Recent news stories about pubs being illegally demolished, or set on fire should be a source of great concern. No more so than in Edgware, where the Grade II Listed Railway Hotel sits in a parlous state, as it has for over a decade. Now you are probably aware of my regular bulletins about this landmark building on Station Road. I have written about it many times, I have tweeted about it more times than I can count, and Roger Tichborne and I have done two videos about it.
In recent times we were given the teasing story about Barnet
Council undertaking a Compulsory Purchase Order on the building. However, that
was some time ago, and there is no outward sign that this is going to happen.
So, instead this fine building used by so many Edgwarians over the years is
still begging at us, every time we pass it.
This morning I altered my commute to get the bus into Edgware, and got off opposite the Railway Hotel, to have look around it. Obviously, I couldn’t actually get inside it, but I was able to walk around the outside, and it is a dreadful sight. Windows open and missing, fire damage left for months, years even. The building is an appalling state, and it needs attention now, before it gets to the point of no return. Walking on to Church Path and the fencing around the pub has been left open, and so it is easy to walk into the rear. There are no signs of security, and no signs to say it is being secured.
I am not going to mince my words any more. Barry Rawlings, Ross Houston, Lucy Wakeley, Nick Mearing Smith and Shuey Gordon, if you are reading this, then please can you get something done? You are the public servants for the Borough. It is your responsibility to ensure that the Historic England Grade Two Listing on this building is kept to.
The owner of building, whoever that is these days, needs to be made to do more. Lastly, I am not going to spare my wrath for Historic England. I want to know what they are doing. They have a Buildings at Risk register, is this on it? Are they working with Barnet Council and the Secretary of State to get this building back into safe condition and put into use for the people of the Borough?
This month the developer Ballymore is putting in a planning application
for their development on the Broadwalk Shopping centre. Now the Railway Hotel
is not inside that scheme, but it sits right next to it, and if Barnet Council,
who are a partner in the new development , are keen to see Edgware Town Centre made
a pleasant and interesting place, then why is the Railway Hotel such a low
priority in all of this?
Come on guys, pull your fingers out, don’t let me inflict
BarnetEye with another article about this again!
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Mark Amies is a local Edgware resident and the BBC Radio London Industriaal History correspondent for the Robert Elms show. Mark tweets under the handle @Superfast72
Mark refers to the video we made in 2020, just before lockdown, which has now been referred to over 8,000 times.
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