The TumbleDown Dick
Oh woe is me! They shut down the Tumbledown Dick. In fact, this is old news, they shut down the Tumbly back in February.
For those of you who don’t know The Tumbledown, it is (was) the best local pub in the area for live music of the alternative/rock/punk kind. OK, there’s The Agincourt in Camberley and the West End Centre in Aldershot (each 5 miles away) but the Tumbledown was ours. The Tumbledown was Farnborough’s own unique pub.
Farnborough is a very average British small town, population c. 45,000. Apart from Farnborough Abbey, where Napoleon III is buried, and the Farnborough Airshow, there’s not much to write home about other than our once-great music venue The Tumbledown Dick with live bands and the Quarantine Club rock/alt night.
After an environmental health inspection the owners of the Tumbledown Dick, Spirit Group, decided to shut the pub. Now, after literally decades of chronic underinvestment the rumours are that the pub could become a “family friendly” pub… that sends shivers down my spine. All the other “family friendly” pubs in the area are either totally dull and all look the same or the youngest members of the family have to be gone and in bed by 8pm, leaving only the older members of the family to prop up the bar and drink crap lager.
I digress…
The Tumbledown Dick was getting better and better as a live music venue, we even had our eyes on a Smiths tribute band in July and bands booked all the way up until November… until some silly person decided to shut our favourite live music boozer!
If you’re from Farnborough or nearby, if you like your live music, if you ever enjoyed a band at the Tumbledown or ever played there, or like me, you wanted to get your first gig at The Tumbledown… then please please please help out and save this pub before it goes down the pan…
Sign the petition to Spirit Group to Save the Tumbledown Dick as a live music venue!
Done. #813
tescosuicide: Dude, your support is much appreciated, thank you
If we get this place back on its feet i’ll make sure I buy you a few beers there… I swear I’ve said that before but I still remember 
The real ale was always awful in the Tumbledown and the music was all cover bands. Why didn’t they support local bands with the talent to compose their own songs?
That said, there’s now bog all to do in Farnborough after about 6pm!!
I think the Tumbledown Dick should have been taken over by the council and turned into a safe and permanent music and arts venue catering for young people, local and upcoming bands etc. Aldershot has the West End Centre with council subsidy why shouldn’t Farnborough?
Magpie Val: ‘ello mate, sorry I’m late in replying, been wasting away recently.
Yes, the ale was always bad at the Tumbledown; even when they did try and stock a barrel nobody would drink it so it was just a waste of their time – no accounting for taste is there?
As for the cover bands… if you haven’t seen Iron Maiden in 10 years, then it’s perfect to just stumbledown to the Tumbledown, watch a shit-hot cover band and then hit the FKB and let people follow the trail of kebab wrappers…
And there were TONS of small original bands down there most nights. I planned my first gig would be at the Tumbly and there may still be hope…
I miss the Tumbledown. Shutting it was like a form of ethnic cleansing. I’m not religious but I pray that Farnborough doesn’t end up being like Camberley or have something like a Harvester… ik.
Nick Kirk: Bang on there, Nick, the Tumbledown was for the people and should still be for the people. I’m tired of those “higher up the food chain” thinking they have better ideas and then just killing off our culture with “safe” decisions. It’s either that or there are ulterior motives for the demise of the Tumbledown.
However, I do think the TDD needs to be run as a profitable “going concern” and does need to be differentiated from Aldershot by keeping its unique identity as more of a rock venue.
However, all these ideas seem to be falling on deaf ears… the silence of both the owners and Rushmoor is worrying… I haven’t given up but I do think there needs to be a real killer proposal to end up their laps for them to realise that we have brains aswell as a true community spirit and a cracking taste in music