Sam Cullen, author of a book on lost London pubs, shares the stories of two in Enfield that drinkers failed to save

Green Dragon (credit Ewan Munro) — Green Dragon in Green Lanes before it became a Waitrose (credit Ewan Munro)

London’s pubs have been an integral part of the city’s culture for centuries and have particularly fascinated me ever since I moved here. Of course, they’re great places to socialise but I think there’s more to it than that because they can tell us so much about our cultural history and fabric of the capital.

The same rings true about the pubs that have closed and that’s why I decided to write London’s Lost Pubs, featuring over 200 former boozers, as I didn’t want to see the memories of these places disappear over time. The book covers all of London, so below are a couple of the entries from Enfield you’ll find inside its pages.

Green Dragon, Green Lanes

The Green Dragon sat watching over this spot in Winchmore Hill for well over 270 years. Thought to date back to 1730, the present design dates from the 1930s where it picked up the ‘Brewers Tudor’ look that was doing the rounds at that point.

In 1999 it became part of the Jim Thompson chain of Asian restaurants. In 2015 it was acquired by the company Green Lanes Development, which announced plans to convert the pub into a supermarket. A strong community campaign was launched to save the pub but was unable to get Enfield Council to list it as an ‘asset of community value’ to stall the developers. Planning approval for the conversion was issued in 2016 and it is now a Waitrose.

The Green Dragon name still lives on locally, however. Two years after the pub closed, local resident Richard Reeves opened the Little Green Dragon micro-pub, having spent 2015 visiting all 100 micro-pubs in the UK for charity. Little Green Dragon is going from strength to strength, being crowned the Campaign for Real Ale’s London pub of the year for 2024, having previously also won the award in 2018.

The Plough, Turkey Street

The Plough (credit M.Wraight via closedpubs.co.uk)

This historic Enfield pub was taken out in a particularly cruel and underhand manner. With suggestions it was up to 400 years old, it had been a fixture in the local area for centuries and was well loved in the local community.

It closed abruptly, early in the new millennium, when owners Laurel Pub Company sold up to property developer Fairview Homes. Plans were announced for its demolition and replacement with housing.

Given the age of the building, English Heritage was planning a visit here to check its suitability for listing. In July 2002, the day before they were due to inspect the building, Fairview sent in the wrecking ball. This was reminiscent of a pub version of what happened to the Art Deco Firestone factory in Brentford.

The consequences for Fairview were minimal, they were issued with a meagre £500 fine with additional costs of £490 which I’m sure barely touched the sides for them. Local residents who had campaigned to save the pub were suitably unimpressed, telling the local media it wouldn’t act as a deterrent at all.

London’s Lost Pubs by Sam Cullen is available through Pen and Sword:
Visit pen-and-sword.co.uk/Londons-Lost-Pubs-Hardback/p/51878

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