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Picture source: Graeme Fox

The Fortune Of War was situated at 40 Woolwich New Road. This pub was demolished in the early 1980s.

I remember the Fortune of War in Woolwich in the very early 1970s, when my school friends and I used to go there from Sidcup. The main attraction was the bar billiards and some friendly younger locals who we used to play with, but maybe the pub was tolerant of drinkers who were barely of legal age, if at all. Also it was well away from anyone who knew us.

Simon Hickey (April 2018)

I was a barman here whilst a student at Woolwich Polytechnic in the mid 60s, which was based over the crossroads in a glazed 'modern' building that has been evacuated by the University of Greenwich, and is now filled with down-at-heel community projects. The landlord was Benny, his wife June - ex-printers who used to attract Fleet Street printers after they'd finished their Saturday shift (or before - it was the famous days of machine minding and invoices for D. Duck). Whitbread ales - a free drink was "one on the Colonel" - which also covered Flowers Keg Bitter, which I liked more than the CAMRA consensus. I remember serving Bass Red Label (the same bottle as in the painting of the Bar at the Moulin Rouge), and Worthington E, both of which had to be poured gently to leave the lees in the bottle. My recollection of price per pint was bitter 2/1d, key bitter 2/5d, but mild 1/10d. A bargain.

Adrian Perry (October 2019)

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