Ever since Brexit I wouldn’t drink in any weatherspoons, ever. They have though, preserved the beautiful Art Deco of this building, and I really hope it is preserved in the future. Surely the time is right to restore it as a cinema / arts centre?
Regardless of anyones views on Brexit, this Wetherspoons provides hundreds of our local people with excellent value-for-money food and drink in a beautiful premises.
I agree that they’ve done an amazing job of restoring and enhancing the building’s features - certainly to a much better standard than when I used to go there for the cinema in the 70s.
I agree that ‘spoons probably gets less punters in post referendum. My husband won’t go in. I’ve been in once and I like the building. Whilst it would be a good theatre/ cinema space I’m not sure that there is need for it, given that Catford and Dulwich have cinema facilities and (imho) its a bit of a dying pastime.
I feel like in FH, there is a definite divide between pubs for professional drinkers and yummy mummies.
Agree.
Personally I really loathe the Signal though I loved it in its previous incarnation of ‘The hob’ Dartmouth arms I find bland and overpriced, We quite like The Sylvan Post
and We’ve been in Wetherpoons but being a wine drinker I found their selection tho cheap not very nice.
I wish we had a nice boozer with open fires decent booze not too pricy and a good atmosphere with a good food offering (again underwhelmed by food at the signal, Dartmouth Arms (pricy and not very nice) and Sylvan Post
I find we tend to drink outside of Forest Hill these days
Hear hear. Their prices are amazing - it’s a wonder they can turn a profit. And even cheaper at the moment (until Feb 29th)
In Tunbridge Wells the Wetherspoons is a spectacular Opera House that the pub chain has preserved, to their credit.
I couldn’t care less whether the owner of the chain voted the same way I did in 2016. What’s more important is that he employs tens of thousands of people (all of them at a rate higher than the national min wage), charges fair prices for food and drink, and preserves wonderful old venues that otherwise might fall into disrepair. Absolute hero.
His teacher was right.
Err? And that teacher achieved what exactly? Someone we would otherwise never heard of,who gets a kick out of trying to make children feel bad about themselves? I had teachers like that. They’re not right. They’re not clever or witty. They’re nasty little people. Would you want a teacher telling your child they’d never amount to anything. Many children don’t have Tim Martin’s resilience and crumble.
I think it’s the Wetherspoon bit he took from the teacher. And the JD from a TV character.
Worth noting, perhaps, that the pay rise followed a strike by workers in 2018. Whether wages will remain significantly higher than the minimum wage after it goes up in April we shall have to wait and see.
Cheap drinks are nice, and it’s good that these magnificent old buildings aren’t being left to fall into disrepair, but I think “hero” is a bit strong for someone who is ultimately only concerned with making a profit.
Ooo I feel a trip to Tunbridge Wells coming on. That pub looks amazing. 
I’m sure the teacher inspired lots of children, helped them learn and set them on the right path. Tim Martin, meanwhile, helped inspire Brexit. Now I know people have mixed views about Brexit, as I’m sure people have mixed views about Wetherspoons. But let’s hope the Capitol’s architecture is protected and that it becomes a cinema again, or perhaps a theatre.
8 posts were split to a new topic: Posts moved from ‘The Capitol - new cinema please’
Hero is a pretty subjective word and one I’d personally not use for this individual. For whatever reason or on whatever topic when a company owner/CEO/Chairman uses their company as a personal mouthpiece they are taking a risk on how their customer might react, a risk which could have a negative outcome for their employees.
So personally I would be very happy if another pub co took over as was possibility when the Capitol was on the sales block. I’d be thrilled if it became a cinema again. But with an Everyman in Crystal Palace, a Picturehouse in East Dulwich and a new Independent in Catford that boat may have sailed.
Perhaps it could be recreated as a arts/theatre space, but the commercial argument might be lacking unless community supported.
There’s also a lovely cinema at the recentlyrefurbished Fellowship in Bellingham. The pub itself has been decorated beautifully and is worth a visit on its own merit.
This quote comes from an informative I found:-
“JS Beard (the Architect) was my great grandfather. My grandfather (93 and still going strong) recently finished writing a family history so I might be able to help you out with some info.”
(NB - that was in 2008)
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2428
I went for a date in the Caps once. It was a disaster.
The Capitol is a Listed building …
And Wetherspoon’s is doing really well. Sales are up year on year and they’re pouring a lot of money into expansion and their existing estate.
It’s great that we live in an area that has such diversity - in terms of people and watering holes.
The inside scoop from the daughter of a prominent poster is that the Capitol is a financial sink and currently operating at great loss to the company. Despite how the company is performing nationally.
Thank goodness Wetherspoons are standing by this venue in that case. Many other pub chains would have upped and left a loss-making venue.
I wonder what would make this pub different from the many other pubs they are in the process of selling on?
I wonder why too. Wasn’t it scheduled for closure and sale a few years ago, only for ‘Spoons to keep it in the end?
I don’t think the Spoons are the freeholders. There is a developer who have owned it for yonks. So it seems they were selling a lease and a short one at that. While listed listings are great, they are a bugger to sell on. They may have found selling hard, and keeping open better than closed.
Yes, if I remember correctly, there’s only a 3 months empty premises exemption and then the owner would be liable for Business Rates.
