Pub openings - January 2016

Whitelock

The Turk’s Head opened its doors in Leeds on 30 January to join the independent food and drink scene in the city.

Whitelock’s Ale House and The Five Points Brewing Company have opened the pub in a 300-year-old building.

The Turk’s Head revives the name by which Whitelock’s was originally known in 1715. The pub offers craft beers and spirits from independent producers, and a unique cocktail list.

The Turk’s Head features an ever changing beer menu - 12 on tap and two cask lines.

The pub showcases independent and artisan spirits, giving Whittakers of Harrogate, a small batch distilled gin company, its first step inside Leeds.

The bar has a Victorian influenced menu designed by head chef Robbie Andrews, including home-made pork scratching’s, crispy pig’s ears served with caper tartar sauce, deep fried cauliflower with spiced yoghurt and the Turk’s Head pickle plate.

Shepherd Neame

The Four Fathoms​ in Herne Bay reopened on 20 January after a £210,000 refurbishment.

Brewery Shepherd Neame​ repainting the pub inside and out, installed new flooring, restructured and refitted the bar and revamped toilets.

A new snug area has been created for a more intimate space for drinkers, and there is new furniture and décor throughout. The exterior courtyard also has new seating, fencing and plants.

The Four Fathoms is now offering food for the first time, so the kitchen has been refurbished, with a separate restaurant area created for diners.

The historic town centre pub dates back to the mid-1800s.

The Coastguard

Shepherd Neame also acquired historic seaside pub restaurant The Coastguard in St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover.

Dating back more than 300 years, The Coastguard has panoramic sea views across the small bay, and is Britain’s nearest pub to France.

It was officially taken over by the brewery on Monday, 11 January, and will be closed for up to eight weeks while a £160,000 refurbishment is carried out.

Work will include repainting the pub inside and out, refurbishing the toilets, installing a new fireplace and introducing new lighting and decorations. An outside bar and barbecue will also be installed, as well as kitchen improvements.

Local Hero

A newly refurbished Edinburgh pub has become the first pub in Scotland to open under Greene King’s innovative Local Hero agreement.

Run by multiple operator Niall Middleton, the Carters Tap has become the first Belhaven leased pub north of the border to be adopted into the scheme.

Carters is a small, wet-led pub in the centre of Edinburgh and the change to Local Hero has given Niall the freedom to use local microbreweries, moving the business in a new direction.

The framework for the Local Hero agreement focuses on celebrating everything local, from microbreweries to the local farm shop.

Pubs operating under the agreement are typically characterful with quirky features and are most often treated to a refurbishment, with extra capacity for cask ale added at the bar and in the cellar.

The Carters Tap has received investment to improve and freshen the pub’s décor and furnishings, as well as tripling the number of ale pumps to six.

A further eight wall-mounted taps have been installed with an emphasis on Scottish craft keg.

Pubs in England operating under Local Hero include the award-winning Antelope in Surbiton, the Beehive in Swindon and the Lass O’Gowrie in Manchester.

For information on Local Hero visit www.localheropubs.co.uk​.