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Hedgehog and Hogshead Highbury 259 Upper Street N1 1RU (Islington) First sold beer: September 1995 Ceased brewing: Early 1998
Hedgehog and Hogshead Sutton 2 High Street, Sutton SM1 1HN (Sutton) First sold beer: September 1995 Ceased brewing: Early 1998
Three years after selling his pioneering Firkin pubs, entrepreneur David Bruce embarked on the creation of a second brewpub chain, when his company Inn Securities leased former Tamplins pub the Cliftonville Hotel in Hove (now the Station, 100 Goldstone Villas BN3 3RU) from Watney (Grand Metropolitan).
This reopened on 24 July 1990 as the Hedgehog and Hogshead, complete with a small full mash brewery, officially known as Bertie Belcher’s Brighton Brewery Co at the Hedgehog and Hogshead. The company opened a second brewpub in Southampton later that year.
Besides another alliterative name combining an animal with a traditional cask size, the operation recycled other elements of the Firkin style, even brewing a strong dark beer known as Hogbolter. But they saved themselves the trouble of devising new variants on the name by renaming subsequent venues simply as the Hedgehog and Hogshead.
The new chain didn’t grow as consistently or as far as the Firkins, and didn’t expand further until two more venues opened in August 1995, both in Greater London. First to open, on 15 August, was a makeover of the Cock Tavern, on a prime site at Highbury Corner, right next to Highbury and Islington station. The in-house brewery, known as Bertie Belcher’s Islington Brewery Co at the Hedgehog and Hogshead, began operating a few weeks later.
Once again a Watney lease, the Cock originated as a grand Victorian pub opened with the station, also originally a much more elaborate building, in 1872. It was badly damaged in a fatal rocket attack in 1944 and demolished and rebuilt in more mundane style in 1956. It was only a short walk from one of the original Firkins, the Flounder and Firkin on Holloway Road (now the Lamb), which was then still a brewpub under a new owner.
The second London Hedgehog and Hogshead, and as it turned out the last in the chain, opened in Sutton in the south London suburbs on 23 August 1995 and began brewing soon afterwards, as Bertie Belcher’s Sutton Brewery Co at the Hedgehog and Hogshead. Unlike the others, this was a conversion of a building that had been an ironmonger’s shop and then a branch of the Midland Bank.
Both venues produced a standard range of beers: Belcher’s Best Bitter (4.2%) and the stronger Tailer (or Taylor) Maid (4.6%) in cask, several keg beers including a blonde ale, Dina Might (4.6%), and a stout, Newgates Knocker (5%), that was available in both formats. There were also specials and seasonals, including a winter ale, Slaybells (6.4%).
The pubs in London and Southampton ceased brewing in 1998, and were then taken over by other operators, renamed and operated as non-brewing venues. The original Hedgehog and Hogshead in Hove likewise closed in 2000.
The two London venues are still functioning pubs, now on Stonegate leases: the Famous Cock in Highbury and the Old Bank in Sutton.
David Bruce, meanwhile, continued to found pub chains, including Capital Pubs which operated two 21st century brewpubs in London: see Florence Brewery and Firkin Brewery.
6 Riverside Works, Hertford Road, Barking IG11 8BB (Barking & Dagenham) First sold beer: August 1985 Ceased brewing: Spring 1986
A rare brewery in London’s eastern fringes, this was founded in a Barking industrial unit by David Jones. It turned out to be a short-lived project, and I’ve been unable to track down further details beyond the basic information provided by Quaffale and the Brewery History Society.
The site has since been redeveloped as offices and car parking.
52 Tooley Street SE1 2QN (Southwark) First sold beer: 1984 Ceased brewing: 1985
An early example of a Southwark railway arch brewery, Tooley Street was established to supply beer to the Dickens Inn pub, across the river Thames at St Katherine’s Dock.
The pub, which still operates today (Marble Quay, St Katharine’s Way E1W 1UH) is in a timber-framed warehouse built around 1780 that likely belonged to one of London’s most historic defunct breweries, the Red Lion: see Charrington. In 1975 it was moved 70 m from its original site and officially opened as a pub the following year by Cedric Dickens, Charles Dickens’s great-grandson, despite having no direct connection with the author.
The pub was operated by Mike Harwood, who in 1982 opened a second Dickens Inn in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, a city where Dickens also spent time (now the Cavanaugh Headhouse, 421 South 2nd Street 19147).
Mike’s company already occupied the upper floor of a railway arch under London Bridge station in Tooley Street, and in 1984 a full mash plant was added on the ground floor, supplied by Hickey Engineering in Bromley. The main intention was to supply the pub, though some beer was sold through the free trade and may even have been exported in bottled form for sale in Philadelphia.
Most output was cask bitter: Dickens Bitter (also known as Tooley Street Bitter, around 3.7%), Archway (around 4.3%) and Dickens Special (around 4.6%). The latter was also bottled, and the brewery made special beers for weddings and other celebrations at the pub.
The project proved short-lived, however, lasting little more than a year. The arch was later used as a cycle shop, before being completely rebuilt in 2016-18 as part of the station redevelopment. The station entrance immediately east of the Stainer Street arch now occupies the site. Mike Harwood died in 2002.
