By Editor Mark Duell
JD Wetherspoon confirmed today that its new £3million pub in the former entrance and ticket hall of a London Underground station will open next Tuesday.
The popular chain revealed the ‘Walham Green’ on Fulham Road in West London will be the first of its six new pubs to open in England over the coming months.
The pub on Fulham Road, near Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium, will be in the Grade II-listed former entrance building and ticket hall of Fulham Broadway station.
The District line station was originally opened under the title of Walham Green in 1880, named after a village which grew into the area that became Fulham Broadway.
Stamford Bridge was redeveloped into a football stadium for Chelsea in 1905 and as the area’s population grew, a rebuilt version of the station was opened in 1910.
This redesign by architect Harry Wharton Ford included a new Edwardian baroque-style entrance building including a ticket hall, shopping arcade and offices.
The station name was changed to Fulham Broadway in 1952 after a local campaign, before the entrance building was closed in 2003 and sold to a private developer.
This area was subsequently converted to a TGI Fridays restaurant and then a food market – before it was purchased by Wetherspoon, who will open their pub on July 8.
The present station entrance is in the Fulham Broadway shopping centre adjacent to the pub, which is on two floors and has an outside roof terrace on the first floor.
Wetherspoon said the pub is creating 90 new jobs and will be managed by Ryan Way, former manager at The Watchman in New Malden, South West London.
Mr Way told MailOnline: ‘Myself and my team are looking forward to welcoming customers into Walham Green and we are confident that the pub will be a great addition to Fulham’s social scene.’
The venue will be open from 8am until 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday and from 8am until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday. Food will be served from opening until 11pm daily.
A Wetherspoon spokesman said: ‘The new pub will specialise in real ales and traditional ciders, as well as craft and world beers, serving a wide range of different draught ales, as well as bottled beers, including those from local and regional brewers.
‘It will be open for family dining, with children, accompanied by an adult, welcome in the pub up until 10pm, throughout the week.
‘The pub will be wheelchair accessible and have a specially adapted toilet for people with disabilities.’
Historical photos and details of local history, as well as artwork and images of local scenes and characters of the area, will also be displayed in the pub, and artwork commissioned by local artists.
The chain also promised that retro train station signage will be on display inside and outside the pub, recalling the building’s previous life as part of the station.
Wetherspoon, which has nearly 800 pubs across the UK, is also planning to open The Dictum of Kenilworth in the Warwickshire town on July 29.
This will be followed a second new pub in the capital – The Sun Wharf in London Bridge, which will begin serving customers on September 2.
A third new London pub – The Sir Alexander Fleming at Paddington Basin – will open on September 23; then Sigered, King of Essex will open in Basildon on September 30.
The final planned opening by the chain this year is The Chiltern in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire – opening on December 2.
Wetherspoon has previously warned over a £60million jump in labour-related costs since April, amid increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.
Chairman Tim Martin has cautioned over the impact of the surging wage bill and in January called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to cut pub food taxes before the jump in costs linked to last October’s Budget.
But the business said in May that it expects a ‘reasonable’ full year result despite soaring staff costs as good weather helped buoy sales.
It reported like-for-like sales up 5.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to April 27. Comparable sales rose 5.1 per cent overall in the group’s year-to-date.
Wetherspoon will reveal its fourth-quarter trading statement on July 23, before its preliminary results announcement on October 3.