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| Last orders for ‘rudest’
landlord |
It’s farewell to a little
bit of Soho history
FOR more than 60 years Norman Balon has come to Soho every day
to work in his Greek Street pub.
But now the landlord and owner
of the Coach and Horses, famously described as the “rudest
landlord in London”, is preparing to sell up and retire to
a quieter life.
And he blames age and Westminster Council policy for his decision.
Mr Balon, who lives in Golders Green, first arrived at the pub on
February 1 1943, aged 16 years and one month, and began by helping
his parents Jack and Annie run the business. It has been the only
job he has had in his life.
In an essay for a recently published book, The Time of Your Life,
Mr Balon described what made a good pub.
He wrote: “Me. A pub is a reflection of a landlord’s personality.
I believe that by and large you should have people in there that
you could talk to at home.
“So I can’t stand bores. I can’t stand people who
annoy me.”
He added: “I have a great diversity of customers, from street-sweepers
and shoplifters to some of the highest people in the land. They
all seem to blend and mix in very well.”
During his time he has hosted the Private Eye lunches every other
Wednesday for more than 40 years.
He has also been immortalised in a Keith Waterhouse play, Jeffrey
Bernard is Unwell, when the eponymous writer and regular of the
Coach and Horses finds himself locked in the pub for a night after
falling asleep.
Bryan Burrough, the president of the Soho Society, said: “I
have known Norman for decades and he is part of the Soho I know.
Nothing much happens in Soho without him knowing about and he has
an annoying habit of being right.”
He added: “He is very generous, but would not wish for me to
say that, and kind-hearted. I am sure he will miss the pub enormously
and we will miss him.”
Mr Balon said on Tuesday: “It (working in a pub) was something
to do at first, but I got a taste for it.”
But he growled: “I am getting too old. Everything in life has
a season, I have had a fantastic life from it.”
And he added that he feared the start of late night licences that
will be introduced by the controversial Licensing Act. He added:
“I am not sure I will be able to cope with the late night licences.”
The Coach and Horses has applied to stay open until 1.30am.
Mr Balon said: “They (the government) should have done it 20
years ago and that would have stopped the proliferation of clubs
which appear not to have the same degree of control over their customers
as pubs.”
And he accused Westminster Council of ruining Soho by sanitising
the area.
He said: “Soho used to be synonymous with naughtiness. Soho
should be a mixture of all sorts of people. Since the Wolfenden
Report prostitutes have been off the streets which is a good thing
but Westminster Council appear to want to drive them all out.
“The whole culture has changed.”
He added: “Also I quite firmly believe that when the one-way
system was introduced it sounded the death knell of Soho as I knew
it.
“If you look about you, except for the cafes in Old Compton
Street, who have benefited enormously from being able to put tables
and chairs everywhere, everywhere else has gone down.”
Mr Balon also bemoaned the reduction in the numbers of immigrant
workers coming to Soho to find work.
He said: “It seems to me the immigrant population are no longer
coming to Soho like they used to, the Italians, the French and others.”
“The calibre of the staff of foreign extraction is generally
better than I would be able to employ because English people are
not naturally geared to serve people.
“Foreigners come here to learn language and I don’t let
them speak their language behind my bar so it works both ways. A
pub is a good place to learn the language and I get good staff.”
Mr Balon expects the sale to go through in six months to a year.
But for those who fear his unique pub could become swallowed up
by a drab and faceless pub chain, Mr Balon believed they wouldn’t
want his site.
He said: “I don’t think a chain would want to buy my pub,
I think it is more likely to be an individual.
“It’s with great regret that I am
leaving.” |
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