Last Orders at the Bar…

Toovey’s February sale of Collectors’ Items on Friday afternoon 24th February 2012 includes the majority of the decorative contents of the celebrated public house The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, London SE15 (Lots 2601 to 2662).

The last pint has now been pulled at The Montague Arms but for over forty years it garnered a reputation for idiosyncrasy, which attracted troops of fascinated and sometimes bewildered visitors from all over the world. Run by landlord Peter Hoyle from 1967 until its recent closure, it offered the traditional pub welcome and atmosphere of a bygone era, juxtaposed with unconventional live music, cabaret and themed events, in a somewhat surreal interior, crammed with curiosities. Voted number one by The Rough Pub Guide, A Celebration Of The Great British Boozer (Orion Books 2008) and hailed as “one of our strangest, and best, boozers” by The Sun newspaper, The Montague Arms was famed for its eccentric décor. An eclectic mixture of nautical items, curios, copper and brassware, ethnic memorabilia and taxidermy, the collection includes numerous ships’ fittings, large-scale models of ships, a vintage diving helmet and boots, a penny-farthing bicycle, tribal artefacts and a range of stuffed animals’ heads, including that of a zebra, which used to gaze out from one of two horse-drawn carriages permanently installed in the pub.  The collection will be offered for auction at Toovey’s Spring Gardens saleroom.

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