Room Forty Four, Gravesend

Ex-Whitbread house that traded for a period of nearly 450 years from its opening in 1570 to its closure in 2016. It was described in the 1988 Kent Guide as a town centre pub with no frills. It was offering Fremlins Bitter at the time, but real ale was available only sporadically in its final years. An unusual feature was that the gents' toilet was across a narrow alley from the pub, and thus available to non-customers if they so wished!

There have been several attempts to revive the pub's fortunes in the early years of the 21st century, including a brief reprise of the pub's original name of 'The Three Tuns'. The latest change of name is to Room Forty Four. It looks a smart enough establishment, but its value to the town would be much enhanced if one or more locally brewed real ales were on offer...

Thanks to www.dover-kent.com for permission to reproduce the pictures.