From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Chris Hunter, 21 January 2016.

New lease of life for Medway's Beacon Court Tavern in Canterbury Street, Gillingham.

New owners are attempting to give a classic Medway music venue a new lease of life.

The Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham is set to become a haven for live music fans once more with tribute bands and new original acts set to grace its main stage and a new smaller stage over the forthcoming month.

Maria Barnes and new owner Joe McCormack.

Owner Joe McCormack said the main stage would continue to show rock tribute acts while smaller bands and other entertainment, such as open mic events, could take place on the new stage.

“I’d never run a pub in my life before but I’ve been a DJ, and I ran an agency that supplied bars with DJs and bands,” he said. “Then I had the idea of getting my own place. I want a much wider range of tributes. No tribute will play more than twice a year, and we’ll try to do something for original bands during the week.”

Tributes to the likes of Guns ’n’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden and AC/DC should prove popular with former customers but Joe hopes to draw a new crowd, too.

“I need to relight the Beacon,” he added. “I want to make it a friendly environment. I want the young and fun crowd – students and young people.

“I want to rebuild the seven day week – it doesn’t matter what you do for a living, you can come on a different night.

“For example, the emergency services are often working over the weekend, so they want to go out during the week.”

Maria Barnes and new owner Joe McCormack on the new stage.

This weekend brought 1980s rock and pop band Top Guns to the Beacon on Saturday night, followed by Boogaloo Jones, with their mix of New Orleans blues, zydeco, rockabilly, jump and jazz, the following night.

Forthcoming bands include:]

The Bon Jovi Experience: Saturday, January 23, £10.

Dread Zeppelin: Saturday, January 30, £10.

Crocodile Mock, Elton John Tribute: Saturday, February 6, £5.

Abba Angels: Saturday, February 13, £10

Guns 2 Roses: Saturday, February 20, £10

Ultimate ska experience Skatonics: Saturday, February 27, £10

Further acts this year include tributes to the following artists: Police; Aerosmith; AC/DC; Motown; Blues Brothers; The Beatles; Metallica; Offspring; Iron Maiden; Stereophonics; Foo Fighters; Nirvana and Rolling Stones.

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Jenni Horn, 31 August 2016.

The Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham goes under the hammer at next Clive Emson auction in Maidstone.

A popular music venue is being sold after closing down and could be turned into flats.

The Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham shut in June, with the former tenant saying it was too costly to run.

At the time brewery Shepherd Neame said it was considering a variety of options. Now the pub is set to go under the hammer at a property auction.

The building, on the corner of Canterbury Street and Copenhagen Road, is being marketed as a large public house with potential for a variety of future uses. It has a guide price of £200,000 to £220,000.

John Stockey, auctioneer, said: “This is a substantial three storey building with a cellar and it has a lot of potential.

“There are two floors of residential accommodation above the venue itself that was previously popular among live music fans.

“It might be developed in a variety of ways as long as all necessary consents are obtainable.

“With the market still buoyant and investment in the region still strong we anticipate interest in this lot.”

The pub could suffer the same fate as many others in the towns and be demolished or redeveloped to make way for homes.

Plans were submitted earlier this month knock down the "Trafalgar Maid" in Warner Street, Chatham which has been closed for several years. The applicant intends to build six flats.

It is the latest in a series of applications to replace pubs with housing including The "Green Dragon" The "Countryman," The "Black Lion," and The "Brickmakers Arms" in Gillingham; The "Three Gardeners," "Tug and Shovel," " The "Alma" and The "Horseshoe" in Strood; The "North Foreland" in Rochester and The "Woodsman" in Walderslade.

Medway needs to find enough land to create 30,000 new homes over the next 20 years and the council are under huge pressure to find sites.

Meanwhile brewery Shepherd Neame has said it wants to focus on quality not quantity. The family-run firm has bought 17 pubs in recent years but sold 50.

The Beacon Court will go on sale at The Clive Emson Conference Centre, Detling, on Wednesday, September 14. The auction begins at 11am.

From http://www.kentonline.co.uk By Jade Edwards, 17 August 2017.

Developer wants to turn Beacon Court Tavern, Gillingham, into flats.

A developer wants to demolish a popular Gillingham pub and build flats.

The Beacon Court Tavern, in Copenhagen Road, closed in June 2016 after the tenant said it was too costly to run.

The pub, which was a popular live music venue, sold at auction last year for £370,000.

The Beacon Court Tavern, Gillingham.

Now a developer has applied for permission to knock down the pub and build three one-bedroom and six two-bedroom flats with nine parking spaces. The curved front of the original building would be retained.

The planning application states: “We feel that the scheme has many positive attributes. It retains the best feature of the original building and compliments it with a residential building of good quality.

"The scheme is self-sufficient in terms of parking and should have minimal impact on street parking numbers.

The proposed flats in Copenhagen Road, Gillingham. Pic: Clay Architecture.

“The resulting proposal will help liven up the street scene and the development will help to fulfil a need, both national and local, for new housing.”

The pub was built in the 1860s as part of a planned housing development along Trafalgar Street, Copenhagen Road and part of Gillingham Road.

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Ed McConnell, 15 March 2019.

Demolition of Beacon Court Tavern, Gillingham, begins.

A popular pub has been consigned to the history books.

Demolition work has begun at the Beacon Court Tavern, on the corner of Canterbury Street and Copenhagen Road, Gillingham.

It's destined to become flats after closing almost three years ago and being sold at auction for £370,000.

The Beacon Court pub is being demolished Picture: Steve Crispe. (7814597)

A well-known live music venue, the establishment has become too costly to run when it poured its last pint in June 2016.

It had only opened again that five months earlier, with new owners vowing to put it back on the gigging map.

The pub was built in the 1860s Picture: Steve Crispe (7814603).

Pub being demolished. Picture: Steve Crispe. (7814603).

Medway Council gave developer Darren Turner the nod to knock down the boozer and build three one-bedroom and six two-bedroom flats in its place in October 2018 following an appeal.

The curved front of the original building will be retained and nine parking spaces will also be created.

The application had initially been refused the previous October due to concerns regarding the effect it would have on the area's character and the privacy of neighbours.

The planning application stated: “We feel that the scheme has many positive attributes. It retains the best feature of the original building and compliments it with a residential building of good quality.

"The scheme is self-sufficient in terms of parking and should have minimal impact on street parking numbers.

“The resulting proposal will help liven up the street scene and the development will help to fulfil a need, both national and local, for new housing.”

The Beacon was built in the 1860s as part of a planned housing development along Trafalgar Street, Copenhagen Road and part of Gillingham Road.

At the other end of Gillingham Road the "Fleur-de-lis" pub was built and remains open today.

It gets its name from the former name of this part of Canterbury Street - Beacon Court Lane - which in turn took its name from the nearby 16th century beacon built to warn of invasion.