Not, as it may seem at first, an attempt to rip off Tanya Headon’s excellent if rarely seen feature (possibly because she is apparently stuck in China). Rather a sad and shocking tale of central London pubs. On last nights evidence, it appears that The Lyric on Great Windmill Street has closed. Shutter down, an A4 piece of paper on it telling us where some of the staff had moved on to an a very final looking poem.
The Lyric has of late been a regular haunt of mine, despite its pokiness and general inability to get a seat when you first arrive. The jukebox, though overly stocked with Irish, could always provide ample entertainment. But basically it was a solid boozer in an area where the uncomplicated (non-Sam Smiths) pub is pretty short on the ground.
Who knows what will happen to the Lyric now. It was granted a midnight licence in the week, and a 2am licence at weekends, which since the law changed it has not used. I don’t believe it was a freehouse, though it had clearly been left alone by the vagaries of pub branding. I cannot imagine the spot staying empty for long, but will it still be the Lyric? Keep watching.