Time Gentlemen Please - the girl’s are taking over.
It's a family affair: Nicola Measor and Georgina Williams (r), the new co-landladys at the Brewers Arms, Cirencester
The Brewer’s Arms on Cricklade Street in Cirencester is ringing the changes as two new landladies take over behind the bar.
Landlady Nicola Measor and her co-landlady and mum, Georgina Williams who took over behind the bar last Saturday know The Brewer’s Arms well and it holds personal memories for them too. When Georgina’s father, Jack Arblaster, retired from the Fleet Air Arm he used go to regular monthly meetings of the Naval Association there. When he died, they dedicated a ship’s bell to his memory, ringing it at the end of every meeting.
“It’s really lovely to take over at a pub that’s got so many great memories,” said Georgina. “And we were so thrilled to be given the old bell, which has a dedication to my father etched on its side, by a former landlord who visited specially to donate it back to the pub when we moved in last week – it almost brought tears to my eyes.”
Although it’s the first time as landladies for Nicola and Georgina, both have worked behind a bar before. Nicola has just moved from her job at The Golden Farm and Georgina used to work in The Golden Cross on Black Jack Street.
“This is such a great place,” said Nicola. “It’s one of the few real ‘pubs’ left in the town centre, and all the more valuable for being just that. When we get settled in I’m planning to offer home made soup and roast dinners, too, but in the mean time we’ll be putting in a pool table for our customers so that they can play pool as well as darts.”
James Arkell, managing director at Arkell’s Brewery which owns the pub said: “It’s wonderful to have a mother-and-daughter team behind the bar, and it’s great to be able to offer Nicola and Georgina a pub that’s got such a strong family connection. It’s good to have a naval connection back as my great uncle was a naval commander, so we’ll be breaking out the colours for our new landladies and helping them set sail for success!”
More about The Brewers Arms
New Sleeping Arrangements at Arkells
Taking online bookings: a room at the Crown Inn, Stratton-St-Margaret, Swindon - one of 37 Arkells pubs offering first class accommodation
Finding a hotel anywhere in the UK is easy – just pick up the phone, or surf the internet. But finding somewhere with character, not a faceless hotel in ‘Anytown’, is a different matter.
Now, in a bid to bring back true variety to those seeking good accommodation in the south west of England, Arkell’s brewery has launched a new on-line pub accommodation booking service through this website (see link below).
Managing director, James Arkell, said: “37 of our 103 pubs offer accommodation – 21 of them in Swindon & Wiltshire and nine in Gloucestershire, and all of them offer something distinct from hotel chains. Our landlords might not offer be able to offer an on-site gym, but as well as bed and breakfast, they will be able to offer residents a tasty pint of real ale and someone behind the bar willing to chat.”
Bob Feal-Martinez is landlord at Arkell’s pub The Carpenter’s Arms at South Marston near Swindon, which offers ‘motel-style’ accommodation with rooms arranged around a pretty courtyard opposite the lounge bar. He points out that for those seeking homely accommodation during the week and at weekends, this is a welcome change. He said: “For most business people, working away from home is a bind. Staying in a swanky hotel can be a real treat but what they really want at the end of a long day is a chat, a drink, a meal and a comfortable bedroom – all at a sensible price. Thanks to the www.arkells.com and its sister website www.arkellshotels.co.uk, all our guests can now quickly pick the pub they like the look of best from just one website.”
“Staying in an Arkell’s pub is a unique experience,” adds James. “Each of our pubs is different because our landlords are individuals. We’ve got rural pubs offering fabulous food and four-poster beds such as The Hare and Hounds at Foss Cross near Cirencester, and town centre pubs such as The GW, opposite Swindon’s main railway station, with contemporary accommodation more usually associated with up-market City-centre hotels.”
Accommodation section
A Festive Recipe From Arkell's
Festive fayre: Head chef Sian Lloyd, with Saracen's Head landlord Adrian James Mitchell
This being the season for induging in the finer things in life, we asked one of our best known chefs, Sian Vockins, for a very special recipe that our customers might like to try at home.
Sian has been head chef at The Saracen's Head in Highworth for three years, and ran the award-winning Fattios restaurant with her husband before then.
