Goodbye my Oakdale - Last night of the Oakdale Arms - In pictures

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on March 20, 2011 at 15:16

Thanks for the pictures Paul..

Reading your comments, I noticed you mentioned a Peter Hubbard.. Is this the Peter with a brother Malcolm?

If it was .. he was my 'best friend' for a while and we certainly got into lots of scrapes together.. like him dropping a match into the fuel tank of a dumped car on Eade Road.. and going to school the next day with no eyebrows or much hair..

 

Glad to hear that he's still about.. 

 

I also have memories of the Oakdale and my parents occasionally drank there too!

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Paul Wood on March 20, 2011 at 15:34

I think it was. I played football with Malcolm Hubbard on an old football pitch in Ferry Lane (Behind the Ferry Boat Pub) in the 1970s.

Peter I understand died several years ago.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on March 20, 2011 at 16:50

thanks Paul, somehow I knew you were going to say that.. :o(

 

he was a couple of years older than me!

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Permalink Reply by LOUISA LIVERMORE on March 22, 2011 at 15:00

Our church used to meet in the Oakdale every Sunday morning - in fact my sons were christened in there in September 2007. I did try and get the vicar to use the soda syphon to do the deed....

So sad it's all over.

 

Louisa

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Permalink Reply by Glynn Davis on March 22, 2011 at 15:08

Beyond the family, there are few things that bring out such strong emotions from people as the pub.

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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on March 22, 2011 at 15:47

A few years ago, in fury and despair at the systemic incompetence that precipitated the Baby P affair, I ran as an independent candidate for Seven Sisters in a Council by-election called just a few weeks after the dreadful news broke. My campaign was mostly about Baby P, poor little chap, but I was also pretty exercised about the various attempts -- which had even then been going on for some time -- to close the Oakdale.

It was much more than a pub. It was a beautiful building, a community centre, a social centre, even a church on Sunday mornings, and it was a great place to get real ale. I regarded it as a supremely important local amenity and was preparing myself to fight for it, had I won. I didn't stand a chance, of course, with the three major parties throwing all their resources into it during an otherwise quiet time between elections.

No doubt the mangled site will indeed be flats, throwing an increased load into an area that has a pretty threadbare infrastructure to start with. I am so sorry that I didn't get the chance to do more -- truly very sad.

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Permalink Reply by Straw Cat on March 22, 2011 at 21:32

This is a tragedy. It is indeed a fine Art Deco building which should be preserved. Is it listed? It should be!

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Permalink Reply by Abi on March 23, 2011 at 11:04

Boo :( the death of a pub is always a very sad event. I literally cried on the last night of my favourite old pub in West Ken. Sadly didn't get to know this one, but it looks like a sad loss.

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Permalink Reply by patrick byrne on March 29, 2011 at 12:17

Terrible to see yet another bar closing. I missed the last night and only realised to my dismay that the Oakdale had closed when walking along Hermitage Road today - March 28th. I was not a frequent customer, but it is a part of my schoolday memories as I walked past it thousands of times on my way to school when living in Hermitage road.

There is a terrible cull of Public Houses taking place around the area and the number of social meeting spaces is declining rapidly - funny, we were told the smoking laws would have no effect on the bar trade!

Maybe we need to form support groups for ther remaining Pubs to ensure that they do stay in business?

Pat

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