User talk:2A00:23C5:5988:CB00:481D:E8F7:FC65:2658

Re The Holly Bush, Hollymount, I have a book called A Guide to London Taverns by H.E Popham (Claude Stacey Ltd.) which has no date that I can see but the introduction is dated 1927. The Holly Bush Hotel (Holly Hill) is listed in here with the following commentary:

‘Is it not delightful? How these most charming houses preserve their beauty unspoilt it is difficult to understand. They do not seem to be “show places”. Although stared at annually by hundreds of thousands of people, they do not appear to know it. Their total lack of self-consciousness greatly enhances their charm.’

If the book was published in 1927 this would appear to pre-date the 1928 date for the founding of the pub.

I also have a small booklet (with vinyl disc) entitled 'The London Pub' by Angus McGill (1970) which states the following:

‘As for pubs like the Holly Bush, in Hampstead, their regulars saw the Great Fire as a red glow in the night sky. Hampstead, now so much a part of London, was distant countryside in those days. The Holly Bush was built in the reign of Charles I – then, as now, a charming little country pub, tucked away behind the village street. Hampstead has changed a great deal but the Holly Bush is much as it always was. It is in every way a delightful pub.’

Which also seems to contradict the view that it only became a pub in 1928.

I cannot prove the theory from these but wondered if the 1928 date was correct.

Cheers