This is one of her favourite seasonal dishes:
Stuffed pheasant with Vermouth Cream.
Here we go:
Ingredients (for 4 people)
4 pheasant breasts
4 slices Parma ham
8oz sausage meat
4oz breadcrumbs
thyme to taste
2 shallots
2 oranges
10 oz butter
50 ml Olive Oil
For sauce:
1oz butter
100ml Vermouth or white wine
1 pt cream
salt & pepper
Method:
Gently fry shallots in butter.
When soft, mix with sausage meat, breadcrumbs and thyme. Mix in the zest and juice from the oranges.
Open out the pheasant breast and fill with stuffing. Close up fold to seal the breast. Wrap Parma ham around pheasant breasts and chill in fridge for approximately 1 hour.
Heat olive oil in pan and lightly brown the pheasant breasts. Put in oven for approximately 30 minutes (until juices run clear), gas mark 6 (electric 180 degrees).
For the sauce:
Remove Pheasant breasts from pan and pour in Vermouth to clean the pan. Add cream, butter, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer gently until sauce has thickened. Pour over pheasant breasts.
Voila! We hope you enjoy it.
Although The Saracen's won't be doing food on Christmas day, the bar will be open as usual.
Sian will be cooking Christmas dinner at home for her family!
More about The Saracen's Head
Phil’s Back
Where his Hart is: New Landlord Phil Britton, outside his new pub, the White Hart, Cricklade
Phil Mitchell might be back behind the Queen Vic bar in Eastenders – but much more importantly for Wiltshire, Phil Britten’s back behind an Arkell’s bar.
You can take the man out of the pub – but you can’t take the pub out of the man. After launching Arkell’s Brewery’s flagship, £2 million investment, The Tawny Owl in 2003 as it’s first landlord, helping the brewery establish it as a North Swindon’s most successful pub; Phil Britton took a year out of the industry to work elsewhere, but now – he’s back, having taken over at Arkell’s The White Hart Hotel in Cricklade.
“I must have Arkell’s 3Bs running through my veins,” he admitted yesterday. “I get a real buzz out of this industry. Helping to launch The Tawny Owl was fantastic – but hard work too, and my wife Louisa and I decided that after the busiest, most stimulating, year of our lives we needed to take a break. What we didn’t appreciate was the real adrenalin buzz we get from the work – long hours and all, so I’m back.”
Is The White Hart ready for Phil?
“This is a great place and steeped in all the history that The Tawny Owl hasn’t yet got,” he says. “It’s got good hotel accommodation and a strong bar trade too – there’s a real community spirit in Cricklade, a lot of which centres around the hotel.”
The 16th century hotel was first build during the reign of Elizabeth 1, but was largely rebuilt 250 year’s later in the Victorian era (1886) when Cricklade became a major centre for hunting in the area and new kennels were built on the outskirts of the town.
Entertaining the hunting fraternity may not now feature so large in the hotel’s daily life, but the town of Cricklade is thriving, no thanks to the 19th century political writer William Cobbett – who, in 1821, wrote: “I passed through that villainous hole Cricklade about two hours ago, and certainly a more rascally looking place I never set my eyes on.”
Now, Cricklade is credited with being the most intact example of a late Saxon new town in Britain.
James Arkell, managing director at Arkell’s Brewery, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Phil back as a landlord, and we’re not surprised he’s returned to the job he does best. Running a successful hotel and pub is a skill you can’t teach – luckily for us, Phil’s recognised his talent and Cricklade will be the richer for it!”
More about The White Hart, Cricklade
What do you give the town that’s got everything?
Fairford may be a small town, but it’s got pretty well every type of eatery you can think of – from Italian, Indian and upmarket gourmet to delicious pub grub. What it hasn’t offered, until now, is traditional German cooking.
So when new landlords at Arkell’s pub The Plough at Fairford, Roger and Petra Fessey, took over this October they decided to give local residents an authentic taste of good German cuisine.
“My wife Petra is head chef and she’s German, so it was easy for us to develop a truly delicious menu for our customers to try,” said Roger. “Last weekend the pub was full of diners tasting a traditional German roast – beef marinated for 48 hours and served with roasted vegetables and potatoes.”
