After months of uncertainty, a historic real ale pub in South Wimbledon has been given the chance to secure its future.
The lifeline follows fears that a developer might win an appeal to replace The Trafalgar with six flats and a café, a move that would erase a place where some locals have been drinking for half a century. The pub, on High Path, won CAMRA’s South West London Pub of the Year in 2024.
“There is nowhere, apart from The Hope in Carshalton, that does anything like this within six miles,” said landlord Oli Carter-Esdale as they tended to the bar’s selection of seasonal ales and ciders.
READ MORE: The Good Food Guide names the Pelican as London's best pub
For much of the past year, however, the pub’s future has hung in the balance, with developer Linea Homes eyeing the site for new housing.
Now, The Trafalgar has been offered the opportunity to buy the freehold of the building for £600,000, raising hopes that the historic venue could remain in local hands.
While the offer provides a potential lifeline, Oli warned that the pub faces an uphill battle to make it a reality.
“We are never going to raise £600k. You would need six hundred local people spending £1,000 each. We are not in the wealthiest area, but I think you could get 300 people putting in £500,” they said.
Oli praised the local response to the campaign and highlighted the unique role The Trafalgar plays in the community. Gesturing to the dozen or so locals enjoying a pint and conversation on a Friday lunchtime, they said: “I do not think anywhere I know of has a similar contingent of locals who, when up against the wall, decide to fight for a space that means so much to them. Some people have been drinking here for over 50 years; it is part of the social fabric.”
“The problem is, once these places go, they go,” said Alan Millington, who often visits The Trafalgar with his wife Denise for its beer selection and “proper pub” feel. “For me, it is a crime to get rid of these kinds of places,” they added.
The Millingtons, who come from nearby Tooting, are just some of the pub’s devoted regulars who come for the atmosphere and to enjoy the “lost art of conversation”, as one put it.
Directing our attention to the colourful beer mats adorning the ceiling, Oli noted: “They are like a timeline of joy, you can point to them and remember when you drank it and who you were with at the time.”
The Planning Inspectorate recently conducted a site visit to assess whether the owner’s appeal to the Secretary of State for permission to build had merit. “They came to look at the pub as a physical space and its use,” Oli said, noting that inspectors visited during busy hours to see “the pub in full swing”.
The Trafalgar has a long history, with a pub on the site dating back to at least 1868. Its distinctive red brickwork and stained-glass pay tribute to its association with Horatio Nelson, whose home, Merton Place, once stood on the same land.
“The value of this place is not in the bricks and mortar; it is in what is contained within,” Oli told the LDRS. “Once you take that away, you take away the magic.”
Looking ahead, the landlord hopes to secure the pub’s future while keeping it affordable and community-focused. “If you take rent out of the equation, you can keep prices down and make people feel they have a stake in it. What we need is a sensible agreement on the property’s value, and then those of us here can try to raise enough to make it viable.”
While the specifics of the fundraising plan are yet to be outlined, Oli said online: “I know together we can raise enough money to bring the pub and its destiny into our own hands.”
Linea Homes was approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.
