Bring back the Riverway!
RESIDENTS WANT TO SEE ‘EYESORE’ REOPEN AS A LOCAL PUB OR COMMUNITY CENTRE
RESIDENTS living the shadow of a boarded-up pub in The Meadows have made a range of suggestions for what should replace it.
The Riverway, in Arkwright Walk, was formerly owned by Basford brewery Shipstones over 20 years ago.
It was taken over by Yorkshirebased Samuel Smith’s Brewery in 2017 after a long period of closure.
The pub survived the demolition work which took place in The Meadows in the 1970s, when 22 pubs were lost, but it was boarded up in April 2019.
Two years later, the pub remains shut and residents are calling for it to be restored as a community pub.
Residents in the area have described it as an “eyesore”.
New houses have sprung up on Arkwright Walk and people who have moved to the area recently said it would be good to see the pub brought back to life.
Jason Green, 49, who lives nearby, said: “It would be ideal to have a local on the doorstep. I would like to see the community invest in it if possible and turn it back to another pub.
“It’s a good location and would be busy on match days for Forest you’d imagine.
“At the moment it’s an eyesore with it all boarded up like that.”
The pub became popular among worshippers at neighbouring St Saviour’s Church at the start of the 1990s, when the landlord would welcome dozens for a drink after services.
Kevin O’neill, 56, of The Meadows, who works in food manufacturing, said: “It has been hit with graffiti in the past and it does not look good like that. “We’d like it, if not a pub, to be used as a community centre for families, or something like that. “It’s been two years now so we’d like to see something done with it sooner rather than later.” Shelley Harrison, 58, added: “I would love a family-run restaurant to take on the space.
“I think it would be a busy location. There are lots of new homes in the area now so it could be something really nice.”
It would be ideal to have a local on the doorstep. I would like to see the community invest in it if possible
Jason Green