Bear in mind that the Rateable Value for the Capitol is £107,000 and the multiplier is c. 50p in the £, so just over a grand a week in cold blood! (Plus insuring and safeguarding an empty buiding like that would be a killer!)
I get it. Keeping it open may have been there only reasonable option. That’s tough. O a positive note, I did try their new stone baked pizzas some number of months ago. Downed them in time before the silence became to hard to bare.
You should have loaded-up an old film on your phone, held the screen up towards the bar, put your headhones on and imagined it was 1971 - cos I think that’s the nearest anyone’s gonna get to a cinema experience there for a while!
This is completely off topic… but do you know if a business owner can sit on a property and not attempt to use it as its intended classification just in the hope they can get planning permission at some point for housing. If you have a failed business for examples do you still have to pay business rates? Hope that makes sense…
Potentially, yes, this would be possible.
The local authority can’t force a property owner to keep that premises rented or used but they have a duty to impose Business Rates - even when empty.
Change of use could be applied for if a business fails, but potential uses for that premises would be constrained by the local authority’s designation of the particular road or parade.
I’m not sure if it’s intended to affect commercial premises, but I was aware that Labour mentioned plans to double or treble Council Tax on long-term empty residential properties, which would concentrate the minds of some landlords with a hidden agenda perhaps?
Thanks this is helpful. I think I remember that too to stop overseas investors sitting on properties and pricing out Londoners.
I heard from a past employee of said developer that behind the scenes, maintenance - notably up at roof level - is actually pretty poor. He described wading through knee-deep dead pigeons when doing a site inspection. Might be partly responsible for the proposed sale a few years ago not going ahead. It’s all very well maintaining the bit people drink in, but I don’t think they’ve maintained the exterior well at all. And “backstage” sounds like a horror story.
Don’t get me started on the Pigeon problem. The council needs to start reducing their numbers pronto. It’s like a Hitchcock movie in Forest Hill.
Knee-deep in pigeons? That’s quite an accusation to make against a food and drink business, especially one with a five star rating from Food Standards Agency.
People don’t eat on the roof. It’s a huge building, and I’m sure there are no dead pigeons in the kitchen. It’s about the upkeep of the areas of the building Wetherspoons won’t be using, which doesn’t affect the day-to-day operation but will affect the overall condition of the building.
On the roof? Do you mean outside?
From what I was told, within the interior attic/rafters and on the roof itself. Not necessarily visible unless you’re roaming around the out-of-bounds areas. Again, secondhand information so not vouching for validity. But the facade is pretty tatty so it’s not a huge jump.
I think it is a jump from weeds growing on the facade to knee deep in pigeons but I haven’t been up there so don’t know. Just think it’s unfair to put it on a public forum. The Capitol, used by a lot of people of all demographics, seems to be getting a bit of bad press on here from others because of their political views. Anyway, it continues to be busy so live and let live.
That sounds infeasible to me - that would stink and be noticeable throughout the building.
(Again), see above. Sorry if it’s unfair. As with a vast percentage of this forum, it’s opinion and conjecture, but I thought since it came from a source I at least know to be trustworthy, I was safe to share it. I stand corrected.
For the record (not that you were accusing) nothing I’ve said is politically informed. I too think people get political on here for no reasons and it adds to a (growing) feeling of “oh FFS” round these parts. I just think it’s a formerly impressive building that now looks a bit crap. A lot of smoke was flowing up the Wetherspoons backside regarding their being great restorers of buildings, and I just don’t agree they “restore” so much as “keep from collapse.” But again, if this is unfair, given that it’s based purely on my own lived experience, apologies. 
My comments re politics weren’t directed at you Fran. I too have the FFS reaction sometimes 
. I remember there was a tour of the unused parts of the Capitol some time ago. Maybe part of the Open Buildings weekend? If there is ever another tour we could meet and see for ourselves and share a drink afterwards. Assuming there aren’t any pigeons up there!
I agree, it could do with a lick of paint.
My last trip to our 'Spoons was for the annual birthday tradition Jagerbomb/fish and chips blow-out, so who knows, maybe you’ll see me there in April toasting the arrival of my mid-30s 
Jagerbombs give me the fear. Good luck!
Knee deep probably isn’t that inaccurate. I could share a video of pigeons exiting on mass from the back building of a local Well known Indian takeaway.
I think it was the fact it was described as ‘knee deep in dead pigeons’ that raised the eyebrows so to speak,
We still miss The Hob, too 
Politics completely to one side - I worked for Wetherspoons as a student for about three years. Excellent rates of pay, kind managers, great training and really looked after me - even let me move my job from London to Manchester on the higher pay rate. Sent me on a cellarkeeping course and a wine sellers course at their expense tho they knew I was a Uni student and unlikely to stay with the company after graduation. They treat their staff really well - or did 20 years ago. I don’t drink in the Capitol or the Barge but think they are absolutely great employers and clearly fill a local niche.
The Dartmouth used to be great for food. The Sylvan Post is good for a date. The Signal…not sure. Do they still do live comedy?
please do!
We ate at The Dartmouth a couple of years ago …actually we went there a few times with friends who’d arranged a get together over a meal these.
Frankly found the food really mediocre…in fact downright not nice.
We’ve never bothered to return.
and I find it badly lacks atmosphere.
