The Ladywell Tavern: A pub showcasing local art and music

The Ladywell Tavern, situated on Ladywell Road, is a stunning English pub with quirky twists across the place.

One of the many ways it supports south east Londoners is through putting art pieces across the walls by local artists.

The Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

Not only does this showcase the images, but each one also has a price tag on it.

As people sip their drinks and gaze upon the pieces, they can decide whether they like it enough to buy it and take it home with them.

The manager of the Ladywell Tavern has said that the pub takes no commission from these pieces of art, they just want to showcase local talent and give them a platform.

Similarly, the pub regularly holds open mic nights to give singers and songwriters in the area the chance to share their music.

The Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

He said: “The open mic night is every Wednesday night, which we started two or three months ago - again trying to bring in local artists.

“We try and tailor it more towards original music so people have a platform to perform their songs but it’s also quite an open space for people to come and jam and meet other musicians.

“It’s quite nice everyone gets a chance to come up and play and other people get up and join, it’s going really well.

“Our open mic nights are sponsored by Brixton brewery so they provide a free drink for performers.

“It’s also sponsored by a guitar string company called Rotosound.

The Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

“So they’ve provided a house guitar for us so that even if you show up and you didn’t know it was an open mic night you can still play because there’s a guitar there to use.”

While live music gives the pub a lively, fun feel, it does pose the risk of receiving noise complaints.

If there is live music on at the Ladywell Tavern, the pub’s manager does regular patrols around the building to make sure that it isn’t too loud.

He also keeps all of the door shut to ensure that the fun inside doesn’t disturb neighbours.

This is important to him, especially as his aim is to host gigs with bands once a month, ideally even every fortnight, on Saturdays.

He added: “I’d really like to introduce some world music into that so I’m currently trying to book a band that are on tour from Ghana, it’s just different so it’s not cover bands playing Valerie and it’s something a bit different and interesting.”

The Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

Another fun and quirky feature of this pub that makes it stand out are the board games people can play with.

There is a wide range available so that anyone wanting something to do while they drink can keep occupied.

The manager even wants to introduce board game nights on Tuesdays.

He said: “It’s been quite nice because a few locals have come in and been like we have these board games we don’t use anymore so we’re just going to donate them.

“The plan is at some point to introduce a games night and we’ll have three tables set up with a game on each table.

“I like the idea of people coming down, maybe on their own, and they can sit down with a group of people and just play the games.”