please empty your brain below
Years ago there were many more pubs in the Old Kent Road. One of them was the Frog & Nightgown, named after the fictional pub frequented by the comedian Ted Ray in his eponymous radio show. My theory is that this was first example of the practice of giving pubs nonsense names, rather than sensible names like Elephant & Castle.

Bryn Davies | 10.01.24 - 8:20 a.m. | #

Odd that Old Kent Road and New Kent Road meet end-on ((sort of), rather than being parallel alternatives.

Malcolm of Kent | 10.01.24 - 8:29 a.m. | #

You wouldn't know it now, but in my memory the first pub on the Old Kent Road, was the World Turned upside down, just after the White House. It's now a pizza shop, that had significant alterations at the front when opened, so you would recognise it.

Graeme | 10.01.24 - 8:48 a.m. | #

Both Bryn and Graeme echo my own thoughts. As a child in the mid-1960s, a drive up the Old Kent Road was like an I-Spy Boozers game with so many pubs along its length, culminating in The World Turned Upside Down (possibly just beyond the reach of Old Kent Road proper).Later I spent some happy nights at the Frog and Nightgown, cheering my cousin on in its regular talent shows.

Waterhouse | 10.01.24 - 8:54 a.m. | #

I'm going to enjoy this new series! The Adam Kossowski murals are worth a visit. An artist with an interesting back story.

Rod | 10.01.24 - 9:44 a.m. | #

I remember a friend japing that Robert De Niro would be spotted in the World Turned Upside Down after property PRs suggested he’d bought a flat in the nearby Jam Factory.

There’s a Frog and Nightgown in Faygate near Horsham. They do pizzas like everywhere else but have fine beer. Faygate is the least used station in West Sussex so makes an ideal destination for people who enjoy such things.

Lorenzo | 10.01.24 - 10:06 a.m. | #

I lived in the shadow of the Bricklayers Arms flyover in the mid-1970s and I remember all these pubs, sadly now gone. My boozer of choice was the Kentish Drovers, which I believe is now a Thai restaurant.

Suse | 10.01.24 - 10:14 a.m. | #

Why is OKR on the monopoly board? Always felt a bit of an odd one out being the furthest from central London and only one south of the river.

David | 10.01.24 - 10:39 a.m. | #

Oh, I do like your detailed descriptions of streets and places so far from the usual tourist tracks.

leuconoe | 10.01.24 - 10:59 a.m. | #

A sparkling start to an inspired series. Looking forward to the remainder, whenever they arrive

Frank F | 10.01.24 - 11:35 a.m. | #

Off to a cracking start. Particularly the photographs of the entire road, though I suppose now we have street view for that sort of thing!

Cornish Cockney | 10.01.24 - 12:12 p.m. | #

Just by the gas works the Grand Surrey Canal used to go under the OKR.It closed in the 1960s, though had been derelict for years, but there is still Canal Grove, just off the OKR, as a reminder -- and Surrey Canal Road and Burgess Park, which run along the route of the canal

AlanBG | 10.01.24 - 12:41 p.m. | #

An excellent survey of OKR, DG. Glad you caught the murals.

I hadn't appreciated what a grim-looking mass the Malt Street development will be - 38 stories! - plus the eventual loss of my local B&Q. Partly explains the continual decline of those buildings. Did you spot the guys hanging out on the corner looking for day work? Tough gig.

Look forward to reading more.

Lux | 10.01.24 - 1:09 p.m. | #

Great piece.
There are at least two other former pubs hanging on as nightclubs/bars:
Afrikoko on the corner of the Tustin Estate (formerly the Canterbury Arms)
Club 701 next to McDonald's (formerly the Brunswick Arms, I think).
Both have had several incarnations since being pubs, and the latter in particular seems to close then reopen with a new name fairly regularly.

Matt | 10.01.24 - 2:04 p.m. | #

It's very sad how so many council-run museums have had to close because of funding issues.

matthieu1221 | 10.01.24 - 2:37 p.m. | #

I had a feeling the World Turned Upside Down came close, but this article seems to confirm my thinking that the first would actually have been The Swan (also known as the White Swan, Caesar's and Uncle Sam's). My friends and I got to know the pubs of the OKR pretty well, going there to see Jim Davidson, who performed at quite a few of them.
It's saddening to see that from apparently having no less than 17 pubs, only two now remain.

RogerW | 10.01.24 - 2:51 p.m. | #

It has always puzzled me why Old Kent Road and Strand, along with one or two others, are usually preceded by the definitive article when it does not appear on the road name signs.

Steven Saunders | 10.01.24 - 4:46 p.m. | #

A lot of “roads” in London seem to be informally pre-fixed by the. Eg The Kings Road, The Uxbridge Road, the Essex Road.

David | 10.01.24 - 6:43 p.m. | #

The B&Q has connections not just with canals but with much older routes. When the site was cleared, the line of Roman Watling Street was found just a little to the south of the current line of the OKR. Which by extrapolation put it under my little back yard just a little further down the road.

Marek | 10.01.24 - 7:18 p.m. | #

Not forgetting the Balls Pond Road, though why that particular relatively short road should be honoured as if it were as important or long as the King’s Road or the Edgware Road I do not know.

Richard Thomas | 10.01.24 - 8:14 p.m. | #

In the interest of commercial balance, the high rise in the last photo will host a modernised Aldi to replace the prior single-storey store.

commonliner | 11.01.24 - 9:14 a.m. | #

Until 1965 another borough boundary cut across Old Kent Road, and not so peripherally. Camberwell Borough started near the junction with Albany Road, and ran to the boundary with the then Deptford Borough at Pomeroy Street. In the 1980s this could still be traced through the street furniture.

cau1khead | 11.01.24 - 9:34 a.m. | #











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