Third time lucky for Hampstead hockey’s own Tavern?

By The History Museum’s Mike Haymonds

Many London area hockey people will remember with affection the home that Hampstead & Westminster HC created for themselves in an old pub adjacent to their playing pitches in Paddington. It came as a great surprise to everyone, not least Hampstead when the pub was suddenly demolished in a much publicised act of “commercial vandalism”.

On the pretext of a stock take, the owners of the Carlton Tavern asked staff to stay at home on 8 April 2014. The landlord, who lived on the premises, was given 15 minutes to vacate before contractors moved in with a bulldozer and began to demolish the building. No warnings had been given and apart from a few traffic cones in the road there were no traffic control measures and no site hoardings. It all happened so fast none of the contents were removed. The pub was fully furnished including wall mounted TV screens and beer in the cellar. Maybe this was an easy way to stock take!