The Beer Shop London - Nunhead

4th January, 2023

There are some places or things that have an unexpected impact on your life - for us we would include places like The Exmouth Arms in Exmouth Market (as it was where we had our first date), Hydra Island in Greece (where we got engaged and married) and Camberwell (where we first lived and built our lives together). The Beer Shop in Nunhead certainly belongs on the list for a multitude of reasons, but none more so than it contributed to us discovering Folkestone and moving down to Kent last year.

As a review for people to potentially visit, unfortunately this is too late, as (per many pubs in London these days) it was sadly forced to close recently when the property owner decided to renovate the building into flats and not renew their lease. This has meant a true gem in not just South East London’s, but the entire city’s beer scene has been forced to close after eight years.

This was more than just a pub. It was a community, a place where you felt you were walking into Lee and Lauren’s front room. You may not always have known someone in there, but you’d always end up staying for a few, chatting to the team or someone sat next to you. Over the six years we were visiting, this firmly became one of our favourite places in London - and the same can be said for Bailey - as he’d regularly wait at the front door on his morning walks, desperate to get in. It was the first pub he knew and he was always made to feel very welcome, despite his vocal moments!!!

And yes, it contributed to us deciding to leave London for life by the sea! When we were looking for a place to go for our anniversary in 2021, Folkestone was floated as Jeannine had heard great things and knew that they had a second iteration of the Beer Shop down there. So, after a chat to them one evening, we decided to book a weekend by the sea, where we fell in love with the town and 12 months later began to call it home.

We’ll review the Folkestone beer shop separately, as it’s one of Kent’s great dog-friendly craft beer pubs, but we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the closing of where it all began. As we left Nunhead in the early hours of New Year’s day, we were commenting how lucky we are that we get to carry on experiencing The Beer Shop here in Folkestone - as whilst the doors in Nunhead may have closed for the last time, the spirit and heart of the Beer Shop London will live on in a same but different way.

So please, with so many great places closing at the moment, don’t put off going to visit and showing a bit of love to the places that matter to you. Let’s be honest, not only do they probably need it now more than ever, but nothing lasts forever - and suddenly your local, your home from home, could be just a memory.