The King Of Denmark, West Wimbledon

Sad to hear the King has gone downhill.

This was my local 35 years ago, just before I left England for America.

In the late '60's it was "almost famous", frequented by various celebrities like Dave Davis of the Kinks (who liked the public bar darts), Cat Stevens and his band (who were a bunch of good blokes), Donovan, Oliver Reed, and many others.
One Saturday early evening I even saw John Lennon step in for a drink, probably on his way up to London for the night. (He stood at the bar and only stayed for 10 minutes, but I did make it a point to step up and order a pint so I could stand next to him.)

The King of Denmark in its day was so popular that on a weekend you could barely even stand in the saloon bar. The Swan next door was a dump that had barely a dozen patrons on a Saturday night. You would only go there if you had just met a girl at the King and needed to talk.

Well, times change, not always for the bast ...

5 Jun 2005 00:51