A LANDMARK pub has undergone a major transformation with a £200,000 facelift.


The Goose, on the corner of Selborne Road and Hoe Street in Walthamstow, reopens this evening at 6pm (Thursday) after an overhaul of its décor, frontage and other refurbishment works, along with the introduction of a fresh management team.


Enthusiastic young manager Natashia Dingwall, who has lived in Walthamstow since she was a child, said she was keen to reinvent the Goose as a family-friendly, community pub with live music.


Ms Dingwall, 25, said: “The Goose is the first thing people see when they get off the train at Walthamstow Central, so for many it's their first impression of the area.


“Before there was a feeling that it was a bit tatty and unloved, but what we've been trying to do with this refurbishment is to make it a pub Walthamstow can be proud of.


“Walthamstow is a really up-and-coming area now and there's a real buzz about the place. We want to be a part of that and help it grow.”


It comes amid a booming time for the pub trade in Waltham Forest.


The Bell, further down Hoe Street at the junction with Forest Road, recently began trading again after a similar transformation, while up-market chain Antic Ltd is due to reopen The Chequers in the High Street in the coming weeks.


Further afield, the Red Lion has been doing a booming trade since reopening in Leytonstone High Road last year, with the Sheepwalk pub further down the road also being transformed this month and renamed 'The Crown'.
 

But Ms Dingwall, a former barmaid at both the Goose and at the Flower Pot in Wood Street, said she was not afraid of the competition.


“I think all the pubs in Walthamstow have got something a bit different to offer”, she said.


“We want to start having live music, but we've also got things like Sky Sports and poker nights which some other pubs around here don't.

"We've also got the value and we want to bring in more families. There won't be rules like no children allowed after 4pm.”
 

Stonegate Pub Company, which owns the Goose, says the transformation has led to the creation of nine new jobs at the pub on top of the 20 people already employed there.