The Ivy House - Tonbridge

I posted a short while back about the Primrose, an attractive looking little pub which is just a short walk from my house. As my article describes, the Primrose is now sadly boarded up and facing an uncertain future. Unfortunately it is not alone in the town, for at the north end of Tonbridge High Street lies a second closed pub which, until the other day, also seemed to be facing an uncertain fate.

The pub in question is called the Ivy House and it is one of the oldest buildings in Tonbridge. It is an attractive old tile-hung building which dates back to the 15th Century. Internally there are three cosy drinking areas featuring low ceilings and an abundance of wooden beams.

According to one source the  building started life a toll-house and this is entirely plausible, given the pub's position at a crossroads on the edge of what must have been the original town. It was known as the Elephant & Castle until fairly recently, and presumably acquired its present name on account of the ivy which may have covered the building at one time.

Although ale has allegedly been served at the Ivy House for nearly 350 years, the pub  has had quite a chequered history, particularly in recent years. When I first came to Tonbridge, the Ivy was known as a "biker's pub", but was none the worse for that. It was certainly popular in those days (early 1980's), but with such a lovely old building to work with, owners Whitbread, had other ideas for the pub, and decided to turn into a rather more upmarket establishment.

I have memories of the Ivy House a decade or so later, which was when I ended up working in Tonbridge for a second time, following a spell of being employed in various locations away from the town. Back then, the pub had a dedicated restaurant area in an extension to the right, and the company I worked for at the time made full use of this facility when we wanted to entertain customers or otherwise attempt to impress people.

For a while, the Ivy House was one of three Tonbridge pubs run by legendary licensee Colm Powell; he of the sleeping in a coffin fame, in the midst of his battle with pub owners Enterprise.

As far as I remember, the pub was closed for a while, as it was in need of substantial repairs. Years of neglect, first by Whitbread and then by Enterprise, meant that a significant amount of money was required to bring the building up to modern standards; a fact made more difficult by the Grade II listed status of this 15th Century pub.

After being closed for the best part of a year, the pub reopened in May 2009 after a £150,000 refit, after it was acquired by a company called "Kent Inns of Distinction". This is a privately owned restaurant and hotel operator that specialises in buying "challenging" sites around the county and transforming them into "exciting new dining destinations".

So much for the hype, but after a smart new refit, the pub opened its doors as the "Ivy House Dining Room & Bar". It was given the full "celebrity chef" treatment, and was managed by Daniel Martin, the son of the chain's owner's. I'm something of a Philistine when it comes to "exciting dining destinations", as whilst I appreciate good food, I don't like pretence, although to be fair to the Ivy House I never ate there, or even took a look at the menu.

I did find the beer in good form on the couple of occasions I ventured in to the pub, which was encouraging. One of those two visits was a for CAMRA social., when the Harvey's Sussex Best and the Pilsner Urquell were both eminently drinkable.

Despite serving a decent pint, a gastro-pub needs more than the occasional itinerant drinker like me to help cover its overheads, and for whatever reason Tonbridge never really took to the re-vamped Ivy House either. I was therefore not really surprised to see it closed and boarded up, back in the Spring, with a "To Let" sign hanging from the gable.

At the same time I felt it a loss for the town, to see such a lovely old, historic building looking so forlorn, rather than bustling and full of life. Last weekend, whilst Mrs PBT's was doing the rounds in Sainsbury's, I took a walk to the other end of the High Street in order to take a few photos of the Ivy House.

Imagine my surprise when that same evening I noticed a post on the West Kent CAMRA Facebook page to the effect that the pub has a new owner, who plans to re-open the building as a pub. That's all I know at present, but I will obviously keep people posted, as the story continues to unfold.