Death of ex-Duke Landlord

Yesterday's South London Press reported the death of Erich Höfer, ex-landlord of The Duke pub in Deptford from 1977 to 2000. During the later 70s/1980s, the pub became an important music venue. His son Karl recalls: 'We had loads of local bands including Squeeze and Dire Straits. The Flying Pickets used to play there before they were number one in the charts for Christmaas 1983 and they gave my dad the gold disc for the pub'.

Crosswhatfields? has more on Erich, including a picture of the 1982 mural on Crossfields estate (Cremer House) which depicts him behind the bar of the pub.

Funeral details for Friday 19th November: "It begins with 10am mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Deptford, then on to Charlton cemetery for around 11.30am where he'll rejoin Anna and Aidan, and then on to The Duke from around 12.30 onwards. All are welcome. Flowers are fine or donations to cot death research (fsid.org.uk/), whichever people prefer".

This photo was taken in The Duke in around 1980, and shows a band called The Hornettes. It was taken by Colin Bodiam from his excellent collection of Deptford music photos:

See also Bobby Valentino's account of The Duke this period, in particular his band The Electric Bluebirds.