A cherished traditional backstreet local, named for the Morden connection – a proper, unpretentious neighbourhood pub
The Morden Arms in Greenwich holds two hundred and sixty-six reviews and a 4.5 – a strong score on a fair sample – and it is another of Greenwich’s cherished traditional locals: a proper, honest, unpretentious backstreet neighbourhood pub, named for the Morden connection that runs through this part of Greenwich.
The traditional local
The Morden Arms is a genuine and beloved traditional local – one of those proper, characterful, unpretentious backstreet pubs that are the true heart of London’s pub culture. Away from the tourist bustle of riverside Greenwich, it serves its neighbourhood as a warm, welcoming, community-rooted local – the honest neighbourhood pub, full of character and warmth. This survey has celebrated these traditional locals throughout its journeys, and Greenwich, we are finding, is rich in them – the Pelton Arms, and now the Morden Arms, both cherished backstreet locals with strong scores and loyal followings. The Morden Arms is a fine example – a proper, warm, characterful local, beloved by its community.
The Morden name
The “Morden” of the name connects to a significant local presence: the Morden name in Greenwich, associated above all with Morden College, a historic charitable institution in nearby Blackheath. Morden College was founded in the late seventeenth century by Sir John Morden, a wealthy merchant of the Turkey Company (trading with the eastern Mediterranean), as a charitable home for “decayed” merchants – that is, merchants who had fallen on hard times and lost their fortunes, often through the perils of trade and the sea. It was a genuine and generous act of charity – a dignified home for once-prosperous merchants who had lost everything, allowing them to live out their days in comfort and dignity. The handsome Morden College buildings (designed in the style of Wren) survive to this day, still fulfilling their charitable purpose.
So the “Morden” name carries a genuine and rather touching local history – Sir John Morden and his charitable college for merchants ruined by the misfortunes of trade. It is a fitting name for a Greenwich pub, connecting it to the merchant, maritime and charitable history of this seafaring district. The name roots the pub in its local history and geography, in the honest, location-based tradition this survey has celebrated – the local pub bearing a genuine local name, rich with local history.
The heart of the community
Whatever the precise derivation of its name, the essential quality of the Morden Arms is that of the beloved traditional local – warm, characterful, unpretentious, community-hearted. It is the kind of pub that anchors a neighbourhood, providing a warm and welcoming gathering-place woven into the daily life of its patch. Its strong score across a fair sample reflects the genuine affection it inspires – a proper, warm, cherished local, doing what the great London pubs have always done best: bringing a community together in warmth, welcome and good cheer.
In an age of pub closures and gentrification, the survival of these proper backstreet locals is a genuine cause for celebration, and this survey salutes them warmly wherever it finds them. The Morden Arms is a fine example – a beloved Greenwich local, honest and warm and characterful, bearing a name rich with the merchant and charitable history of the district. The Prat’s desk raises a warm glass to it.
The pub
A strong, much-loved traditional local doing a good 4.5 across a fair sample, named “The Morden Arms” for the local Morden connection – a proper, honest, community-hearted backstreet pub of old Greenwich.
Verdict
Strong, much-loved, and genuinely cherished – the Morden Arms, a proper traditional local, bearing a name rich with the merchant and charitable history of Greenwich.
Have a pint at the Morden Arms, away from the Greenwich crowds, and enjoy the warmth of a proper local – honest, characterful, community-hearted, bearing the name of Sir John Morden and his charitable college for ruined merchants.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
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