After consulting with specialist ecologists, historians, archivists and planners then talking though our proposals with “Conservation” we were pleased to get our plans into the system earlier this week. We haven’t yet had a formal acknowledgement but hope to do so soon.

With our fingers crossed we see our timeline roughly as follows:

• February: planning app’ in and hope that we get a positive outcome within 8 weeks.
• March: subject to tree officer, fell Leylandii and start removing scrub from quarry.
• April: start refurbishment and extensions mid to end of month.
• May: refurbishment work really ramps up.
• June: staff recruitment starts proper.
• July: refurbishment largely complete.
• August: finishing touches and staff training.
• September: open for business.

“Quintessential 17th Century Riverside Pub meets Hunting Lodge on The River Dee”

It probably sounds a bit airy fairy but conceptually, physically and operationally, we are aiming to be properly earthy and country without being dusty and old fashioned. More specifically

Food-wise: Primarily British with a bias towards game and fish alongside pub classics and spicy world food (Graham was born in Singapore). All worth travelling an extra mile or two for!

Drink-wise: Big on wines and cask beers backed up by other premium products. We may even have our own Gin Still.

Service: Informal; with old style, “order at the bar when ready”, partial table service through much of the old pub, full table service in the River Room, and a Private Dining Room that seats 16

Functions and the like: As a rule, we won’t be doing big functions or weddings as these tend to mostly be at weekends and they risk spoiling the experience for what we hope will be all our regular pub goers. Modest affairs, early week, that can fit in the River Room, which can seat 40, and won’t take over the whole pub will naturally be considered. We will also have the Private Dining Room upstairs, which seats 16, for small functions, meetings and private dinners.

Our priorities are to polish everything up and slightly rearrange things so that this essentially gorgeous old pub also works operationally. The major items will be to move the bar to a more central position, so that the garden/link room becomes the main arrival point and to build a new commercial kitchen behind the pub and a new toilet block, including a disabled loo, behind the river room. Don’t worry, the lovely old range in the current bar, which we believe was the original kitchen, will still be kept, as will everything else within the old part. This isn’t just because the pub is listed but the warren of little rooms is also in our view the most charming part. We also hope we can improve the heating in areas that don’t benefit from an open fire.

Externally you will see almost no difference to the building from the riverside but at the rear we hope to tidy up and floodlight the quarry and create a small sheltered seating area directly outside the new bar area in the link room. Also, if the river authority will permit us, we hope to reinstate the old landing stages on either side of the river and operate a ferry service across the river during the summer; we will probably make a modest charge with half the proceeds going to charity.

After a bit of heartache surrounding the cost of sorting everything out, the borderline commerciality of its rural location and the fact that it is uncomfortably close to what Graham considered “family”, namely the Cross Foxes (another B&P pub), the heart took over and so Ed and Graham accepted the surrender of the lease and agreed  to take control as of the 31^st January.

After a few months of toing and froing, Ed Chantler and Graham Price finally completed the purchase of this stunningly located, 16th century, riverside inn.

With Ed being in the property business and Graham having sort of retired from running pubs (he co-founded Brunning and Price, which developed and runs the likes of The Corn Mill, Llangollen; Pant Yr Ochain, Wrexham; Grosvenor Arms, Aldford: Armoury, Shrewsbury plus many more) the plan initially was to treat it as a long term investment. However, before the ink was dry, Norman the tenant, rang them up and said that he wanted to leave after Christmas and did we want to buy his leaseback (or words to that effect). This wasn’t in the plan and the timescale to make a decision was short so there was much to do, given the property is listed, in Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and being right next to the River Dee within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).