Railway Telegraph reopening [July 2016]

Pleased to hear they’re keeping the staff - wonder if they’ll keep the waistcoats Hope also that they keep the chefs

The Railway Telegraph was one of my favourite pubs in the area.

railwaytelegraph3.png2012×1010 2.4 MB

I loved the old landlord, super friendly and welcoming. Will definitely visit his new place. Hopefully the new landlords will be as nice.

This is my local… literally a 3 minute walk to the end of my road… as it’s just that bit off the main drag, when meeting friends, we tend to go into FH proper, so we have only been here a few times since we moved to FH but will definitely make more of an effort… looking forward to seeing what the new owners do.

So… is it closed now?

Apparently so…

Yes I just walked past to have a nosey. Definitely shut

https://twitter.com/rtelegraphpub/status/754628780669493248

Really hope we get good entertainment. So close but not really able to use for a night out previously. Would love to be able to roll home lol

I always liked the pub but the beer offering was very limited and it seems like that wont change. Given the competition around the area I’m not sure they are going to win more custom with a “focus on live entertainment”

No-one likes live entertainment in pubs do they?!

It’s a shame I loved that pub

We just passed this on the bus. Doors were open and signs said Sunday lunch being served.

Now in the Railway Tavern. Hasn’t changed. Been open since yesterday.

I know they are only settling in but they might need to think about their music/playlist… the music was some strange continuous mix of popular chart tunes with an underlying reggae/urban backing track. I have never heard anything like it before and was quite odd!

Having a drink in here tonight - they have really spruced up the front gardens with lots more additions on the way. The new management own a farm and abbatoir in Wales and are planning to open a steakhouse upstairs which I think will be a great addition to the neighbourhood. He’s also open to talking to the FH food assembly about retail. All in all - I loved it as it was - but think the new incarnation will be better. Music will be acoustic on Saturday evening and some jazz with Sunday lunch apparently. Sounds great and I think we should all support our new local business

The new RT follows my shop on twitterland so I’ll drop them a PM to let them know I’m also FHFA.

Cheers for that, I’ll pop down probably on Monday to welcome them & introduce myself

Sounds like a great plan! They seem lovely and have big plans for the RT ️

I’ll certainly drop by on Monday at some point for a chat!

Thanks for your input, it has certainly made me want to go & meet the new owners!

ooohh… what’s their Twitter name?

@RTelegraphSE23

They are having an official opening event tomorrow (Saturday 13th) with live music.

https://www.facebook.com/events/993354277446720/

I’ve been in contact with the new manager via email now & they seem to want to be involved in the community.

I’m popping in on Monday to have a proper chat with Mylene

Anyone going to the official opening tonight?

I’m popping in at 8 for an hour with Zoe to support them as fellow traders

waving

Popped in & saw @Andrei fab night

Home now cause I’m an early bird, sausages were amazing X

Great light jazz tonight.

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Oh you late mucker, I"m in bed now

Good morning All and thank you Chris for bringing that forum to my attention.

My name is Mylene and I have been working at the Railway Telegraph since April so started when Dusan was still managing the place. I am in charge of the marketing and running the events.

As mentioned before, the Railway Telegraph is opened and under new management since July 30th. It took a bit of time to get everything in motion: new team, new kitchen staff, starting the entertainment, etc. but it is all coming together!

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at: @rtelegraphse23
Our new website is: www.railwaytelegraph.co.uk

We are opened to new ideas so if there is anything you’d like to share with us, please do so. We really want to establish The Railway Telegraph as your local and an active member of the SE23 community.

Have a great weekend everyone,

The Railway Telegraph Team

Welcome to the forum @Mylene_RT and thanks for joining in the conversation here. We like businesses to be engaged with residents via the forum.

SE23.life can also help you promote special events and announcements (for a small fee). More details here.

