Probably the UK’s smallest pub is about to open in Ramsgate.
The Little King Richard Arms will serve a draught lager and pale ale alongside bottles of beer, wine and spirits from its 5ft wide, 2ft 2inch deep venue at Ramsgate Promenade Market (formerly the Belgian Bar) on the seafront.
The tiny bar, which stands opposite the country’s biggest Wetherspoon pub, has been named in honour of ‘true gent’ Richard Brown who sadly died following a flat fire in Ramsgate last year.
Richard, 71, was a much-loved member of the Belgian Bar/Green Tara family – now Ramsgate Promenade Market – and a long-time friend of owner Andy Barrett.
Andy said: ““He was a wonderful man and so full of generosity, he would help everybody from all walks of life. When you first met him he would have such a great impact and was a huge man in his own right.
“He was just an interesting guy who really cared about people, everybody he met had their lives touched by him.”
The Little King Richard Arms opens this Monday (April 18) marking exactly one year since Richard lost his life.
The miniature pub hold the bar area and room at the bar to make your order. There is seating inside the promenade venue include a space dedicated to Richard.
Andy said: “It has got to be the smallest UK bar. We already had a cocktail bar and that stocked bottled beers but people were asking for draught beer. We thought it would be quirky to have the tiniest pub opposite the biggest Wetherspoon pub in the UK.
“It will open a year to the day we lost Richard. He liked a drink and he was a bit of a legend, looking after the place for me when I wanted to go away. It will be a good legacy.”
The Little King Richard Arms is even smaller than Andy’s other tiny pub, The Little Prince at Margate’s Old Kent Market. That pub measures six feet, six inches wide and 11ft long and was recognised as the UK’s smallest pub by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016.
The Little King Richard Arms opens at 1pm Monday. The Ramsgate Promenade Market is also host to businesses including a vegan stall, breakfast stall, a pizza and pasta stand is also due to open and a music shop is set up at the back of the site.
i fail to see the point of it , when over the road theres all the space and comfort in wetherspoons , and the prices are a draw as well
Unfortunately, that is full of the type of people who go to Wetherspoons!
That includes the Archbishop of Canterbury.
And me.
Why am I not surprised?
As long as you keep your snobbishly opinionated self out of Wetherspoons I, for one, will also continue to use it.
Haha, deal! I’m not against Wetherspoons, no more than I’m against tattooists, nail bars and betting shops (there is clearly a market for all of them), it’s just that I tend to prefer places with full waiting service (and no apps!), as well as music and games. That said, I have used them occasionally in the past, including Ramsgate (York, Llandudno and Fort William all have quite nice ones). Cheers! (hic!)
I thought it said the Little Richard arms at first (now THAT is a place i’d visit, a rock ‘n’roll themes micropub!).
Seriously, good luck.
And me.
I think its a very good idea and wish him well, not everyone wants to go in crowded pubs/clubs , some do some don’t,
Years ago we had Neros , the long bar that were good if you wanted to pull , sometimes you used to get trouble in these.
I did go to all but if I wanted a quiet drink of friendly chat , I found the havey or the standard better.
I also wish them well and it is a lovely way to remember Richard by
yes i see your point , it would be nice and quiet in there as it only has room for one customer , or perhaps two very small ones ?
No idea , but having 3 girls and a wife at one time , its better than sitting down the Westcliff to get out the way, it will have a bar man who you can moan at .lol
It must be pleasing for the Wetherspoons owner, after donatating £200k to vote leave, can see the result of his work. From the balcony you can see the mothballed fishing industry who lost their market 16 months ago.
Then perhaps the locals/British should be blamed for not buying fresh fish. It is thanks to plebs who only eat fish in batter that most of the country’s fishmongers closed down 20 or more years ago. The French actually care about food.
And Spanish! They eat a much wider variety of fish compared with the UK
If you go to the right places, there is a great variety in the UK too (I had monkfish wrapped in ham at a restaurant in Littlehampton a few weeks back, and last week in Broadstairs I had sea bass). It’s just that most Brits are unadventurous.