The Magdala Tavern

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IT is the Hampstead pub with an indelible place in British crime history.

But neighbours of the Magdala Tavern say the bar in South Hill Park is more than a place for tourists, and should be seen as a hub for the community.

And their love of the historic watering hole has led to dozens of messages arriving at Camden Council, urging the planning department to reject plans to use the function room upstairs as a two-bedroom flat.

“The Magdala Tavern is our local community gem,” said one, adding that the upstairs had once “brought the community together for comedy nights, environmental talks, birthdays and celebrations – there is no other space like it.”

Another added: “In an age where people feel increasingly isolated due to digital distractions and the fast pace of contemporary life, this space offered an opportunity for face-to-face engagement to meet one’s neighbours and feel part of the community… the upstairs space at the Magdala is not merely a room – it is a dynamic, vital part of the social, cultural and economic landscape.”

In its letter of objection to the change, the Heath and Hampstead Society described it as an “essential community facility”, while the Hampstead Neighbourhood Forum said the owner should respect the “strong views” of the community on what happens next.

Other objections have come from people who held their birthday parties in the room, or talks about creating and maintaining the nearby Peace Garden.

A favourite among Heath walkers finishing their strolls with a well-earned ale, the pub is also a regular stop for tour guides telling London’s more gory history.

It was where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK, shot her abusive boyfriend David Blakely in 1955. For many years, it was claimed the bullet holes could still be seen in the wall before the tale of a mischievous former landlord drilling into the tiles became well-shared. The case is due to told again in a major new ITV drama coming soon (see below).

The ‘bullet holes’ that were revealed to be fake

The Magdala closed in September 2014 after 160 years of pulled pints and at one stage there were fears it might never open again. Dust mounted up inside until the doors opened again in 2021 when local landlord Dick Morgan took on the lease to run the pub.

It is officially listed as an “asset of community value” in Camden’s planning records – an added layer of protection for the pub’s future use if it is ever put on the market, but also over any changes that might affect its viability.

The second and third floors of the four-storey building are already used as private homes.

The question of the upstairs room had been a sore point throughout with the building’s owner Ori Calif warning that nobody had wanted to take it on as a bar if it included the function room and that his company should be allowed to turn it into a new flat.

Camden has already rejected one attempt to secure permission for this change in 2019.

Back then, planners were sent a series of messages of objections, including one from comic and Three Lions hitmaker Frank Skinner, who lives nearby.

“I object to this being turned from a valuable community asset into yet another luxury flat,” he said. “I think it is vital to hold onto and fight for these community spaces. En­couraging communities to gather massively buffers mental health problems so please let’s hang onto these spaces.”

But planning consultants for Mr Calif said in a fresh application that the pub had shown it could operate successfully without the need for the upstairs room. It added that its current managers did not want to use it because of the added costs, including energy bills. The application said:

“The alternative residential use is a valuable contribution to housing stock in an era where we have a housing crisis.”

It suggested Camden was not meeting a ‘London Plan’ target for creating new homes in the borough. Council planners are considering the application with a decision due soon.

ITV drama will tell life story of Ruth Ellis

IT is a case which has fascinated reporters, playwrights and, more recently the endless stream of true crime podcasters – not least because at the heart of the Ruth Ellis story appears to be an injustice which cannot be undone.

Now ITV is ready to tell the story of her life and death in a new drama called A Cruel Love. Residents in Hampstead saw camera crews in several locations during the filming including the old Hampstead police station in Rosslyn Hill.

While there is no doubt that Ms Ellis, a nightclub hostess, shot racing car driver David Blakely outside the Magdala pub, she was rushed to trial within a matter of weeks in 1955.

Ruth Ellis was hanged in 1955

She was then swiftly convicted of murder without any consideration of her frame of mind after years of abuse.

She told an arresting police officer: “I am guilty, I’m a little confused.”

There has been a long-running campaign to pardon her from the murder charge without success. Just three months after the shooting, she was hanged at the now-demolished Holloway Prison – the last woman to be executed in the UK before the death penalty was abolished.

Her final resting place was a grave in a churchyard in Amersham. In the new drama Sophie Boynton, who appeared in the Barbie movie as well as Bohemian Rhapsody and Sing Street, takes on the lead role.

Ms Ellis has previously been played in different dramas by Miranda Richardson, Georgina Hale, Faye Castelow, Maxine Peake and Mary Stockley.