For over two decades, Forest Hill was home to one of south London’s most remarkable pubs.
The neo-classical Capitol building originally opened in 1929 as a cinema, but — in a story that was echoed across Britain — pivoted into a bingo hall in the late 1970s. In 2001, it began a third lease of life, when taken over by Marmitey pub company Wetherspoon, and transformed into a cut-price drinking palace lauded by Deserter as “simply one of the wonders of the western world.”
Though rumours ebbed and flowed over the years about the Wetherspoon branch closing (including a suggestion it might go back to being a cinema, prompting one local to observe “After working all day I want a fag and a decent pint, not Fassbinder and a fucking flap-jack”), it survived until October 2023, when Wetherspoon shut up shop.
The good news: the building has finally reopened; the bad news (for thrifty thirsties at least): it’s no longer a pub, but soft play centre, Gambado Forest Hill. The £1.3m revamp has seen the site fitted with a soft play, ball pits, climbing frames and party rooms — although importantly the Capitol’s outstanding historical features, including a decorative mezzanine balcony and a proscenium arch, remain in fine fettle.
So while you can no longer watch a film, get a full house or sink a beer for under two quid here, consider this just the latest chapter of a century-old building that understands it must shift with the times.
Meanwhile, Wetherspoon’s game plan for London domination is far from waning; two central boozers are on the cusp of opening; one in the Trocadero building in Piccadilly, the other next to Charing Cross station. Neither are in old cinemas, although extant Charing Cross Wetherspoon the Montagu Pyke, is.
