At first glance, this looks like your average local pub. It's off Queen's Road between Peckham and New Cross, and what caught my eye were all the signs: live music, craft beers, comedy, American hot dogs, "steampunk" and...taxidermy?
Hmmmm. Maybe not so average.
It turns out that the Montague Arms was apparently well-known until a few years ago for its eccentric decor, including nautical items and Victorian-era stuffed animals. Unfortunately the pub closed in early 2012 and the original collection of memorabilia, including antique bicycles and diving gear and the mounted heads of a zebra and oryx, went to auction.
The pub has since reopened under new ownership and they've clearly tried to maintain tradition -- as can be seen through one of the windows. According to its web site, the new owners scoured the country for wonderful and weird decor "so the macabre and the steampunk are back but with slightly less clutter."
It all looks very quirky and I'd love to stop in sometime when I'm down that way. Unfortunately, when I walked past last Sunday morning, it wasn't really a pub-going hour and the place was closed.
In other news, Dave and I went last night to our school's annual trustees' reception. You may remember we do this every year. This year's event was held at the Inner Temple in a grand room lined with paintings and stained glass windows. We went afterward to Raymond Blanc's brasserie in Chancery Lane, where I had excellent moules frites. Posh!
You covered quite a lot of ground there...I hope you can re-visit the pub.
ReplyDeleteThere's a fine line between steampunk cool and whoa! really, weird.
ReplyDeleteI hope they didn't cross it.
I think about the place in Tallahassee with the all-you-can-eat country buffet which has many, many dead stuffed animals peering down from behind artfully placed logs and moss and realize that perhaps the main difference between these two establishments is that one has a sense of irony whereas the other just does not.
there's a barbeque place here that had a lot of taxidermied animals and heads. it caught fire and burned down about a year and a half ago. they reopened in a different building sans the stuffed animals for which I am glad. those things were looking mangy.
ReplyDeleteMontague is a name you don't see all that often - but there's one in Prince Edward Island, just across the water from us. Probably named after yours. We are just a bunch of unoriginal thinkers here in the colonies :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice night out at the trustees reception.
I'm still chuckling at Mary's comments.
Some pubs have a great flair for decorations.
ReplyDelete