Lady and the Duke of Hamilton Pub in Hampstead

Today I want to share about how my local community saved the Duke of Hamilton Pub in Hampstead. This classic local boozer is a historic gem on New End in the heart of Hampstead village. I’m glad to report it’s still standing.

Duke of Hamilton Pub in Hampstead

A few months ago I engaged in my first ever bit of community activism.

It wasn’t to ban a power plant from being built next to a school. I wasn’t to fight a corrupt city council. No, it was to save my local pub, the Duke of Hamilton in Hampstead.

Back in California I might have been a bit embarrassed that my first brush with activism was alcohol-related, but in the UK, where binge drinking is a national pastime, I felt a small sense of pride.

I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about the Duke my neighborhood loves so much. It’s not a trendy pub, it doesn’t have any great claims to fame, and it always looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in over a century.

But there’s something so endearing about the place that it makes even friends who don’t live in the neighborhood frequent visitors.

Upon hearing the Duke of Hamilton pub was going to be converted into yet another block of luxury flats, Hampstead residents and friends of the pub joined together in a campaign to save the Duke.

Not only did I participate, but I also learned the basic strategies of community activism.

From writing letters to my local counselors and MPs to promoting the Save the Duke website that spread the word online, I did my part.

I encouraged friends to file petitions with Camden Council, met my neighbors at the pub to discuss strategies and deliver leaflets, and quickly grew well-versed in the tactics of fighting the enemy.

Not only did the campaign make me feel like I was part of my neighborhood, but it also taught me a lot about my community.

Never before did I know who my local counselor was, but as soon as the campaign started, I was on first name basis with her.

While I didn’t meet my MP, I got a letter from her thanking me for my concern and assuring me she was aware of the issue. It was more than I expected.

And even though I never heard anything back from my petition to Camden Council, I knew enough of us had filed them that the project went to a review process.

That was the first step in getting the planning permission for the destruction of the Duke of Hamilton pub overturned.

Once the planning permission went to review, we had to come up with a reason the pub couldn’t be destroyed. Emotional attachment wasn’t good enough.

Neither was the fact that our neighborhood didn’t need more flats. We had to come up with a legal argument for saving the Duke.

Our first thought was to save the building on a historical basis. But despite the fact that the Duke of Hamilton was almost 300 years old, we couldn’t get the building listed—and therefore protected—as a historical landmark.

We came up with several other ideas, and we were ultimately successful in stopping the project via a loophole.

The architect who designed the new building failed to take into account that the large tree in front of the property couldn’t be removed from the premises.

It was certainly a roundabout way to get what we wanted, but I suppose that was the biggest community activism lesson of all.

Once the Duke of Hamilton pub was officially saved, we had another problem on our hands: the old publican retired. We needed to find someone new to take over the management of our local.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to find that person. He shut down the pub for a while, renovating the interior, the exterior, and the service.

The Duke got a much-needed re-carpeting to replace what could very well have been the original 18th-century floor covering.

Its bathrooms also got a renovation, which might have been the most welcome change of all. (No joke. We used to walk all the way home just to use the bathroom when we drank there).

The Duke of Hamilton pub also expanded its service to provide food instead of just pints. While we were always a bit proud to have one of the last pubs in London that didn’t serve food, we secretly felt it was a welcome addition.

But the most obvious renovation was to the outside of the building, which the new manager painted. The old blue color vanished under a coating of dark red paint, and thus the Duke of Hamilton pub in Hampstead was reborn.

Surprisingly, one thing I thought would certainly change didn’t. The brocade fabric on the banquette remained in place. It was as old as the carpet, and about as much in need of a cleaning. But for some reason it stayed.

Other things that didn’t change were the great picnic table-filled terrace, the giant wooden bar that was the beloved centerpiece of the pub, and the historic tiles that lined the bar’s exterior.

They weren’t just any historic tiles, though. Many of them featured advertisements for businesses, most of which ceased to exist a century ago.

They were one of my favorite parts of the Duke of Hamilton pub, and I was glad to see they were preserved in the renovation.

Another thing that remained the same was the clientele. One of the best things about the Duke was that it was an old man’s pub through and through. That’s what made it one of the best pubs in London in my mind.

When I went back last week after it re-opened, I was relieved to see that while the building had gotten new carpet and a fresh coat of paint, the demographic of the patrons hadn’t changed a bit.

I brought down the median age by at least 50 years, and I was happy to have it that way. Sipping my cider at the Duke of Hamilton pub in Hampstead, I felt proud of my neighborhood for saving our eccentric old pub.

I learned a lot in the process and was glad I could enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

Who knows, maybe someday I’ll use the skills I learned in my first brush with community activism to save something even the American in me would be proud of.

Until then, I’ll be savoring the sweet taste of cider and victory at my local.

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