37 Folkestone Road

Dover

Photo taken by Paul Skelton 17 May 2008.

Formerly the "Alma".

From the Dover Mercury, 1 May 2003. Pub's owner flies the flag. IRISH pubs paint the town green, the Welsh sport the leek or the daffodil, but last Wednesday there was no mistaking the Renaissance pub's affiliations. Despite the Italian flavour of her name, Linda Martini not only decked her pub in Folkestone Road, Dover with the flag of St George, she also served free meals of traditional English food. Proud of her patriotism, Linda said: "Dover is one of the great ports of the world and St George is the patron saint of England. "I've always made a big thing of St George's Day wherever I've been, getting all dressed up and it's sad the breweries don't recognise it like they do St Patrick's Day, when they sell their barrels cheaper so we can pass the saving on to our customers." "I made a huge Desperate Dan steak and kidney pie with British beef and the second favourite was sausage and chips. "I always buy the ingredients locally, there's an excellent local butcher, Doyle, and a little greengrocers in Worthington Street." Linda has owned the premises for a number of years (it was formerly The Alma) and she hopes other pubs will adopt her patriotic flair next year. "People in Dover are absolutely brilliant; it's a wonderful town and I love living here but what must foreigners think when they arrive? There's nothing here to hold them."

From the Dover Express, 9 August 2007. Report by Rhys Griffiths. SMOKING BAN - PUBS FEEL THE EFFECTS A MONTH ON. 'Atmosphere has gone' PUBS in Dover have become quieter in the past month after the smoking ban came into effect. Bar staff told the Express that regulars have stayed away in protest at the new law which has stopped smokers lighting up indoors. Other pub-goers have said the atmosphere in their local has seeped out the door along with the smokers, who can now be found out on the pavements of the town. Lin Martini, landlady of the Renaissance in Folkestone Road, said that the smoking ban had hit her business hard. She said: "The regulars are making a stand, I don't know if people will come round in time. "It is very difficult because we don't have a garden so there is nowhere for people to go outside. If I was a smoker I would think twice before I went in the pub now." Lin's husband Peter says that the promised influx of new, non-smoking customers has failed to materialise. He said: "There are no new faces coming in who don't smoke, the ban is really affecting us."

Message taped onto the pub door and windows seen today 26 May 2008 says, "Closed till further notice". Let's hope this isn't another one that has called time permanently.

Glad to say that a couple of weeks later it re-opened. Rumour has it, the landlord forgot to renew the license and had to wit a week for it to come through. (Unconfirmed).

However, February 2009 it closed but recently (Aug 2009) being renovated, no idea what for at present. Probably more flats. However, during the renovation some 1860s "Alma" paintwork has been revealed, so far all that can be seen are the letters MOR'S, but this leads me to believe it said "WILLIAM PARAMOR'S," licensee 1858 till he died on 19th January 1960, his wife Maria then took over more or less single handed until 1889.

The CAMRA branch meeting of October 2008 reported the pub as closed.

Above photographs by Paul Skelton 31 July 2009.

Latest news:-

Change of use, conversion of part ground floor to hot food take away? Dover Plannings REF DOV/09/00712 (Representation 18/09/2009)

“The application site is a detached four-storey building on Folkestone Road. The building is Grade two listed and sits on a split level sloping site.

Prior use of the property was A3 Pub serving food, with vacant ancillary staff accommodation to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors. An open courtyard to the rear of the property functioned as a storage area.

The property is currently vacant and in a poor state of repair. In its present state of repair the ancillary staff accommodation is not habitable and a scheme of refurbishment is essential to ensure the future use of this listed building.

It is proposed to implement a programme of complete refurbishment of the building and site. For planning purposes this encompasses:

Addition of A5 Hot food takeaway use for the ground floor kitchen.

Retention of the existing ancillary staff accommodation to the 1st and 2nd storeys.

Change of use of the ancillary staff accommodation to the 3rd floor to C3 dwelling house to provide a self contained residential apartment, with separate access, for the Landlord to occupy.

The addition of a single storey extension to the 3rd storey (split level, see drawings), to extend the living space of the Landlords apartment.

Addition of a glazed roof to the courtyard area to provide weather protection to the courtyard storage area.”

It looks like the Renaissance will be reopened as a pub at sometime in the future.

The local CAMRA branch meeting of November 2009 reported that the pub had been refused "Change of Use," so hopefully the only option is for it to reopen as a public house again. However at the meeting held on 18th January 2010 reported that it has now been approved.

Now opened as the "Alma Café Express," photo by Paul Skelton, 9 April 2010. All photos below kindly supplied by Maxine Simpson   Recent report shows that it has unfortunately closed 1st May 2010. Further information on "Alma" page.

The building, currently (April 2019) appears to be up for sale as a guest house, with 12 bedrooms and cafe facilities

LICENSEE LIST

MARTINI Lynda and Peter 2002-2007+

ALMA CAFE EXPRESS

Managers Maxine and Grant SIMPSON 9/April/2010-1/May/2010