Tag: pub

• Gravesend’s Lost Pubs: The Railway Tavern

  

  The Railway Tavern

  The Railway Tavern, Gravesend, originally opened in 1853 (some sources suggest 1881) and followed shortly after the opening of the railway station in 1849. The pub was originally tied to the London Meux’s Brewery and the exterior still features the beautiful original Meux Brewery glazed tiles.

  After 129 years of trading, it closed in 2010 and then reopened in 2011 as D:Ream Bar and Lounge. D-Ream lasted just over a year, closing in October 2012.

  Railway Fruit Stores

  The photograph (below) shows that the Windmill Street side was once used as the ‘Railway Fruit Stores’, offering ‘English and Continental Fruits’. There’s no date on this image, but you can see the Woodville Halls (visible in the background), which opened in November 1968.

  

  The building now trades as Treatz Dessert Parlour, one of two pubs in the town that have reopened as ice cream parlours.

  This is just one of many pubs to have recently closed in Gravesend. Since the turn of the century, 24 pubs in the town have closed their doors for the final time. This is part of an ongoing project.

  The Railway Tavern at the Dover Kent Archives.

  Update

  August 2026: Treatz closed in early 2025. At the time of writing, the building sadly remains empty.

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  Gravesend’s Lost Pubs: The Railway Tavern

  The Railway Tavern in Railway Place, Gravesend, originally opened in 1853 (some sources suggest 1881) and followed shortly after the railway station in 1849.

  17 January 201910 September 2026

  

  Gravesend’s Lost Pubs: Ascot Arms

  The Ascot Arms is the latest of Gravesend’s pubs to close, finally shutting its doors early in 2018. The brewery has advertised for new tenants, but it seems more likely it’ll be turned into yet another convenience store, or demolished…

  19 March 201810 September 2026

  2019.01.17

• Gravesend’s Lost Pubs: Ascot Arms

  

  The Ascot Arms (formerly the Central Hotel)

  The Ascot Arms is the latest of Gravesend’s pubs to close, finally shutting its doors early in 2018. The brewery has advertised for new tenants, but it seems more likely it’ll be turned into yet another convenience store, or demolished and the land used for housing.

  The Ascot Arms started life as the Central Avenue Hotel, opening in 1932. It’s a huge rambling place, so it’s hardly surprising the latest landlord struggled to keep it open.

  

  A Pub on Every Corner

  The Public House, the pub, along with the church, was once at the centre of every English community. In my parents’ generation, most men, and sometimes women, would have ‘a local’. The local was a place to go and chat with friends about their lives, their troubles, or at least how poorly their football team were playing that week.

  Yes, they sold beer, but mostly they were about community. Where I grew up, in south-east London, they generally served a very small clientele. That might only be the residents of two or three streets.

  Most of their regulars knew each other; they knew their partners, parents and their children. It was a very local thing. Further up the road would be another local with its own regulars and another separate, distinct community. There were literally almost pubs on every corner.

  

  Over the last 25 years, maybe more, that’s changed. In Gravesend, since the turn of the century, 24 pubs have closed (as of 2018). Granted, Gravesend started with more than its fair share of pubs. Being an old port on the Thames meant a lot of sailors, travellers and drinkers! Nevertheless, the attrition rate is shocking.

  

  This is part of an ongoing project.

  The Ascot Arms on the Dover Kent Archive.

  Update

  August 2026: the Ascot Arms was demolished in 2023 to make way for a care home, which opened in 2025.

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  2018.03.19