Phil Mercer

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Another Era Ends

 

It seems a common theme among my posts. The ending of eras.

This one came to me as a surprise. I was visiting a friend in London, helping him out with his back garden. As we heaved large bags of wood chippings down his back passage, he mentioned to me that the Rose and Crown was rumoured to be closing.

I had had some great times at the Rose and Crown.

I was disappointed, but not surprised. It seems par for the course that pubs come and go. Especially in a small place like Greenwich. I think there can only be just enough gays around to support one - may be two bars in the area.

The first to bite the dust was The Gloucester. That was a special place. Made famous by a happy little film called Beautiful Thing, I had made a bee line for it as soon as I moved in to the area. It was smelly, smokey with sticky carpets. I was there when it closed for a big make over. I was there when it re-opened. For a time I practically lived in it.

Back then, I would walk past the Rose and Crown on my way to the Gloucester and looking through the windows think to myself, they are all so old in there!

A few years later I would walk past the Gloucester on the way to the Rose and Crown and think to myself... they all look so young and camp in there!

Hey ho... how things change.

So Daniel and I decided to pop in to the R&C for old times sake. Once again we walked up to the pub only this time to hear the dulcet tones of Karaoke. That is enough to force me away, so we headed on to the Powder Monkey, the new gay venue in town.

This place is the new pretender to the gay throne of Greenwich. Designed by Laurence Llewellyn Bowen (god knows how you spell that!) very "in" but with no real warmth.

After a pint in what was a quite soulless place, we decided to brave the Rose and Crown.

Thank fully the karaoke had finished and now it was just down to drinking. I remember looking around at the crowd and thinking to myself: "I know these faces".

So many of them had been part of the background for a section of my life. In some ways they were completely insignificant. Nameless. No influence on my life. But still I felt like I knew them. Some had gotten grey hair, others porked up a bit. One in particular had changed sex.

In fact she was very interesting to note. When I first came to the area, she had been a slightly camp He behind the bar. Over the years He softened. His hair grew out. His features became more feminine. Now he was most certainly a very beautiful She!

The decor had changed. A new flowery wallpaper on the walls. Gone, the photos from actors that had graced the stage of the theatre next door. It seemed strange not to see Sir Ian with his huge chimpanzee like hands smiling down from the fire place. Mind you, the redecoration team hadn't made it down to the gents loo's. They were still as grim as ever.

By the end of the evening, as Time was called for the last time, I was quite sad. I have always clinged to a hope that I could move back to Greenwich and pick up where I left off. But Greenwich has another plan. Time to change! It all looks just a little bit different now. Not a lot, but enough to make you realise that you can't go back. That it will never be the same - always something different.

I still want to move back. Sometime. I look forward to seeing a new "Rose and Crown" and to create some new memories for the next time I feel all melancholy!

Labels: Greenwich, Memories, Rose and Crown.

# posted by Phil @ 10:34 pm

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