Hare and Billet

The Hare and Billet is a public house located in Blackheath, London, overlooking parts of Greenwich Park.[1][2] In the 18th century, the Hare and Billet was a coaching inn. The pub is now part of the Metropolitan Pub Company. The pub received media coverage in 2014 after a south London MP made a speech in the House of Commons claiming a condiment they served was a "parasitic copy" of another brand of Worcester Sauce, leading to a backlash that was nicknamed "Hendogate".

The Hare and Billet, Blackheath
The Hare & Billet, at the junction of Hare & Billet Road (on the left) and Eliot Cottages (on the right). All Saints Church is on the left in the background.
The Hare and Billet
Location within London
The Hare and Billet
The Hare and Billet (Greater London)
General information
LocationBlackheath, London
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°28′04.80″N 0°0′13.32″E
LandlordGreene King[Note 1]
Website
www.hareandbillet.com

History
The Hare and Billet in 1780 when it was painted by Thomas Luny

Watling Street, the Roman road to Dover, crossed the bleak and forbidding Blackheath and, in the 18th century, this stretch of the busy route was notorious for its highwaymen. At this time, the Hare and Billet was an isolated coaching inn on the heath.[3] The establishment has been trading since the 1600s.[4]

Location

The pub is on Hare & Billet Road, and across that road lies Hare and Billet Pond, considered to have the most natural appearance and probably the best wildlife habitat of the four ponds on Blackheath.[5] The road is said to be haunted by the ghost of an 18th century woman who hanged herself from an elm tree when her lover failed to meet her there.[6]

The nearest railway station is Blackheath, approximately 0.25 miles away and the Lewisham DLR station is approximately 0.9 miles away. The A2 is 0.3 miles to the north of the pub.

Hendogate
Henderson's Relish
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

On 20 January 2014, the pub was mentioned by Jim Dowd, MP for Lewisham West and Penge, during a debate in the House of Commons on the Intellectual Property Bill. The Hare and Billet was where Dowd was served Henderson's Relish when he asked for some Worcester Sauce during a meal. As Dowd was unfamiliar with Henderson's Relish he later cited the product as an example of "parasitic copying", namely of the anchovy-based condiment sold under the Lea & Perrins name.[7] Due to the cult following enjoyed by Henderson's in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, Dowd faced a backlash in the media, which included an open letter rebuttal from the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg[8] and Dowd's Labour Party colleague Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central.[9] The pub noted that a number of Sheffielders living in London had visited the pub as a result of the media coverage that was generated.[10]

See also

Notes
  1. Official website names owner as Capital Pub Company, a division of Greene King.

References
  1. "Contact". The Hare and Billet Website. The Hare and Billet. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. Evening Standard London Pub Bar Guide 1999 S S Int - Edward Sullivan. p. 100.
  3. View on Black Heath [near the Hare and Billet Inn], British Library, 26 March 2009
  4. "Hare and Billet". Time Out (London). 18 July 2011
  5. "Nature's Gym at Hare & Billet Pond, Blackheath". Lewisham.gov.uk. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  6. John and Anne Spencer (2000), Collins Ghost Hunters' Guide to Britain, Harpercollins, p. 75, ISBN 9780004489643
  7. "Daily Hansard – debate". Hansard: Column 56. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  8. "Nick Clegg speaks out in defence of Sheffield's Henderson's Relish". Nick Clegg Liberal Democrat Website. Liberal Democrats. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  9. Haddou, Leila (22 January 2014). "MP disses Henderson's Relish and incurs the wrath of Sheffield (and Nick Clegg gets a bit cross)". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  10. "MP 'warned' in relish row". Sheffield Star. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

Further reading
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