On Friday, 28 February 2014, members of the branch celebrated the long-awaited reopening of the Finborough Arms under its traditional name in West Brompton. The Finborough Arms opened in 1868. In 1980, the 50-seat Finborough Theatre opened on the ground floor in the same building.
In 2001, the Finborough lost its 'Arms' and became, simply, the Finborough, until it was reinvented as the Finborough Brasserie in 2006 and relaunched as the Finborough Wine Cafe (pause for real ale fans to shudder) in 2010. The pub was recently acquired by Jeff Bell, owner of the successful real ale pub, the Gunmakers Arms in Clerkenwell, EC1. To the immense relief of West London CAMRA branch members, Bell has given the pub back its arms and, more significantly, returned it to a real ale pub. Given the superb quality of the beer at the Gunmakers Arms, real ale fans in SW10 have a lot to be pleased about.
