Emma Mykytyn Where Wetherspoon Began: The First Pub in Muswell Hill
Wetherspoons is now one of the most recognisable names on Britain’s high streets, but its story did not begin in a grand former bank, railway station or Art Deco cinema. It began in a modest converted betting shop on Colney Hatch Lane in Muswell Hill, north London. Today, the premises continues to operate as a pub called The Furlong, although it is no longer part of the Wetherspoon estate.
The first Wetherspoon opens
Founder Tim Martin opened his first pub on 9th December 1979. The premises had been purchased from an entrepreneur who had already converted the former bookmakers into a drinking establishment. It was initially called Martin’s Free House, a straightforward name referencing its new owner.
That name did not last long. After roughly a month, the pub was renamed Wetherspoons in early 1980, beginning a brand that would eventually become familiar throughout Britain.
Even the name has an eccentric backstory. The “J D” was inspired by Sheriff J D Hogg from the television series The Dukes of Hazzard, while Wetherspoon was the surname of one of Martin’s former teachers.
What happened to the original pub?
The original Colney Hatch Lane premises eventually left the Wetherspoon estate and went through several name changes. It was known for a period as Keenan’s before reopening as The Furlong following a refurbishment and change of name in 2017.
The building still looks like a neighbourhood pub rather than the birthplace of a hospitality empire. Visitors will not find the enormous open-plan rooms, patterned carpets or vast menus associated with a modern Wetherspoon.
Although the Wetherspoon signs are long gone, this otherwise ordinary frontage marks the place where the company’s story began.
Wetherspoon eventually returned to Muswell Hill in 2015, opening The Mossy Well on Muswell Hill Broadway after investing £3 million in the premises. The much larger pub occupies a former Express Dairy tea room and milk depot, offering a striking contrast with the small converted shop where the business started.
The early Wetherspoon head office in Archway
The company’s earliest years remained firmly rooted in north London. By 1983, its small collection of pubs was concentrated around the area, and its head office could be found not in a purpose-built business park but above another pub.
That pub was The Dog in Archway, at 17–19 Archway Road. From the rooms above the bar, the young company managed its growing group of north London pubs.
Companies House records confirm that 17–19 Archway Road remained the company’s registered office until March 1989. The head-office operation subsequently moved to North Finchley before relocating to Watford in 1994, where Wetherspoon’s registered offices are still today.
The former Dog later became known as The Charlotte Despard, named after the campaigner, suffragist and social reformer who lived and worked in north London. The pub building remains at 17–19 Archway Road, a short distance from Archway Underground station.
