Iconic London pub that gave its name to an entire area closes after 200 years

Staff and punters at a landmark pub styled on a Swiss chalet but located on a north London roundabout, where regulars have included actor Sean Bean, are ‘gutted’ after it unexpectedly closed down at the weekend.

Ye Olde Swiss Cottage has been a fixture on the roundabout on Finchley Road since 1830. Swiss Cottage tube station was opened in 1868 and named after the pub.

But the last pints were pulled on Saturday night and it is already being stripped of its fixtures and fittings and leftover beer sent back to Sam Smith’s brewery.

The brewery has sold the site but the new owner and the future of the building remains a mystery, with the the Campaign for Real Ale urging for it to remain a pub.

Barman Paul Shoebridge has worked in the iconic pub for 16 years and has served the likes of footballer Dion Dublin, as well as the cast of Eastenders.

He told Metro: ‘We are all gutted, it’s a sad day. It’s a landmark and will be a big loss.

‘The last night was Saturday and we ran out of gas to serve beer in the end. It’s the end of an era that’s for sure. There’s nothing quite like it. I’ve been working and living in a Swiss chalet in the middle of a roundabout in north London. It’s been interesting for sure.’

Mr Shoebridge said he is going to retire but had been asked to stay for a few weeks in his basement accommodation to oversee the handover to the new owner.

He said he was nostalgic about the ‘Swiss’, as the pub is known to locals who included A list actor Sean Bean, a regular in the pool room, of actor Sean Bean, who is currently starring in crime drama This City is Ours.

Mr Shoebridge told Metro: ‘Sean was here a lot at one stage. He loved the place. He didn’t want to leave. A top bloke and our most famous regular. He loved his pool and the atmosphere.

He added: ‘The place drew in people, it’s a special place. I hope they don’t demolish it. I don’t know who the new owner is we haven’t been told. I hope it’s not going to be replaced by flats.’

Sat beside an Odeon cinema, the pub is opposite the Hampstead theatre and the Central School of Speech and Drama. It has always been a watering hole for those working and studying in the arts, along with locals from all walks of life.

Hacks from the local paper, the Hampstead and Highgate Express, also packed the place, which was conveniently opposite the publication’s office in the earl 2000s.

The pub was renowned for its relatively cheap Sam Smith’s beers, with Alpine lager a particular favourite.

Kevin Edwards, 67, told Metro: ‘I live a few minutes from the pub and had gone there for years.

‘I didn’t know it was closing or I would have gone for a cheeky pint to say goodbye. It won’t be the same around here without it. It was a proper old London boozer atmosphere but in a Swiss chalet, crazy really.

‘We used to see Sean Bean in there with his pool cue when he was starring in Sharpe. It was surreal. We just hope there won’t be a big development there it seems to all be about building flats for cash.’

It is not known why the pub was designed in the style of a Swiss chalet, butits quirky look made it a local landmark in the traffic-choked area. It was originally next to a toll gate for travellers who would pop in for a drink.

Joanne Scott, from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said the closure was a ‘real loss for the local community and also for London’.

‘There has a pub on site for 200 years and there aren’t many pubs in this area, so it is important to keep it as pub.’

Forty six pubs have clues in the capital in the six months to June last year, according to real estate analysts Altus.

Sam Smith’s Brewery has been contacted for comment.

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