Roger adds: “German food is often portrayed as sauerkraut and schnitzel – but there’s far more to it that that, and we’re offering a real alternative to the locals, who seem really keen to try it out.”
James Arkell, at pub owners Arkell’s Brewery, said: “It’s wonderful to see Roger and Petra doing something completely different. We’ve just invested in a new kitchen and new loos in the pub, so it makes good business sense to go the full mile and update the menu too. Running a successful pub these days involves offering something different to customers who’re looking for new tastes and experiences all the time, and at The Plough with Petra’s authentic German cooking, they’ve got the real deal – great German food prepared by someone who knows how to do it properly.
Working and training alongside Petra in The Plough’s kitchens is her son Mark Thomas, 18.
Roger said: “Mark’s really keen to carry on the family tradition and as he’s grown up with Petra’s cooking, it’s proving quite easy for him to learn German cookery.”
Whilst practically every other nationality is represented on pubs and restaurant menus in the UK, German food is rare in Britain, possibly because it's seen as ingredient-led, with fantastic produce such as bread, cheese, ham or pickles used as part of a meal, but rarely to make a stand-alone dish.
Northern German food has an emphasis on fish from both the Baltic and North Sea, whilst in the south the diet tends to include potatoes, dumplings, spätzle (a thick German noodle), meat and creamy sauces feature frequently along with the country's favourite meat: pork.
“German food definitely goes well with Arkell’s real ale,” said James Arkell. “They are both full-blooded and full of flavour – in fact I really don’t know why we hadn’t thought of the connection before. “
The Plough’s full German menu will be launched in January 2006.
More about The Plough
Sooty sweeps up with Arkell’s Noël Ale
First festive pint: Sooty and his owners, Kim & Rob Owens, at the White Horse at Woolstone
With no reindeer available, Arkell’s Brewery decided instead to cunningly disguise a small Shetland Pony and persuade him to deliver the first bottles of Noël Ale.
But the RSPCA shouldn’t be worried, Sooty the Shetland Pony, who actually belongs to Arkell’s landlords Rob and Kim Owens, loves a pint of real ale and was only too happy to taste the new brew.
According to Kim, landlady at The White Horse at Woolstone, near Swindon: “Sooty loves his beer and a little bit of what you fancy does you good, although we’re strictly rationing his intake of Noël Ale because, at 5.5% ABV, it’s the strongest of Arkell’s Ales and we don’t want to encourage binge drinking!”
The first delivery of Noël Ale signals the traditional start to Christmas for Arkell’s Brewery, which has brewed the seasonal ale since 1987. Brewed first by former Arkell’s brewer Don Kenchington in 1987, Noël Ale was named in honour of current chairman Peter Arkell’s father, Sir Noël Arkell, who was born on Christmas Day. It’s been a winter favourite in Arkell’s pubs since then, as the strong, full-bodied flavour is disguised by a distinctive light colour.
Rob explains that real ale is so stuffed full of nutrients and minerals, that a pint or two should be considered highly nutritious for humans as well as Shetland ponies.
“Sooty is around 16 years old and we’ve had him since he was 18 months – we swapped him for a Welsh Mountain Pony.”
Shetlands regularly live until they’re 40 years old – and Rob thinks the oldest he’s heard of is 54! “Sooty’s part of the family, and he used to barge into the kitchen for snacks if we weren’t careful, but now we’ve moved into The White Horse we’ve given him his own stable away from the pub so a pint of beer is a huge treat for him.”
Noël Ale is available at all Arkell’s pubs and in some retail outlets from today and costs from £2.45 per pint.
More about The White Horse at Woolstone
Service with a woof at The Jolly Tar
Jolly Happy: Adrian, Jackie, Derby & Missoni
Bringing their two Dalmatians, Derby and Missoni, along with them, new landlords Adrian Jenkins and Jackie Cozens have taken over behind the bar at Arkell’s pub The Jolly Tar at Hannington near Highworth.
Adrian and Jackie are new to the area, having moved down from The Jolly Sailor pub on the Hamble in Hampshire to the land-locked Jolly Tar on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border – miles from the sea but right in the middle of dog-walking country.
“My family has always had Dalmatians, and they make great pets – and dog walking is a great icebreaker too when you’re getting to know new neighbours,” says Jackie.
