Blackheath’s famous tea hut is staying where it is, four years after it was suggested that the business move across the road to take over a disused toilet block.

A hut serving hot food and teas has stood on the corner of Goffers Road and Shooters Hill Road since 1924, but the last hut was destroyed in January 2020 when a driver smashed into it. Two people were taken to hospital.

After the crash there had been calls to move the hut, which lies in the borough of Lewisham, across the road to take over a disused Greenwich Council toilet block. The boundary between the two boroughs runs along Shooters Hill Road.

Greenwich had been considering selling the block but found that it did not actually own the building, pouring cold water on the idea.

A temporary tea hut opened in August 2021 and just over a year later Lewisham Council gave planning permission for a new, bigger hut, set further back from the road.

Shannon Cameron, the hut’s manager, would be happy to relocate, but she says her customers prefer the current location.

Wreckage of old Blackheath tea hut
The old tea hut was destroyed in January 2020. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“It would be nice, but a lot of customers prefer us to be here in this spot, because it’s a known spot,” she says.

Cameron says that Lewisham responded first to enquiries about the hut’s future but Greenwich left them waiting because of the complexity of the land ownership.

“We haven’t heard back from them,” she says.”They take so long, and it was basically first comes first. Lewisham Council came back first. Greenwich, we’re still waiting for an answer.”

The Blackheath toilet block
There had been talk of the tea hut moving to the disused toilet block across the road. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Jo Hayes has worked at the Tea Hut for 20 years. “I started working here when I was 26. I’m part of the furniture basically,” she says.

Not only does she know her long-standing customers, including many bikers, but famous people have also been among her guests. “We get all sorts of people. You do get to meet a lot of interesting people, famous people.”

The Bridgerton film crew at Rangers House could be seen from the hut, while Brigitte Nielsen, Jarvis Cocker and Blackheath-born Jools Holland have been visitors.

Blackheath tea hut with motorbike
The tea hut is a favourite with bikers. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Before the crash the hut was open around the clock, but now it closes overnight. Without mains power, the temporary hut relies on a solar panel. “The lights wouldn’t last all night, I think,” Cameron says.

But she would love to return to 24-hour service. “When we get the main structure back. We probably will be.”

Blackheath tea hut
The tea hut is not open around the clock at the moment. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Greenwich Council says that it has “received several enquiries in recent years relating to this matter and has responded appropriately. The building is owned by the Crown Estate and from our conversations with their agents we understand they were undertaking a condition survey of the building and that they would require the council to hand back management responsibility of it to them to enable them to progress their plans.

“Despite the council’s current management responsibilities for the building the council does not hold either a freehold of leasehold interest in it. Any decisions regarding its future occupancy rest first and foremost with the Crown Estate and queries regarding its future can be directed to them accordingly.”

Anna Schriewersmann is a student journalist from the University of West London. Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain.