After spending £1.3 million, pub operator JD Wetherspoon is to open its new pub in Deal on Tuesday with the creation of 45 jobs.
The Watford-based company’s latest business in Queen Street is called The Sir Norman Wisdom and will be managed by Gavin Dawson.
Originally it was going to be The Five Bells, but last month public pressure in Deal prompted the pub chain to rename it after comic actor Norman Wisdom, who was born in London in 1915, but grew up in Deal.
Known for his slapstick film roles in the 1950s and 1960s, famously playing Norman Pitkin against frustrated boss Mr Grimsdale, he was knighted in 2000. He died at a nursing home on the Isle of Man, in October 2010, aged 95.
Photos and information boards relating to the history and characters of the area are on display in the pub, with artwork inspired by Deal legends, stories and events, including the “Shyppe Swallower”, also known as the Goodwin Sands.

* For full story and photos of the new Sir Norman Wisdom see page three of the East Kent Mercury, Thursday, February 28.

* Please leave a comment about the latest addition to Deal town centre.