By co-incidence, brewery director George Arkell who lives nearby also has a Dalmatian – another playmate for Derby and Missoni.
The dogs are kept well away from the bar areas during opening times, but that doesn’t mean that other customer’s dogs aren’t welcome.
“We’ve been recommended to a great website called www.doggiepubs.org.uk (see link below),” said Adrian. “The three criteria for including pubs on the website are: where wines and beer are well kept, where customers can eat well and where well-behaved dogs are welcome whilst their owners eat – so we reckon that we hit all these with our real ale, home-made dishes and a cosy log fire to keep customers warm!”
Adrian points out that as there are lots of country walks around The Jolly Tar, a welcome for dogs is proving popular with many of his customers.
Adrian’s positive attitude might have something to do with a recent 4-day course on customer service he attended at Disneyworld in America.
“The American attitude to service is very different to Europe’s,” he says.
“We might laugh at Americans for their ‘have a nice day’ response to everything, but most of the time they really mean it. Nothing is too much trouble for them, and anticipating their customer’s needs and wants is central to everything they do.
"Here in the UK, however, we have to adapt their idea of service – certainly our customers wouldn’t thank us if we said ‘have a nice day’ every time we gave them a pint of Arkell’s 3Bs! But we like to think that welcoming them, their children and even their dogs gives out the right, English, signal of good service!”
More about The Jolly Tar
Doggie Pubs
The King’s unsung heroine gets her reward
She might have spent 28 years at The King’s Hotel in Wood Street, Swindon washing up, cleaning and waitressing but June Wallace, now in her 70s, still doesn’t want to hang up her duster.
The unsung hero of The King’s will be getting the serenade she deserves on Friday 4th November at 12.30 when the staff and hotel owners, Arkell’s Brewery, will pay a surprise tribute to all the hard work she’s put in over the last three decades.
And it’s not only June the hotel’s losing, it’s her husband Chris too, who’s been car park attendant at this busy Old Town hotel for 15 years.
Pat Piper, landlady at The King’s, said: “We’re dreading June leaving, because we’re like a big family, but she’s now been told she needs two hip replacements and she accepted that she can’t do the work any more.”
June started working as a washer-upper in 1977 and stayed on doing a variety of jobs from chambermaid to cleaner and waitress – in fact anything that needed doing around the hotel. Her husband Chris joined fifteen years’ ago as car park attendant.
Pat added: “She’s lovely, cheerful and good to work with. She loves it here too and we know that Friday will be a very very sad day.”
James Arkell, at Arkell’s Brewery, said: “There must be something in the water at The King’s. With June and Chris having worked for the hotel for a combined 43 years and other staff individually clocking up almost forty years! The work that June, and others like her, do is absolutely critical to the good running of every pub, bar and especially hotel and we hope her forthcoming operation goes well and she enjoys a peaceful and well-earned retirement.”
More about The Kings
Arkell’s ‘Ploughs’ money into rural pubs
All smiles at The Plough: (l to r) Fairford Mayor Chris Roberts, Arkell's Managing Director James Arkell, new Plough landlords Roger and Petra Fessey, and Arkell's Director George Arkell
Arkell’s Brewery has not only invested more than £100,000 in The Plough at Fairford, near Cirencester installing new disabled loos and kitchen, it’s also installed new landlords too!
Roger and Petra Fessey have swapped early mornings running a newsagents in Stow on the Wold for late nights running their new pub.
“We’re delighted to welcome Roger and Petra to The Plough”, said James Arkell, managing director at Arkell’s Brewery. “Although ever since they arrived they’ve had to put up with builders and decorators.
Despite increasing difficulties placed in front of those running rural pubs including the new licensing laws and proposed smoking ban, Arkell’s has always supported its landlords through continuous rolling investment in all its pubs.
“We have 35 rural pubs within our estate of 103,” he said. “And every one of them plays an important role within its local community, so although it’s expensive, it’s also essential that we update them regularly to maintain the standard and provide the facilities that customers expect.”
Arkell’s Brewery has owned The Plough, which is next to Fairford’s Palmer Hall, for 150 years and for Roger and Petra Fessey, it’s a new challenge.
