Late on Sunday night, a worker was sealing the floor at the Half Moon. The new bar is being rebuilt around them. Upstairs, a chandelier burns in the new glazed room. Thirteen days to go.
From the pavement, the refurbishment tells its own story. The first-floor orangery is in place: Crittall-style windows, folding doors that open onto a new roof terrace with a retractable louvred roof. The gable lettering reads “Half Moon Live Music Since 1963”.
The pub shut on 5 January. The reopening is confirmed for 4 April. That leaves no room.
When the Half Moon closed for the refurbishment in January, the scope included a new upper room, a terrace with a planting buffer and a spiral staircase painted deep heritage green. The reopening is confirmed for Saturday 4 April (Boat Race Day), with free entry all day, live music from the afternoon and DJs until midnight. The venue is on the shortlist for the Music Week Award for Grassroots Venue: Spirit of the Scene, supported by the Music Venue Trust.
The headline act is Laurie Wright, a London rock and roll singer-songwriter who has played the Underworld Camden, the 800-capacity Scala and the Electric Ballroom in a straight upward line. He has the O2 Forum Kentish Town booked for October, already more than half-sold. The Maida Vales play from 3.45pm and Sergio Giorginis from 5.45pm. The Boat Race hub has full details of what’s on in Putney that day.
The Half Moon isn’t the only change on Lower Richmond Road this week.
At number 75, Fettle bike repair has posted a permanent closure notice in the window. The Putney workshop closes officially on 1 April 2026. The business continues at Earlsfield (769-773 Garratt Lane, SW17 0PF), Streatham (41 Streatham High Road, SW16 1ER) and Twickenham (353 Richmond Road, TW1 2EJ). “You can continue to enjoy the same great Fettle service at any of our nearby workshops listed below,” the notice reads.
Further along, at number 205, Persian Grill House is permanently shut. A South East Enforcement notice of repossession, dated 28 November 2025, remains in the window alongside a Torts Act notice with a goods-collection deadline of 5 December 2025. The signage is still up.
In a fortnight, the Half Moon will be open for the first time in three months, its new room lit from inside, on the biggest day of Putney’s year. Two units along the same road will be dark.
The Half Moon is at 93 Lower Richmond Road, SW15 1EU. Boat Race Day is Saturday 4 April; doors open from early afternoon, free entry all day, DJs until midnight.
The Half moon refurbishment costs are well over £500k according to a lead builder I questioned. Young’s are a good customer and good client to work with. The PLC is very careful to preserve the historic findings that have emerged as things get demolished. The outside glass / inside a fake fireplace was possibly an entrance, then a public notice board. So expenses were spared. Shareholder must be happy?!! Upstairs was a hotel ( rooms) but now to be for the manager….shame. Wonder when the Star& Garter boutique hotel will open?…….