|
|
Jolly Milkman |
The Jolly Milkman, now called the Tapestry, stands on the south side of the Lower Richmond Road and next to Mortlake Green. The first recorded landlord was John Denby in 1871. He was followed in 1878 by John Firmston who had previously been the landlord of the King's Arms and the Queen's Head. The 1901 Census records Edward Kisby as the publican landlord. He was living on the premises with his wife Liddiard and their 16-year-old daughter Edith.
The 1914 Valuation describes the building as a well-built double-fronted public house. On the first floor were four rooms and a bath/wc. The ground floor had four bars and a kitchen. It was then a Watney's pub.
Many landlords came and went until 1995 when the Magic Pub Company acquired the public house from the then current owners, Scottish and Newcastle. The new company refurbished the premises and changed the name of the pub to the Pickled Newt. However, the regulars of the Jolly Milkman campaigned to have the old name reinstated and it was not until a new landlord, Melvin Waite, succeeded in persuading the Company to restore the old name in 1996. The Jolly Milkman is believed to have been the only public house in Britain to bear that name. Later that year Greene King acquired the Jolly Milkman. This pub closed at the turn of the century and in 2003 it reopened as the Tapestry bar and restaurant. The Tapestry name commemorates the royal tapestry works that existed in Mortlake from 1619 until 1703 and is a play on words as the current establishment is a tapas restaurant.