Our name is a tribute to the Green Dragon pub which existed as a local watering hole and landmark in Winchmore Hill, North London from the early 18th Century (possibly as early as the 1720’s) right up until 2014, when the pub was acquired by a developer and converted into a supermarket.
The original site of the Green Dragon was at the junction of Green Lanes and Green Dragon Lane. Then, in the late 18th Century, the inn moved around the corner to a building on the junction of Green Lanes and Vicars Moor Lane. The pub was later rebuilt on the same site in the late 19th century and then substantially remodelled in the 1930’s.
In 2014 the Green Dragon was acquired by a developer, who promptly closed it. Despite a popular and hard-fought local campaign to Save the Green Dragon, the developers were granted planning permission to convert the site into a supermarket and housing. One consolation: the landmark structure of the building itself was saved.
In 2015, Enfield resident, pub and beer lover, Richard Reeve embarked on a charity cycle journey around the UK, visiting all 100 micropubs that were open at the time. After returning from his travels, Richard resolved to open his own micropub in Enfield. When an empty shop unit became available just around the corner from the closed Green Dragon, it felt like it was meant to be, and so the Little Green Dragon was born.
Mike McClean, founder of the Save the Green Dragon campaign once said: “Communities are made up of so much more than shops and houses. We need places to come together, to meet friends and make new friends, to celebrate, to laugh, to get to know one another. The people of Winchmore Hill started doing this in The Green Dragon 100 years before the Battle of Waterloo!”
Richard is pleased that his micropub will enable the history and tradition of the Green Dragon to continue into a new chapter, embracing the current renaissance of quality, locally produced beer in this country.
“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings” – J.R.R.Tolkein
Well, that may be so, but we aim to prove there is still fire in this dragon’s belly!