Victory for Pinner residents in battle to keep historic name

The Observer has been allowed a sneak peak of the interior of the new restaurant and can reveal the impressive illustrations and local themes which adorn the walls and fittings inside.

The decision to keep the name, after the company originally announced that it would be simply be called 'Zizzi Pinner', was taken because of the strong local attachment to its history.

Restaurant manager Abbie Lahiffe explained: "This is an old building and we know it is very important so we have tried to keep the history.

"A lot of local people showed concern about us changing the name so we decided to call it 'At The Victory' instead."

Old signs depicting the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson have been taken down but Ms Lahiffe has promised that they will be re-used somewhere within the building.

And the recognition of Pinner's history doesn't end there. The 21-year-old continued: "Every Zizzi restaurant has a different design based on the local area. We have got pillows here saying 'Victory' and we brought in a designer to do some illustrations on the walls."

Londoner Lizzie Mary Cullen was commissioned in August to adorn the interior of The Victory with locally-themed artworks and the influence of eccentric cartoonist Heath Robinson, a former Pinner resident, is clear.

There is even an over-sized lamp which Ms Cullen claims is something that Robinson would have dreamt up had he still been alive today.

Elsewhere, a quote from Nelson makes it on to the walls and a telescope stands by a window to keep look-out.

Added Ms Lahiffe: "Hopefully when people come in they can see we have kept the history and that we care about it."