Yorkshire telling me it is now a McDonalds!

Yorkshire Grey pub, Eltham London SE9

Opened 1920

Closed 1994

Before we get into the details of this, I must say a thoroughly enjoyed writing about this public house, it served as a homage to what pubs mean to a community, they are not just places where people go to get drunk, they are much more then that. Far away from what pubs are now, I think you’ll find this an interesting read!

Now, Eltham is not privy to a pub at the time of writing this piece there is a total of 11 pubs operating in the area, and I, have been to all but one of them, which is in Westmount Road and goes by the now The Long Pond.

But let me rewind a little bit to 1994 when the beloved pub on the Middle Park estate shut down and became a f***ing McDonalds. Now the reason for the closure was such. His majesties Metropolitan Police service decided that the unlicensed boxing that was supposably still happening in the hall. Now what shocked me the most is that a rather famous clip of the late great Lenny “The Guvnor” McLean turned up to the Yorkshire Grey pub in a highly anticipated return to the ring against Brian “Mad Gypsy” Bradshaw where before the fight Bradshaw decided to headbutt Lenny, while they were meeting in the middle of the ring, which, well for lack of a better word pissed Lenny off. Lenny knocked him down with one dirty right hook. Lenny then proceeds to punch and stamp on Bradshaw until he was knocked out stiff! The boxing promoter Reggie Parker whose officer was above the world of leather show room in Eltham put up posters all over London before the fight as even Reggie could see the fireworks and dubbed this, the street fight of the year. If you have watched the video, you can see it say Eltham, London April 1986.

Throughout WW2 the park was used as a recruitment station for people who wanted to fight in the war, they would hold the initial phase of the recruitment and the medicals there, Spike Milligan wrote about this in his book Adolf Hitler, My part in his downfall.

The 80’s and 90’s saw the reputation for the pub grew local bands use to play there frequently such as the squeeze (whom were the most notable). This would not last for long sadly, as the pub would start to be frequented by members of ultra far-right groups such as Combat 18 and Blood and Honour, now I do not wish to do research on these groups as I do not want to be flagged by counter terrorism police but if you wish to research them please do so at your own risk. Frequent fights broke out between the fascist and anti-fascist groups. From my research and accumulation of the violence from the unlicensed boxing and the ongoing issues which I previously stated, the police decided the revoke the licence of the pub, and sadly it closed in 1994 and shortly it was turned into a McDonalds.

Honestly it is a shame that this pub had to close, I would no doubt be having a drink in there, but I understand why it closed. It reminds me somewhat of the Downham Tavern, just with a touch community, where people on Sundays would go to the park for the boot far, the music events that were held there, and the spectacular boxing events that you could watch for just £15. And not for what it is now a McDonalds and a roundabout. I for one would loved to have seen this pub in its heyday.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this post I hope you enjoyed it, and always please interact with me, leave a comment and spread the blog!

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The Yorkshire Grey C.1950

Lenny McLean vs Brian “Mad Gypsy” Bradshaw At The Yorkshire Grey April 1986