An application to convert the former Eats n Beats premises in Ramsgate into a self-contained flat, but retaining the pub area on ground floor, has been submitted to Thanet council.
The Grade II property previously housed the Ravensgate Arms from 2014, reopening after a three month shutdown in 2017, but closing in April 2023 with then co-owner Eddie Gadd saying it was due to the after-effects of covid and the soaring costs of utility bills and goods.
Eats n Beats, which had previously been based in Addington Street, moved in during September 2023 offering a bar, restaurant and music.
Prior to that the venue was Maguires until the then landlord was jailed after a raid uncovered drugs and stun gun in the property- and was also run under names The Chatham Arms, Koumbas Arms and Hamilton Tavern.
Eats n Beats shut in August this year, 14 months after the untimely death of co-owner Meredith Cork who passed away while on holiday in Gran Canaria June 2024.
Music industry veteran Meredith, who founded Yellow Brick Music, worked with former Squeeze band member Keith Wilkinson and others including her partner Sarah Head, to create the hospitality business.
New plans have now been lodged by the property owner, Graham Lawrence of Propstock Community Pubs Limited.
He is asking for a change of use of the first floor from public house to one 1-bed self-contained flat. Plans show the retention of the bar area.
In documents submitted for the proposal it says: “With the present climate within the hospitality business, running a town centre public house or restaurant is proving to be a very difficult thing to do.
“At present, the restaurant has closed down due to lack of clients and the only way the owner can see to continue to operate the ground floor is to have a regular income from a flat on the first floor.
“If the flat was accepted, then the ground floor can still be let as a community venue, all be it, with less space for clients. The alternative, is for the building to remain empty, slowly decaying within the town centre of Ramsgate.”
The King Street building is shown on Collard and Hurst’s 1822 map of Ramsgate, and was a school for 37 years in the 1800s before becoming a public house.
Licensee lists date back to 1867. The property was Grade II listed in 1988.
A decision on the application is yet to be made.
C’mon people of Ramsgate, use it or lose it!
What happened, the Ravensgate was mad popular for a while…
Best of luck with your Application; it would be a shame to
Lose another traditional pub