By the end of 1983, there were 18 commercial breweries operating in London, including nine brewpubs. 4 were part of national groups (N), one part of a multinational (M). These breweries were:
By the end of 1982, there were 17 commercial breweries operating in London, including six brewpubs. 3 were part of national groups (N), one part of a multinational (M). These breweries were:
By the end of 1981, there were 17 commercial breweries operating in London, including eight brewpubs. 3 were part of national groups (N), one part of a multinational (M). These breweries were:
By the early 1980s, Irish-born Mike Conway operated or had a stake in around 13 London pubs, some leased from Ind Coope or Watney, as well as two free houses, collectively known as Conway Inns. In reponse to growing demand for cask, in 1983 he converted one of them to a brewpub.
The pub chosen was the Prince of Wales in Battersea Park Road (not to be confused with the similarly named pub in Battersea Bridge Road), a Watney pub dating from around 1865. It was equipped with an 8 hl full mash kit supplied by Hickey Engineering of Bromley, visible from the bar through a glass partition and overseen by a keen young brewer, John Gilbert.
The brewery produced cask beer under the Battersea brand, including Bitter (around 3.7%), Nine Elms Mild (around 4%), Best Bitter (around 4.1%) and a stronger beer, Power House (around 5.1%).
The iniative was clearly deemed a success, as the following year the group installed a much bigger 24 hl brewhouse, also supplied by Hickey, at the Warrior, a sizeable corner pub built in the 1870s near Loughborough Junction station.
Branded as Brixton Brewery, this also brewed a Bitter and Best Bitter at similar strengths to its Battersea sibling, alongside Warrior Strong Ale (around 5.1%) and a seasonal Winter Warmer (over 6%). The brewery also experimented with unpasteurised lager, unusual for a microbrewery of the day.
In 1986, John Gilbert left Conway Inns to take on his own pub in Salisbury where he later created Hopback, one of the most successful UK microbreweries of its era. It continues to flourish today and also owns a London pub which briefly brewed in the 2010s: see Sultan.
Mike Conway subsequently began disposing of his pub interests and brewing at both locations ceased in 1989.
Following several name changes under different operators, the Prince of Wales was taken on in 2009 by the Lost group, which also briefly commissioned its own beers in the 2010s. It currently operates as a cocktail bar and restaurant, Lost Society.
The Warrior was renamed the Junction in the early 1990s and functioned as a club venue noted for its DJs. It closed in 2003, with the upper floors converted to flats and the ground floor since converted to a Tesco convenience store.
Queen Victoria, 118 Wellington Street SE18 6XY (Greenwich) First sold beer: October 1983 Ceased brewing: November 1987
Antigallican (McDonnells Free House), 428 Woolwich Road SE7 8SU (Greenwich) First sold beer: December 1987 Ceased brewing: 1989
Licensee John McDonnell installed a malt extract brewery at his Woolwich free house the Queen Victoria in 1983. This large pub on the corner of Wellington Street and Rectory Place, behind the Royal Artillery Barracks, had a history dating back to at least 1840, but had been rebuilt in Brewer’s Tudor style by Hoare’s brewery, later taken over by Charrington, in 1927.
John recruited brewer Rod Skinner, who had previously worked at Beach’s Brewery at the Market Porter (see Old London Bridge). When Chudley closed in 1984, McDonnell’s acquired its 8 hl kit and upgraded to full mash brewing.
The brewery produced almost entirely cask beers including two bitters, Country (around 3.7%) and Sidekick (around 4.8%), and a seasonal winter ale, Sledgehammer (around 5.6%).
In 1987, the brewhouse was moved from the Queen Victoria to another former Charrington pub, the Antigallican in Charlton, which had been renamed McDonnell’s Free House, and brewing resumed. There were once several pubs in London known as the Antigallican, which means anti-French, largely dating from the Napoleonic period of the early 19th century. The earliest record of the Charlton example is in 1809, though it was extensively rebuilt at the end of the 19th century.
Brewing ceased in Charlton sometime in 1989.
The Queen Victoria closed in 2014: it has since been converted to a hostel with a convenience store on the ground floor and is unlikely to reopen.
The Antigallican, by then the only remaining pub with that name in the UK, closed in 2018. The upper floors have since been converted to flats but there’s a possibility the ground floor may reopen as a pub.
The Walks, Church Lane N2 8DL (Barnet) First sold beer: September 1981 Ceased brewing: 1983
Despite having no previous relevant experience, licensee David Eaves began brewing, likely using extract, at this attractively cottagey East Finchley pub, then a free house, in 1981. He made one cask beer, Eaves Bitter (around 4.2%), for sale in the pub.
As at many new brewpubs, the experiment was short-lived, lasting a little over a year.
The pub continued to trade. It was sold to Hertford brewer McMullen in 1986 and remains in their estate today, with a notably well-kept cellar. Records suggest it was previously a brewpub when it first opened in the early 19th century, converted from a bakehouse and two cottages.
Lion Inn, 182 Pawsons Road, Croydon CR0 2QD (Croydon) First sold beer: December 1981 Ceased brewing: 1986
The Burke Family installed a 10 hl brewery, likely full mash, at the Lion Inn in Croydon in 1981 to supply the pub and two other free houses they owned in central London.
Output was in cask, with three bitters: Original (around 3.5%), Croydon Bitter (around 3.8%) and Best Bitter (around 4.2%).
The initiative proved a little more long-lasting than other brewpub startups of the period, and only ended in 1986 when the heating system blew. At this point, the owners apparently decided that repair or replacement wasn’t financially justified, and production was never revived.
The kit was subsequently sold and part of it was reused by Welton’s in Surrey (1995-2021). Burke’s brands were cuckoo brewed at Godson’s for some time afterwards.
The pub continued to trade, though it didn’t reopen following the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns and is currently for sale.
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