Thanks to the sunshine, we managed to finish weeding the pavement and painting the railings at Woodman Parade, Westwood Lane on 29 April. Well done to everyone involved over the last two weeks. And thanks to the ice-cream van man and The Broken Drum for much-needed refreshments afterwards!
At 10am on Saturday 22 April a group of volunteers met to paint the railings and weed the pavement along Woodman Parade in Westwood Lane, Blackfen. We were joined by Rt Hon. James Brokenshire, MP and Councillors Louie French, Cafer Munur and Lynn Smith. Despite the rain (how unlucky!) we carried on and it has made such a difference in just a couple of hours.
Thank you to Raw Hair Salon for the tea/coffee and biscuits! We will return soon to continue the job.
And happy 2nd birthday to The Broken Drum!
On 17 April 2015 at 5pm Blackfen’s new micro pub, The Broken Drum, opens its doors to customers. The property, formerly a nail salon, has been transformed into a tiny alehouse.
Broken Drum and Woodman Parade, 2015
Father-of-three Andy Wheeler, a former computer programmer, told the News Shopper (23 March 2015) how he turned redundancy into the opportunity to pursue his dream of opening a micro pub. “I love my real ale and have been an active member of Bexley CAMRA for several years. So when I became redundant, opening my own micro pub became my next life challenge.” It has taken just over a year for Andy to find the premises, get the correct licences and planning permission and refurbish the former shop. The pub is named after the tavern in the Discworld series of books by the recently deceased author Terry Pratchett.
The Broken Drum is the Bexley borough’s third micro pub and follows the success of The Door Hinge in Welling and The Penny Farthing in Crayford.
Andy told the News Shopper: “I now hope to promote locals to relax and converse in a friendly atmosphere with good ale to drink. The premise behind micro pubs is that they sell mainly real ale, a little wine and cider, but no spirits and no lager. They encourage conversation and shun electronic games, TV, music and mobile phones. I’m hoping to sell pub snacks and the like.
Opening hours and ale lists can be found at www.thebrokendrum.co.uk.
Broken Drum almost ready to be opened in April 2015
Andy Wheeler with cake to celebrate the grand opening
Very exciting news for Blackfen: a new alehouse is proposed for an empty shop site at 308 Westwood Lane, the middle property of Woodman Parade, which was formerly a nail salon. It will join two other new micropubs in the area: the Door Hinge at Welling, and the Penny Farthing at Crayford (which opens 11 September 2014). The pub promises to encourage good conversation and only sell the finest real ales straight from the cask, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Keep an eye on its new website: http://www.thebrokendrum.co.uk. It hopes to open before Christmas.
Empty shop, soon to be The Broken Drum
Woodman Parade in 2010. ‘Simply Nails’ is currently an empty shop
Blackfen Past and Present 