A breath of fresh air for George Canning

Have you ever been to the George Canning pub in Camberwell? I must admit, I’ve been going past it for about ten years and I only went in for the first time last week. It’s under new management and has had a facelift, so I popped in to see who’s running it now.

The George Canning, Grove Lane

It turns out it’s a couple of newcomers to our area. Liz Harrison (25) and Brian Hardman (29) have recently moved to London with the big task of turning around the fortunes of the place. They’re a real breath of fresh air.

The pub – on Grove Lane, near Denmark Hill overland station – has suffered over the last few years after being passed from landlord to landlord. Nobody seems to have made much of an impression on the place, but this young couple are full of enthusiasm and determination to make it work.

The George Canning’s new owner – set to turn the place around – is also the proprietor of Rinky Dink bar in Clapham. He’s clearly thought about his clientele now the bar has been refurbished. “It’s not a granddad pub. But neither is it a fancy cocktail bar. We’ll mix you a bloody mary or a jug of Pimms, but this isn’t the place for a martini.”
The first thing he did when he bought the place was to get some new landlords.

Enter Brian and Liz, who arrived at the pub a month ago. They’re clearly excited about the project and have already overhauled the decoration of the place.

New lighting and furnishings have been installed – including four large comfy sofas – and they are soon to hang a picture of George Canning himself (in the record books as the shortest serving British prime minister and famous for botching a pistol duel.)

The young couple are well equipped for the job in hand after spending a year running a busy country pub. But they’re not completely new to London having lived here previously when Liz was a business development manager for a finance firm and Brian worked in media and tv. A year ago they jacked in their lives in Blackheath and moved to the countryside, managing a pub in Exeter – the Double Locks.

Brian and Liz with a local

But now they’re back. They’re a lovely couple and great to see some smiling faces behind the bar when you walk in there. They’ve only been in place for a few weeks, but they seem to know the locals already. The evening I was there plenty of people were coming in for a quick drink on the way home from work.

Liz says “People want a pub where they can come and have a good old honest pint.”

While Liz is focussed on keeping the punters happy in the bar – she does indeed pull an excellent pint of beer – Brian is the brains behind the kitchen.

He explained the concept they’re going for at the Canning. “It’s going to be a simple menu, made with good, honest ingredients. We’re sourcing all our meat and vegetables locally and we’re going to specialise in home-made food. Just a few items on the menu that we can do well.”

And I gather there may even be a pile of pork pies on the bar.

But what’s excited me most about their plans is the beer. The British love a good pint of ale and Londoners are no exception. But there are hardly any places in London where one can enjoy a pint fresh from the barrel – in other words not going through the pipes in the bar.

Brian and Liz are proud of the central feature of the new bar area – a keg of beer, right there in the middle of the pub! It’s pierced with a purpose-made tap at the base, allowing them to pour off fresh pints, straight from the barrel. “We’ll get about 70 pints from one of these,” says Brian, with pride.

Their first keg is of the very tasty Doom Bar, but there’ll be others to follow. Why not get down there and sample a pint?The pub appears to be attracting the locals.

And when I was there the other day I bumped into former model and Emmerdale Farm actress Lorraine Chase who’d dropped in for a quick glass of wine. “I’m glad to see this place looking so great again,” she told me. “It’d gone through a few people’s hands over the years, but it’s in a great position and we need a good pub like this. Good luck to them!”

The George Canning is open for business. They’re having a re-opening party this evening (Friday 30 April). Dulwich OnView will be down there, enjoying the sunshine on their front terrace and wishing the new arrivals well with their venture.

Welcome to the area, Brian and Liz. And good luck to them!

Image of Lorraine: with thanks to Nick Atkins on flickr, with CCL.