“We ran the newsagents for four years, but we’re really night owls not early birds so I’m enjoying seeing the sunset from behind the bar rather than the sunrise with newsprint all over my hands,” said Roger.
The Lady Mayor, Chris Roberts, and other Fairford residents joined directors and staff from Arkell’s Brewery to celebrate the new facilities at The Plough and to welcome the new landlords.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association, community pubs are the invisible heros of Britain. Spokesman Mark Hastings said: "88% of pubs are located in urban and rural communities and help to keep them alive. Just 12% of pubs in Britain are locatefd on the high street."
More about The Plough
600-mile round trip for charity
Oliver Cleary’s fund-raising nights are so popular that twelve of his former customers are travelling more than 600 miles to help him raise money for Swindon’s Downs Syndrome sufferers this Saturday 22nd October from 8pm.
Oliver, who runs Arkell’s pub The Jovial Monk at St Andrew’s Ridge, moved down to Swindon from Durham more than eight years ago, but his old regulars at The Oak Tree at Bowburn, near Durham, know a good landlord when they see one and have kept in touch.
“They called me to ask me whether they could come and take part in one of our regular fundraising nights,” said Oliver. “So we decided to raise money for Down’s Syndrome as we have two regulars who suffer from the syndrome and wanted to do our bit to help.”
All twelve ‘extra’ customers plan to make a weekend of it and they’ll will be staying at The Jovial Monk and mingling with The Jovial Monk’s customers.”
The last time the Durham regulars came down en masse was when Oliver took over The Plough at Fairford, eight years ago, although they’ve been down individually since then. “It’s going to be wonderful getting my new and old regulars together,” said Oliver. “We’re looking forward to a great party in aid of a most deserving cause.”
The charity night will feature live music and funding raising events throughout the evening.
More about The Jovial Monk
Landlord aims to be high flyer
Wing walker: Boundary House Landlord Dave Howells
He's abseiled, parachuted and flown in helicopters and aeroplanes, but now the new landlord at The Boundary House at Moredon in Swindon is aiming for another aerial feat.
Dave Howells wants to wing-walk - but all in the name of charity.
"My mum died of cancer in August this year and as a result I want to be able to support The Prospect Hospice. I'm happy to collect money in the bar- our regulars are a generous lot, but the most notable thing I think I can do to raise awareness of my cause is to fly high for charity - with the Utterly Butterly wing-walking team based near Cirencester."
David is now looking for sponsorship to achieve his aim - and Arkell's Brewery, which owns The Boundary House, is willing to support him with 26-year old dare-devil director George Arkell, who has said he'll join him on the wing!
"I think it's a great idea, and a fantastic way to not only raise money, but also raise the profile of one of our most worthwhile charities in Swindon," he said.
George is no stranger to extreme sports himself- he surfs, rides, abseils and has done some parachuting himself - as well as working at Arkell's Brewery - which some might say is an extreme sport in itself.
"Sometimes, physically stretching yourself to the limit is a good way to show that others are doing the same thing when they battle with an illness or other emotional events," added George.
Dave Howells can be contacted via the link below.
More about The Boundary House
'One for the Road' at Arkell's Beer Festival
Arkell's Beer Festival raised more than £7,000 for Swindon Charity, The Prospect Hospice last weekend.
The brewery's beer festival featured guest beers from members of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) during the nationwide Cask Ale Week.
All the fun of the festival: Arkell's chairman Peter Arkell getting into the swing of things at the Arkell's Beer Festival 2005
Tours around the Kingsdown brewery went on all day and Arkell's laid on an extra 'Brewery Walk', taking visitors around outside the brewery, giving a short history of key buildings and allowing entry to the brewery's 'secret' bar beneath the brewery.
Click on thumbnails for larger image
Brewery managing director, James Arkell, was delighted with the turnout.
"We are delighted that so much money (in excess of £7,000) has been raised for The Prospect Hospice through our Beer Festival. It was a wonderful day, made even more special because everyone knew that all proceeds were going to a worthwhile and highly respected local charity, which benefits so many people in the area.
"Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and we made sure that not only were there plenty of beers from our fellow members of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain to sample, but there was plenty to see as well - from the Morris Dancers and Jazz Band to vintage cars, motorbikes and fire enginse. It's holding events like this that really help us to celebrate real British Beer and not only our own ales - which we really love to do. So we would like to thank everyone that came and contributed to making the festival such a success."
Prospect Hospice
Around the South West in Nine Days
Great Adventurers: George Arkell (centre) presents the winners, Kate Waylen and Matt Pocock, with their prizes
Swindon schoolfriends Matt Pocock and Kate Waylen have won The 2005 Great Arkell's Adventure, and a trip to the Oktoberfest in Germany this Autumn, after having covered hundreds of miles to visit every one of Arkell's 100 pubs, from north Gloucestershire to Hampshire not only in just nine days - but also mostly on public transport.
Their feat, which involved much planning and research searching out rural bus routes to some of Arkell's more distant pubs, was part of the biggest 'pub quiz' Arkell's has ever organised.
Launched by the great explorer David Hempleman-Adams, in March this year, free 'Adventure Maps' were available at every Arkell's pub and the brewery invited everyone to enjoy a summer solving more than 100 clues, located at every Arkell's pub.
James Arkell, managing director of Arkell's Brewery said: "We said at the beginning that no-one needed to be an intrepid explorer like David, but it's absolutely fantastic that our winners really entered into the spirit of the adventure, by discovering the countryside from inside a local bus. Jules Verne of 'Around the World in 80 days' would certainly have been impressed!"
Matt and Kate were delighted to hear of their win - especially after they had done a similar Arkell's quiz seven years before, when they were students.
Matt said: "Last time we did this we were at university and had a whole Summer to follow the trail and visit every Arkell's pub - and there were fewer then. Now we're both working, we had to do a meticulous plan to fit our trips into two weekends and a week, but as we both like a pint of Arkell's Beer, we thought it would be better to try and do most of it with someone else driving."
Matt has a slight vested interest in public transport, as he works in the train timetable planning department for Network Rail - but he says that most of this route was covered by local buses, and he used Travel Line South West (http://www.travelinesw.com) to help him plan the route.
"It was good to find that all the bus timetables on there were current, reliable and got us where we wanted to go when we wanted to go," he said. "I don't know why more people don't use their rural bus system - it's surprisingly efficient."
Matt and Kate both work in London, but were born and bred in Swindon, attending Bradon Forest School at Purton and Matt's mum still lives in the town..
The schoolfriends attended the 2005 Arkell's Beer Festival as special guests to receive their prize to the Oktoberfest - but unfortunately for Matt, he won't be able to go!
"Sadly, my student days are well behind me and I can't take that week off work - so I'll have to wait until Arkell's organise their next adventure and have another crack at it."
Arkell's Swallows its Pride!
Swindon - and proud of it: our new brew 'Swindon Pride'
As the town's oldest business, Arkell's has always been proud to be a truly Swindonian company - now it's proved it by launching Swindon Pride - a real ale tribute to a town which sometimes doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
20p from each bottle will goes to the Mayor of Swindon Charity fund, which includes Swindon Cares and Prospect Hospice.
Swindon Mayor Ray Fisher, who is also Financial Director of Arkell's Brewery, said: "One of my mayoral themes for this year is to celebrate our great town of Swindon, and encourage others to do so. We've got so many things to be proud of - from Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who kick-started the railway industry from his great engine workshops in Swindon in the 19th century, and whose legacy is still evident in many areas of the town, to the economic growth of Swindon in the 1980s and '90s and the arrival of such international businesses as Honda and Motorola. More recently, the acknowledgement that Swindon is now a mature town which deserves strong investment and support to help it play a similar role within the region in the 21st century."
Ray points out that across Swindon, people are proud of their town and the new Arkell's beer reflects that. "Swindon Pride is brewed in the same way we have brewed all our beers since 1843, but our twist is that it's a light, fresh beer that reflects the new moods and feelings that we are seeing in this wonderful town of ours."
Around 5000 bottles of Swindon Pride have been produced so far and the beer is available in most Arkell's pubs across the town, or from Arkell's Brewery directly.
"Swindon has a proud heritage and tradition, and Swindonians deserve the right to celebrate this. We would love more local producers to follow our example and produce their own celebration," added Ray.
