Since my article was published about Shaftesbury Capital’s plans to convert the upstairs of The Wheatsheaf pub into flats, “large numbers of customers” have apparently been asking the manager: “When is The Wheatsheaf going to close?”
I find it hard to believe large numbers of customers read my article. I suspect it is the same customer — and sad reader of Fitzrovia News — asking the same question every time they go in there. Very annoying, I’m sure.
Anyway, manager David Peregrine has written to the editor in some consternation, to reassure his customers, and to tell us: “We are open. It is business as usual.”
In fact, there is even a cause for celebration. David has spent 20 years running the famous Fitzrovia hostelry and is inviting people to come along for the anniversary on 7, 8, and 9 June. He even sent us a commemorative postcard, just in case we didn’t believe him.
Since June 2003 the even more famous upstairs room has hosted many local clubs and societies; had live performances of Dylan Thomas’s poem Under Milk Wood, Guy Masterson’s one man version of a Christmas Carol, and they still offer the room for those type of events.
“If you watch TV panel shows or listen to radio comedy, the performers probably started their careers here,” says David.
So, despite Shaftesbury Capital gaining planning permission to redevelop the building, they are still open and “taking bookings for Christmas and 2024/2025”, he says.
Just don’t ask him: “When are you closing?”
The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1JB.