In a month which saw the closure of yet another landmark pub in Waltham Forest, two musicians with thousands of gigs across east London and beyond to their name have written a poignant ‘rockney’ lament to the loss of so many traditional boozers.
Richie Milton and Bill Farrow’s Pulling all the Boozers Down is a “sad, sad song”, which uses the blues to celebrate pubs which been lost and bemoan the erosion of “another part of England”.
The Heathcote Arms in Grove Green Road, Leytonstone, recently joined many others in closing and the future of the building is shrouded in mystery.
The ongoing, and seemingly accelerating, decline of the pub game forms the subject of Milton and Farrow’s song, which portrays a defiant sense of pride in a culture which appears to be disappearing forever and captures the dismay many feel at the ever-expanding reach of profit-hungry developers.
Richie Milton grew up in York Road, Leyton, and has performed at the Heathcote and other lost pubs in the area.
He started playing in pubs aged just 13 and continued with his band Richie Milton and the Lowdown in the 60s and 70s.
He said: “I’ve seen all the places that we used to play shutdown; sooner or later there will be none left.
“Property developers just see them for how much money they can make when they stick a flat or a shop there.
Farrow, 71, from Canning Town, says the new song is the latest in a long line which aim to give a voice to those who are often unheard.
He said: “I usually like to write about real things, sticking up for the working man.
“Like it says in the song, it’s another part of England gone.
For more on this story, see next week’s Guardian – out Thursday
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