* Update 120815: Richard Battye, owner of the George and Dragon, said on Facebook this week that he is closing the pub, sooner than intended, Pink News reports. He blamed rent rises.
THE FLYING SCUD, one of the great little pubs of Shoreditch, was demolished in 2009 for a development.
Two years on, the site, on the corner of Cremer Street at 137 Hackney Road, is still vacant, occupied only by the memories of its customers and lamented by those who love this corner of the world’s greatest city.
The George and Dragon, a high-Victorian building at 2 Hackney Road, Shoreditch E2 7NS, corner of Austin Street, the lane just west of St Leonard’s church, is to live on, despite a large property scheme in the immediate area.
The development will take place behind the pub, enveloping the Mildmay Mission Hospital built in Arts and Craft style at London E2 7NS to care for cholera victims, evolving in the 20th century into a hospice HIV/Aids sufferers.
Paddington Churches Housing Association (PCHA) has been given permission by Tower Hamlets council to erect seven buildings, ranging in height from one to nine floors, and including 139 homes, along with replacements for the Christian-charity HIV/Aids centre and Shoreditch Tabernacle Baptist Church.
The George and Dragon could be seen as a progenitor of the youthful energy that has led to Shoreditch’s being worshipped by mediaistas from around the world as its coolest place.
The transformation of an unspecial-looking bar into a cultural generator started in 2002 when arty type Richard Battye obtained the licence. It became a party home for the glittering creatures of night-time London.
The Flying Scud played an earlier part in the London story, latterly during the war and also in 1995, when the Metropolitan Police improvised a black comedy that was anything but funny for its real-life victims. Press on this hyperlink for the full horrendous story.
David Altheer 220111
* Main pic: turning from Shoreditch High Street towards the George and Dragon in Hackney Road
* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which the URL refers has not been maintained. Most photographs can be visually enlarged by pressing on them.
* All pictures on this page © DavidAltheer[at]gmail.com
Hey, nice little blog. I love Dalston, lived there most of time in London (8 years). I’m actually working on a film about all the changes in the East End. Maybe check it out if you’re interested. We had an interview in the Hackney Citizen here:
http://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2011/02/03/london-last-days-the-final-countdown-for-the-east-end/