Save the Old Spotted Dog - petition - a week to sign!

The campaign to save the Old Spotted Dog in Upton Lane has organised a petition, with a closing date of 31 August.  You are urged to read the copy below, and if you are sympathetic visit this website and fill in the form, on-line.


Old Spotted Dog, just before closure in 2004

The campaigners write:

Dear Friends,

The Old Spotted Dog on Upton Lane has been empty for too long. Reputedly Henry V111's hunting lodge, it is one of the oldest buildings in East London and the oldest secular building in Newham. It is a scandal that it remains empty, vandalised and unused.

We are setting up a charitable trust to acquire and renovate the building, and set the parameters for its future use.  We are confident that, once restored, The Old Spotted Dog, with its unique history, will attract local people as well as visitors from much further afield. We are campaigning to bring this important community asset back into use.


Dereliction sets in, 2007 - now far worse

Help us to restore the Old Spotted Dog to a hub community interaction, food, drink, culture and heritage.

We need to know what you think.

We have set up an on-line survey which should take only two or three minutes to complete, to gauge your opinions (only one survey per adult, per household, please). To encourage as many of you as possible to respond, there will be a prize draw. You could win lunch for two at the Houses of Parliament with Lyn Brown MP, a strong supporter of the campaign.

You'll find the survey at our website. The survey ends on August 31st and we'd love to get a huge response to show the strength of feeling about this issue.

Campaign poster/leaflet

Please show your support by displaying a blown up, if possible, version of the poster below in your front window.

Campaign poster - put in your window, if possible, please!

Many thanks

Save The Old Spotted Dog Campaign

www.savetheoldspotteddog.org


Undated sketch of the 
Old Spotted Dog, in its prime

Here is our vision: what we think customers may like (and may not find elsewhere!).:

• A country pub in the city, homely and welcoming
• Good quality food, reasonably priced and cooked on the premises
• Friendly, efficient service
• A tea room, for those walks in West Ham Park
• A performance space for music and comedy
• A warm welcome for families
• A home from home for the community

For our own potted history of the pub see here

Next week, as the Forest Tavern prepares to open, see here - for our background to the opening - we will be offering a look at the competition the pub will be facing locally, and at some of the recent past of pubs in Forest Gate.

It was thirsty work doing the survey and providing your very own Gaters Pub Guide!