Pub seeking return to outdoor drinking

For years the Miller’s Arms was considered one of Canterbury’s best pubs.

In the winter it would be threedeep at the bar, sweaty bodies in thick clothing pressed up against windows wet with condensation. In the summer warmth, customers would spill out into the riverside garden across the road.

Now the pub on the corner of St Radigund’s Street and Mill Lane is hoping to recapture those days of outdoor drinking by winning permission to use a section of Abbots Mill Garden.

It is asking Canterbury City Council for permission to use a 1,400 sq ft area closest to the pub as an open air seating area.

Brewer Shepherd Neame, which owns the pub, says the proposal is tentative and that it is testing whether it might prove popular.

Businessman Trevor Tophill, 62, who was a regular at the pub in the 1980s, believes the idea is a winner. He said: “The pub used to be heaving and there would be people out in the road and in the garden. It was great.

“It was the best pub in town and I would be happy for the garden out the front to be used again. I think it would be good for Canterbury.

“At the moment when people come out of the St Radigund’s car park or from the coach park, they just see the pub. But this would put tables and chairs outside for people to see.

“It could be the first thing they do on coming into Canterbury or the last thing they do as they leave.”

The pub has formally asked the council to let the land for an outdoor seating area.

Shepherd Neame spokesman Benedict O’connor said: “We are at the very early stages at the moment and what we are doing is putting this idea out there to scope public reaction.

“It’s simply tables and chairs, but we would ensure that the public right of way through the gardens is protected and we would have to put a fence up to stop anyone falling in the river.

“We don’t have any idea on the number of tables and chairs yet as we just want to see whether it’s a goer.”

Log on to www.canterbury. gov.uk/public-notices/ to find out more or comment on the proposal.

What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk or write to Gazette House, Estuary View Business Park, Whitstable, CT5 3SE.

The Miller’s Arms pub wants to use part of the gardens