The Green Goddess in Blackheath has been named the best city pub in the country – less than four years after it opened its doors.
Stephen and Maryann O’Connor took on the former Barclays Bank branch at the Royal Standard shortly after it closed, transforming it into a bar with space for brewing.
After opening in July 2022 the pub now has a loyal following, from families to football fans, holding regular events and with pop-up food stands outside, and more than 20 draught beers, cider and wine lines on.
Councillors had backed the plans nine months before, shrugging off objections from two local groups who had feared pub crawls and antisocial behaviour.
Now The Green Goddess has national recognition with the honour from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). The O’Connors were presented with the honour on Wednesday by the Sunday Times beer expert Pete Brown at a ceremony in Liverpool.
The pub was also named the Greenwich borough pub of the year by members of the South East London Campaign for Real Ale – it is now among four in contention for SE London pub of the year.
During the pandemic it had operated as a pop-up bar outside Charlton House, and the O’Connors had wanted to find a permanent home for their own microbrewery, Common Rioters.
Events at The Green Goddess – named after Ninkasi, the Mesopotamian goddess of beer – have included quiz and comedy nights, while the O’Connors have hosted meetings for the campaign to save the White Swan in neighbouring Charlton. They have even teamed up with two nearby bars – The Shirker’s Rest in New Cross and The Rusty Bucket in Eltham – to host an open-top bus tour between the three pubs, with Stephen at the wheel.
The couple have made inclusivity and being family-friendly a selling point. Maryann told the drinks website Pellicle last year: We wanted a place that everyone feels like they can come to. If you don’t let children come to pubs, it excludes women, who are usually the main caregivers.”
Stephen told The Greenwich Wire: “Maryann and I are incredibly proud. It’s hard running a pub right now and our costs are through the roof but we’re proud that our efforts to build a friendly welcoming place that offers a great range of beers on tap, all from independent breweries, has been noticed by the judges.
“‘Each for all and all for each’ is a phrase etched on a former Co-op building in Woolwich, but we used it in our award submission. For pubs to survive this current storm of taxation and economic uncertainty we have to work together, collaborating with other pubs, local community groups and independent traders for the greater good. The pub is nothing without its community.”
Stephen said that they were hoping to use the momentum from their award successes to finish work on the microbrewery and get production under way. “Maybe next year we can be in the running for our in-house beers too,” he said.
The Green Goddess won the best city beer bar or pub prize, with Brewers 1841 in Ossett, West Yorkshire, picking up the rural equivalent. Best brewery business and best taproom were both won by Fyne Ales, based in Cairndow, western Scotland.
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