Pub holds Love Croydon Day (From Epsom Guardian)

Green Dragon Pub holds Love Croydon Day

9:00am Sunday 12th August 2012 in Drink By Andrew Bloss

The Green Dragon pub held their Love Croydon Day on Wednesday with The Cronx Brewery showcasing their ales for the first time.

Esther Sutton, 39, manager of the pub, organised the day exactly a year on from the riots last year.

All the artwork on show was created by Croydon residents with the live music coming from local bands.

The food was sourced from either Surrey Street market or independent local retailers.

She said: “It was chance to big up Croydon and have a celebration about it. We had Croydon people doing a lot of the performances etc so that was good.

“I also got my first French post-it note for the Love Croydon window as well which was cool.

“It is good that the community has rallied since last year.”

The Cronx Brewery, based in New Addington, was also in attendance as they launched their Cronx Standard Bitter and Entire Porter.

Brewers Simon Dale and Mark Russell were delighted with the feedback they received with more than 100 of Cronx sold on the night.

The Stag and Hounds Pub in South Croydon, The Half and Half bar and the Bull’s Head also took part in the launch.

Mr Dale, 30, who now lives in East Grinstead, said: “We are chuffed to bits with how it went. The Green Dragon sold out of the standard at 9.30pm so that is great news.

“It was really nerve racking beforehand as we didn’t know how it would go. We are really pleased with how the beers came out. We have had loads of feedback on twitter as well which is fantastic.

“Mark and myself first met just before the riots happened. When it happened, it just made us more determined to be a success. To have our beers go out a year on from riots is actually quite special.

“There is a real buzz around the town at the moment. It is great to see.”