IN GREAT British fashion, Ealing punters turned to their local watering holes while enjoying the Diamond Jubilee.
Business was booming at The Forester, in Leighton Road, West Ealing, during a street party with neighbours in Seaford Road on Monday (June 4).
Assistant manager Renee Kluit said: “We were packed. The residents asked if we could help so we put on the barbecue and live music. We did better than we expected. We thought that people would hang outside and bring their own stuff. And after it finished everyone came in to watch the concert.”
At the Rose and Crown, in Church Place off St Mary’s Road, South Ealing, managers laid on two colourful cabaret shows on Monday to entice customers. But manager Tom Tucker admitted it was touch and go with the weather.
He said: “We were fairly nervous on Sunday because this was our first big outdoor event but lucky for us it cleared up on Monday and was a really smashing day.”
The Castlebar in Uxbridge Road, West Ealing did equally well with a lavish food and wine tasting evening, singer and DJ.
Owner Abel Rouati said: “We had a very good weekend. We had a party and you can’t go wrong. It was on a Monday but it was like a Saturday night.”
Where the Jubilee parties were absent, it seems the gloomy weather did keep customers at bay.
Jonathan Lee, owner of The Red Lion in St Mary’s Road, said it was an average bank holiday, adding: “We don’t have a TV here and don’t tend to expect anything which is TV driven, which the Jubilee was.”
Managers of the Duke of Kent in Scotch Common said they fared slightly worse because it relies on the sunshine to attract people to its beer garden.
