city centre pub, where the music wasn't too loud, and it was full of lonely men who just fancied a beer.

The future is shit.
Click to expand...
We had the 414 that would stay open till 3am or later on a Weds. But then they were kicked out by some cunt with a connection to the Villaaaaage and the billionaire socialite.

And then there's was the wonderful Queen's Head before that went straight edge*
(*compared to how it was before).

And until recently, there was the Wicked Weds night at the PoW, but that's gone west and its (occasional) replacement charges on the door now.
 
editor said:
We had the 414 that would stay open till 3am or later on a Weds. But then they were kicked out by some cunt with a connection to the Villaaaaage and the billionaire socialite.

And then there's was the wonderful Queen's Head before that went straight edge*
(*compared to how it was before).

And until recently, there was the Wicked weds night at the PoW, but that's gone west and its (occasional) replacement charges on the door now.
Click to expand...
Here's the 'cruel con' laid bare in pie chart form:

Alcohol_licenses_by_type.JPG


So your Tescos and your Travel Inns are where you need to go for a late night beer. Not, I suspect, what most people imagined when 24 hour drinking came in.
 
I wonder if it's a supply and demand thing? Less people going out mid week so not worth the venue's staying open or they have to charge a cover as no enough customers??
Pressure of work and cost of drinks? Chatting to young people* many only have a few drinks 'out' as it's too expensive, and will have drinks at home instead.
*Not a full survey!
 
sparkybird said:
I wonder if it's a supply and demand thing? Less people going out mid week so not worth the venue's staying open or they have to charge a cover as no enough customers??
Pressure of work and cost of drinks? Chatting to young people* many only have a few drinks 'out' as it's too expensive, and will have drinks at home instead.
*Not a full survey!
Click to expand...

Plus smoking ban and younger people just staying at home using social media.
 
sparkybird said:
I wonder if it's a supply and demand thing? Less people going out mid week so not worth the venue's staying open or they have to charge a cover as no enough customers??
Pressure of work and cost of drinks? Chatting to young people* many only have a few drinks 'out' as it's too expensive, and will have drinks at home instead.
*Not a full survey!
Click to expand...
The Prince of Wales, (old) Queens Head and 414 were always pretty busy when they stayed open late on Wednesdays. There's plenty of people working odd hours and self-employed types who can stay out late if they fancy it.

The Oak pub in Cla'aam is open till 2.30am every night.
 
Fez909 said:
24 hour licensing was a cruel con.

I imagined it being like in American cop shows where you can finish your shift at 5am and go for a pint in a near empty, run down, local city centre pub, where the music wasn't too loud, and it was full of lonely men who just fancied a beer.

The future is shit.
Click to expand...
Markets, proper markets, tend to have a 5am bar beside them. Places like Smithfield or the Market Porter in Borough.

You could finish your detective shift at 5am then call in there, and enjoy an off-duty beer with the prostitutes and hustle artists whose cases you were busting not thirty minutes ago.

The bar tender will offer you a shot on the house, and slip you some info on a shady looking character in the corner. You'll accept his drink but say "Geez Hank, I'm off duty", yet file it away for future use.
 
editor said:
We had the 414 that would stay open till 3am or later on a Weds. But then they were kicked out by some cunt with a connection to the Villaaaaage and the billionaire socialite.

And then there's was the wonderful Queen's Head before that went straight edge*
(*compared to how it was before).

And until recently, there was the Wicked Weds night at the PoW, but that's gone west and its (occasional) replacement charges on the door now.
Click to expand...

The days of the Queen seem long ago and far away. :(
 
Is there a casino nearby? In Manchester the only place to get a very late drink on a weeknight without paying in is the casino in the Great Northern...
 
I assumed this to be the case too, but in Manchester at least apparently the late-night vibe in the casino is really seedy and weird, full of maniacs and ne'er do wells - which is what you want in a late night drinking hole isn't it?
 
killer b said:
I assumed this to be the case too, but in Manchester at least apparently the late-night vibe in the casino is really seedy and weird, full of maniacs and ne'er do wells - which is what you want in a late night drinking hole isn't it?
Click to expand...
Seedy is fine, but I just want something akin to a pub. Casinos usually have burly security and I don't like them as an idea either. Awful places.
 
I think you'd struggle to find any late-night venue without security these days, it's usually a condition of license. I don't suppose it matters whether you like the idea or not if there isn't one locally anyway, mind. I agree they're grim places...
 
editor said:
The Prince of Wales, (old) Queens Head and 414 were always pretty busy when they stayed open late on Wednesdays. There's plenty of people working odd hours and self-employed types who can stay out late if they fancy it.

The Oak pub in Cla'aam is open till 2.30am every night.
Click to expand...
the late lamented two woodcocks had a lock-in

surprised there's nowhere that's really taken over this trade
 
The queens head had changed hands again and the new owner is pretty sound and it's much improved at the weekends. Can't remember what time they close though.
 
DietCokeGirl said:
The queens head had changed hands again and the new owner is pretty sound and it's much improved at the weekends. Can't remember what time they close though.
Click to expand...
They sometimes have late nights on weekends (£5/till 3am) but it's all quiet in the week with an early 11pm close :(
 
That's a shame. Not much else now I am middle aged and well over doing drugs would keep me out midweek.
 
skyscraper101 said:
They should just let bars close when they want. They don’t have this 11pm nonsense in New York. It’s a load of bollocks.
Click to expand...
They kind of do since the big law change about 10-15 years ago but it’s also dependant on individual circumstances. A venue in a railway arch some distance away from residents is always going to find it much easier to have an application for late night drinking approved than one directly underneath residential homes of course. If a bar had been previously restricted to 11 pm closing times because of residential objections, the fact that 24h licenses are now legal is going to make sweet fa difference.

There’s also the financial side of it as well. I’m not convinced an area like Brixton would has enough late night footfall to generate sufficient patrons Monday to Wednesday. Certainly to make it worth bothering given the extra costs involved with staffing and of course security. I don’t imagine the projected extra revenue being that good or tempting for most venues.

Can’t see many venues wanting to dip their toes there, and can’t much blame them tbh.
 
T & P said:
There’s also the financial side of it as well. I’m not convinced an area like Brixton would has enough late night footfall to generate sufficient patrons Monday to Wednesday.
Click to expand...
Except the Queen's Head used to do very well indeed and have really busy Mons-Weds that went on till 3am (and sometimes later), as did the 414 on Weds.

As did the Prince of Wales too. The Albert has now started opening up till 1am on Thursday nights and there's been many Tues/Weds nights where there's been quite a crowd wanting to carry on drinking. And then there's the Old Dispensary in Camberwell that has a great late crowd on Mondays.

Do you ever go out at these times to see for yourself?
 
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