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Picture source: T C

The Pembridge Castle was situated at 45 Ledbury Road. This pub is long closed and is now used as a restaurant.

I remember the Pembrudge Castle with great affection. I lived right next door to it in fact my flat shared a party wall with it. It was my local and very conveniently right next door . I lived next to it from about 1975 until about 1979 which included the hot summer of 1977. It was a lovely place to live and that short stretch of Ledbury Road was very sociable and village like . Because of the hot summer of 1977 everybody in the road had their windows open all night and this inevitably brought people into more intimate contact. The landlord at tbat time was an ex boxer and though not highly sophisticated was for all that a very charming and hospitable man. His wife or partner was wonderfully endowed in the bosom department and although she managed to pull her waist in her bottom was built on a spectacularly grand scale. Together they formed a very likeable and welcoming couple. I remember Christmas time in the Pembridge Castle as being particularly cozy and sociable . Cold outside but with a warm fug inside and plenty of easy going chatter. Occasionally during that hot summer the landlord and his partner would have a rather dramatic falling out and with fully open windows the length of the street we would all be made prive to the shortcoming each of the other. I can distinctly remember accusations by the lady partner of “ You are no bloody good in bed “ etc and other equally intimate  revelations of each other’s shortcomings. By tbe time we went in for a lunchtime drink next day it all seemed to have evaporated. I will forever remember deliveries of beer which always took place at around 6am and seriously disturbed the tranquility of the neighbourhood . The pavement at that point was wide old york stone and so when the lorry arrived it literally threw barrels down a short plank onto the pavement and then down the hatch . The noise as the metal casks hit the pavement cut through one’s dreams like a blunt surgeons knife. I used to half consciously count the barrels, the tension rising until …. Ah ! Bliss as silence descended again . Coming home at night well after closing time I Would pass the pub and notice a subdued light towards the back of the bar. A gentle knock on the window and the door would open just enough to admit one in to join the small group of lingerers in the gloom. I could probably think of many other reminiscences of the good old Pembridge which will always have a soft spot in my affections. Alas it’s gone but even if it still existed it would not be the same. Times move on and so do peoples expectations. The dear old Pembridge Castle fitted like a glove the people and village like society of Ledbury Road at that time. In the new gentrified atmosphere of Notting Hill these days it would unfortunately have no place. I believe that old pub has become a restaurant. In the new mood of novelty, always wanting something new and “been there , seen that, done this “ the restaurant will probably last but a shortish time before eveyone wants something new. The comfortable, secure and reassuring presence of the Pembridge Castle is not what is wanted these days

Jess Pusey (January 2023)

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