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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 28 June 2007

Terry Day enjoys one of his last cigarettes in the Flask

Flask runs dry as smoke ban signals end of an era

THE smoking ban has claimed its first victim before it starts at midnight on Saturday.
The Flask, in Hampstead, is closing its doors to re-open as a swanky gastropub. Young’s brewers, who own the landmark pub, say the cigarette ban is the reason it will no longer be a traditional boozer.
The pubs clientele reads like a who’s who of Hampstead faces with former regulars including Peter Cook and David Bowie.
More recent visitors have been comedian Russell Brand, EastEnders star Phil Daniels, singer Lisa Stansfield and iconic 1970s middle distance runner David Bedford.
A Young’s spokesman defended the changes – due to happen in August – and said the revamped bar would stick to the Flask’s traditions. He said: “It needs to be made more customer friendly, and with the smoking ban coming in, we want to look at attracting new customers. The last thing we want is to upset customers, but we also have to act commercially.”
But Young’s are accused of betraying 200 years of tradition to make a quick buck.
Managers Andrew
Thomson and Simon Allen were approached to come up with a plan and they offered to run the pub as it is but their ideas were thrown out. Mr Thomson said Hampstead was losing a landmark. He said: “It is a joke. There are so many other places to eat already but not that many good pubs.”
In Georgian times it was called the Thatched House and became The Flask in the 1870s. Mr Thomson added: “It is so well known in its current guise, it’s a tourist attraction.”
Tom Loughney, 90, meets friends each day for a drink and gossip. He said: “I don’t known if I’ll come in if its not a proper pub any more. That’s it for me.”
His friends agreed. Kenny Stratton, a regular for 12 years, said: “It is a disaster. They might as well close it down and throw away the key. We don’t want a restaurant with expensive food.”
The Campaign for Real Ale’s north London chairman John Cryne said he feared the new bar would pay scant attention to beer drinkers.
He said: “When it re-opens you will not be able to pop in for a quick pint, It will be too much like a restaurant and so many have already been lost.
“By pushing through these changes, the people who drink there are being told they are no longer welcome.”

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