Work has become in earnest on a major update of our database of Collingwood’s 101 Hotels, which was completed in 2011. A lot of changes have taken place since then! With factors including financial difficulties for single-hotel owners, stricter security regulations for late-night venues, and massive building developments, a total of eight pubs have closed. Of these, a few recent closures such as the Carringbush and the Vine may re-open in the future. One other hotel, long since closed and altered, has now been been totally demolished (the George). Four other hotels have had a name change. One was the minor change to Clifton Hill Brewpub from the Clifton Hill Hotel, but the others were more significant and connected to a change of ownership. These are the Albion, which has reverted to its original name after a period as the Punters Palace; the Leinster Arms, now Goldy’s Tavern, and the Robert Burns, whose name was changed, disgracefully, to Hotel Collingwood.
In 2011 there were 27 functioning hotels and now the number has dropped to 19.
Most of these changes described above have been incorporated into the online database for you to see, but we still have lots of work to do, adding additional information and photos and adding a fresh introduction analysing the twenty-first century changes to local pub life. And we have a few technical difficulties to resolve. We will keep you posted!