The City Barge Pub To Get A Makeover

Popular riverside watering hole closing for months for refurbishment

The City Barge pub at Strand on the Green is to close shortly for at least five months for a complete refurbishment.

The popular riverside pub which featured in the Beatles film 'Help’ will shut on December 14th but is still taking bookings for Christmas parties and meals up to that date.

It is expected to reopen in May 2014 with several changes including a restaurant and function room on the first floor, the loss of one of the two bars on the ground-floor to give more customer seating space and the introduction of table service. There will be a bar on the upper-level and there are plans to upgrade the menu and to introduce cocktails.

A spokesman said they would still keep the character of the pub inside.

The pub trades under the Greene King pub retail and brewing company and it is understood that staff at The City Barge have been offered redeployment by the company. Some members of staff have left.

The building will also be extended out into the car-park but there will still be parking for customers. The riverside tables will also be kept- the pub is popular for its scenic location, just opposite the wooded Oliver's Island on Stand-on-the-Green, with customers ranging from local families to members of nearby rowing clubs.

Built as The Navigator Arms in 1484, The City Barge was renamed in the 19th Century when the State Barge of the Lord Mayor of the City of London had its winter moorings on the River Thames outside the inn.

December 2, 2013