@anon5422159 Perfect, we’ll look into this. Thank you so much. If you are around tonight we have an acoustic singer starting at 8.30pm. Otherwise if you are free at some point next week and can pop in for a beer, it would be nice to meet you in person, please contact me at mylene@railwaytelegraph.co.uk so we can arrange it

Has anyone tried the food yet? I looked at the menu and it looks more appealing than the previous one, with some good veggie options as well. Interested in finding out about quality.

We had the Sunday lunch on the second weekend they were serving it. It was distinctly average and not all fresh. Fine for a local boozer but not at £15 for two courses. We’ve not been back to try the new menu yet and sincerely hope that first effort was a false start in both quality and price.

Hi Starman, thank you for your post. Just to let you know that we have changed our chefs couple of weeks ago and we have also changed our bar menu, probably the one Elisa is referring to. As for the Sunday Roast we have also changed it and it is now packed with fresh vegetables including greens that were missing before. We have been sampling the food the past few weeks and we like to think it is indeed very good now so we hope you’ll give us a second chance. Please contact me directly at: mylene@railwaytelegraph.co.uk so we can arrange a visit. Have a great evening.

We had a late-ish Sunday lunch there at the weekend, and it was indeed very good, especially the fresh veg and roast beef (still pink, as we like it). Only small grumble was that the roasties could have been crispier, but the servings were generous and definitely good value.

Oh we’ll be back. You are the local. Good to hear about the change in chef and the introduction of a proper menu. Happy to feedback next time I visit.

Hi there, we are glad you enjoyed the roast this Sunday. Re. the roasties, we got the feedback from couple of people and have already let our chefs know. This was the second week our new chefs were preparing our roast so third time’s a charm If you haven’t tasted yet, our bar menu is also really good and we’d love to get your feedback. Have a great week!

I do! I went last Friday it’s extremely friendly. The young man singing was great. It’s such a shame it doesn’t get busier.
Perhaps what the gentleman said before has a big part to play.
Hopefully people are making this known to the brewery as I’d really hate to loose the pub.
It is such a shame this pub just doesn’t attract people like the honour oak.

Slightly O/T but I’ve found this forum purely by accident.
We live in W Yorkshire, around 1978 a group of us seventeen year old lads came to stay in Forrest hill with an actor friend of ours (who lived near the station)to see the Clash. On the Sunday dinner we decided to have an afternoon session before the 5pm train back to Wakefield. Looking at the photos it appears we chose the Railway telegraph. We had a fantastic afternoon, loads of “local colour”. After about an hour we’d got into some banter with the locals, after that every time we went to the bar we either had the “Hovis” advert music or “Emmerdale farm” (as it was called then) serenaded to us. The rest of the afternoon just turned into a mass sing sing. Great memories.
Ps. If it wasn’t this pub this post is probably worth deleting.

Popped in here tonight for the first time in ages and it has really changed. We loved it when it first reopened about four years ago, it changed a little for the worse when it changed management but going in tonight felt a bit unwelcome to be honest and it felt a bit ropey. Such a shame - great space and for my money the best beer garden in SE23 but the offering has suffered a lot. Were we just in on a bad evening? What have others found?

Same unfortunately. It’s beautifully done inside but they can’t seem to work out their audience. If they had a good food menu and focused their marketing I think the place would do really well.

I stuck my head in one (beautiful) sunny Sunday a couple of weekends back. There was not one person inside or outside (front and back). Should have been heaving.

Could be such a great spot. Massive waste of potential if you ask me. Surprised it’s lasted this long

A friend remarked how it seems to be more about sport now and it must be to sell more beer. It’s a brewery pub, Shepherd Name:

https://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs?submit=submit&l=Se23

I think I recall the previous owners blogging somewhere about how the brewery wanted more beer sales and didn’t value the focus on food. So I guess that in the Brewery’s eyes this is an improvement, though I don’t agree personally.

I used to live really close by and noticed that there were ever more events like live music, quiz nights etc. And they were really busy during the weekends. For food I can’t comment after the change in management. I no longer associated having a meal with that establishment.

Continues: Railway Telegraph [2018]