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The Coronet Four, from left, Phil Boddey, Geoff Garfield, Anthony Oakeshott and Michael Stewart |
Another round please, plead Coronet Four barred by pub
Wednesday sessions at bar were part of the fabric of our lives, say friends
EVERY Wednesday night for 12 years four middle-aged friends and work colleagues met for a drink at their usual table in their favourite Holloway pub.
Until one day the unthinkable happened: they were barred from the Coronet in Holloway Road.
This week, the group, who are being called the Coronet Four, appealed to the Tribune to help have them re-admitted to the large, traditional pub.
They were banned by a manager, who told them that, come closing time at 11.30pm, the group “never want to leave”.
The men, all in their 50s or 60s, insist they are respectable professionals who work in the market research industry and a far cry from the yobs and drunks usually banned from a pub.
One of the Coronet Four, Michael Stewart, 62, has even written a review in praise of the pub for Night Out in London bar guide.
He described how he turned up at the Coronet on a Wednesday evening to be told by the manager that he was barred. Mr Stewart said: “I was told I was not welcome there anymore and I couldn’t come in. I was gobsmacked. I asked what I’d done and was told our group had stayed too long after the last bell.”
Mr Stewart, who provides market research for London Transport, then waited outside the pub to break the news to his colleagues.
He added: “The trouble is we’ve not so far found a decent alternative pub.
“We’ve wandered about Islington like the legion of the lost, looking for a new venue. There are very few good traditional pubs these days. They are mostly themed with loud music so you can’t hear yourself talk.”
In desperation, two members of the group went into the pub to discuss the ban with the assistant manager, but claim they were “shouted down”.
They have appealed to pub chain JD Wetherspoon, which said it would look into the ban but warned that a decision by a senior manager would not normally be overruled.
The group claim that other regulars have been banned under the flimsiest of pretexts. One pensioner was said to have been barred for being rude to a barman.
The Coronet, a former cinema, prides itself on being a big traditional pub with no TV and music.
Mr Stewart said: “We always sat at the back of the pub at our usual table. There’s no suggestion we don’t pay our way by nursing the odd half pint all night. We all drink three to four pints over two hours, which I think at £1.90 is reasonable. We’ve never been off-hand or rude to anyone as far as I know. We might have a joke with a barman but that’s it. It’s mystifying.”
His drinking friend, Geoff Garfield, 63, said the group might be a bit slow after the last bell but there were usually plenty of others still drinking up. He added: “The sad thing is we like the pub and we’re good customers.
“It’s actually often half empty. I would have thought that these days with pubs going under all the time you need all the customers you can get.”
Mr Garfield once ran a film discussion group at the Coronet. “We have strong, happy memories of the Coronet and we want to be allowed back. It’s part of the fabric of our lives,” he said.
A JD Wetherspoon spokesman said: “ I can confirm that the four men have been barred from the pub and the company agrees with the manager’s decision.
“Planning regulations mean that all customers must be off the premises by 11.20pm throughout the week (11pm on Sunday) and the four men have consistently refused to leave the pub at that time, despite repeated requests from management and staff. As a result they have been barred.” |
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