Petition launched calling for Chadwell Heath’s White Horse pub to be rebuilt
The pub had been due for redevelopment. Picture: Lauren Florence - Credit: Archant
An online petition calling for a disused pub to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in a fire has been launched.
The pub was gutted by fire in the early hours of Sunday, September 20. Picture: Lindsay Jones - Credit: Archant
More than 600 people have so far signed the appeal calling for The White Horse pub in High Road, Chadwell Heath, to be returned to its former glory.
Victoria Godfrey, who started the petition on September 28, said: “The council has plans to install costly things like interactive tombstones and stepping stones to teach people about the history of where they live.
“We don’t want to just learn about past history. We want to preserve it for future generations, so that people can still enjoy it.
“And there is nowhere more deserving than a 400-year-old public house that was the heart of the community.”
The White Horse had survived for 400 years, but the fire left most of it in ruins. Picture: LBBD Archives/Valence House - Credit: Archant
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Fire tore through the watering hole in the early hours of September 20. About 40 firefighters attended the blaze which took almost three hours to bring under control. The extent of the damage means the cause can’t be found.
Since sharing the petition, Victoria, who met her husband at the pub, has been inundated with former punters’ stories of weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and wakes.
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“I’ve been touched by all the support from people when we first started this. They’ve shared their memories and their lives with us in support of this pub. And are all desperate to see it restored,” Victoria said.
The pub was gutted by fire in the early hours of Sunday, September 20. Picture: Lindsay Jones - Credit: Archant
READ MORE: Fire destroys White Horse pub in Chadwell HeathLooking back, the member of the Save the White Horse Facebook group added: “There was hardly any trouble. It wasn’t a boozy, trouble making pub. It was a place to relax. Everyone was considered a friend.
“It was a home from home to many lonely and older people who had lost their partners. There were brass plaques on the walls by the tables in tribute to friends and loved ones they had lost. It was always that sort of place.”
And she recalled how the beautiful gardens were a lovely place to relax.
“With so many pieces of history slowly being erased, we feel it is important to protect what we have.
“I have already experienced the loss of my school, the hospital I was born in and the majority of Ford’s which is where my grandad worked and what Dagenham is famous for,” Victoria said.
Visit Change.org to sign.
