The launch party invites were being prepared back in June. The site, flanked by a betting shop and Poundworld on a busy stretch of Lewisham High Street, was a hive of activity.
And anticipation was rising for the latest South-east London branch of the Antic pub empire, at least in the Lewisham Lately household.
Farewell old Antic favourite at the Ravensbourne Arms, greetings new watering hole in temptingly easy-to-reach location.
And since then… pretty much nothing from Suttons Radio, so named for the preserved old shop signage unveiled when workers began stripping back the late, unlamented Market Tavern. Silence on social media. Little sign of movement behind the steel doors and frosted glass (and yes, we peer through almost every time we go by).
What’s going on, we asked the Antic press office. Would we ever see the late-opening three-storey pub, restaurant and rooftop bar that the official plans suggest?
Structural work needed to be carried out, I was told – and it was a “rather large” job that had taken a lot longer than anticipated.
But hadn’t work simply ground to a halt most of the summer, I wondered.
“Don’t worry it’s coming,” I was reassured. It was definitely “in the pipeline for the coming months” – and Suttons Radio’s Twitter account would crackle into life again once there was news to share.
So, there you have it. Kind of. Suttons Radio is coming to Lewisham high street at some indefinite point in the future. Probably. Just don’t expect news to be, er, broadcast any time soon.
Lewisham Lately 