Pubs across Croydon have been boarded up, abandoned and left to be empty. Phoebe remembers growing up in them. Roger (her Dad) remembers playing music in them since the early 90s. Together they go on a pub crawl across Croydon asking 3 questions: “What happened in these pubs, what are they now and what could they become?”.
Compiled through interviews and workshops, see their exploration of the music, stories and sounds that populate(d) these pubs.
This film will premiere at a screening and manifesto workshop. With beer and chats after, we’ll create a manifesto zine to establish our hopes for our local to hold the council accountable. This will be sent to council members, landlords and key influencers in the legacy of these buildings, with hopes to make them (pub)lic houses again.
‘(Pub)lic House’ is one of the artist projects within Turf Projects’ latest commission series Desire Paths, as part of This Is Croydon, London Borough of Culture 2023.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Paid Opportunity – Be part of verbatim-poetry short film (Pub)lic House
- Did you go to a pub in Croydon that is now empty?
- Do you not like going to the pub in Croydon?
- Are you interested in shaping what this space could be in the future?
We’re looking for people living/working/connected to Croydon who have experiences of or opinions on empty pubs in Croydon. This includes The Leslie Arms, The Windmill, The Lion Inn, The Drum & Monkey and The Glamorgan (previously The Horse & Groom). This film will premiere at a screening and manifesto workshop on the 25th Nov 2023. With beer and chats after, we’ll create a manifesto zine to establish our hopes for our local to hold the council accountable. This will be sent to council members, landlords and key influencers in the legacy of these buildings, with hopes to make them (pub)lic houses again.
Fill in this Google Form or email iwenttothispub@gmail.com to get in touch before Fri 22nd Sept, simply say hi and tell us about your connection to empty pubs and we’ll get back to you
Find out more
About Phoebe and Roger Wagner
Father & Daughter. Historian, Musician & Poet. History, Chat & Pubs. Roger Wagner is Phoebe’s Dad: now retired, living in Croydon, but originally from Yorkshire and settled in South London in 1971. He practised as a Secondary/College teacher of History, Economics, Business and Music (1975-2019). He hosts jam sessions in local pubs around Croydon. Since 2017 he has been secretary of the ‘SaveTheGlam’ Croydon campaign to protect public house ‘The Glamorgan’ from an opportunist developer. Phoebe Wagner (@phoebesarahwagner) is Roger’s Daughter: a poet and community artist who grew up in Thornton Heath, Croydon. Nominated for the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship, her work often happens chatting with people. A Barbican Young Poet and Visual Artist, her work includes an audio installation ‘Cleaning in Progress’, archiving audio and text made with local cleaners (‘Repair Redux’ by Repair Collective at Hypha Studios Stratford, March – June 2023). She also runs Crep Project (@crep.project) an arts collective that explores creps (aka trainers/shoes) with working class people, which worked with Art Press, The BRIT School and Croydon College in 2021.