The sorry tale of a Putney pub banning Putney people

You may have picked up on the outrageous treatment of long-time Putney residents by the management of the Queen Adelaide Pub in Putney Bridge Road just on the corner of Oakhill Road - it is after all front page in this week's Borough News and centre of debate on the putneysw15 discussion forum.

For years and years, a group of Putney residents - several of them personal friends of mine - have been part of a cricket team that plays on Wandsworth Park - and which has socialised at the Queen Adelaide following matches.

Now they have been banned by the pub manager who told them "they clearly weren't happy" drinking there! The absurd reason the pub claims for kicking them out is that they have been rowdy and abusive. This despite no complaints ever having been raised with them prior to their ban.

This isn't some rowdy gang of lager-louts; it is a group of young at heart, responsible, long-standing Putney residents. Of all the reasons they are no longer welcome there, improper behaviour is the most incredible. Far more likely that they no longer fit with the Pub's corporate image.

In recent years the Queen Adelaide seems to have lost its character after being made-over to pander towards a new luxury riverside development clientele. To be honest I'm surprised surprised the brewery - Young's - seems so relaxed by this story. It's time they realised the mistake this is before all their good will is lost through such clumsy public relations.

And the good news is that the cricket team has been taken in by the Bricklayer's Arms in Waterman Street - still a genuine local pub for Putney.