Both a destination pub and one for the community, the site is in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the borders of Cumbria and now has accommodation available too in the form of four bedrooms.
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The game-led menu makes use of surrounding estate produce and neighbouring farms. Here marketing manager Roz Parkinson tells The Morning Advertiser all about the gastropub.
The pub
The Kirkstyle Inn is truly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the breathtaking Northumbrian moorlands on the North Pennine Way – which is very much part of its charm, but also a challenge. Our nearest towns would take alternative routes to reach arterial roads; we are in untrodden territory.
When we took over the pub in 2021 it had been closed for some time. We undertook a complete rebuild and refurbishment to create the Kirkstyle Inn as it stands today. As our guest reviews confirm, it is a beautiful pub designed by a celebrated Edinburgh-based business that shows every attention has been paid to the detail from the statement bar to the four beautifully appointed en-suite bedrooms.
Our kitchen is led by head chef Connor Wilson, who is an extremely talented local lad whose food has won many awards and drawn the attention of reputable guides. Connor’s passion for sustainability reigns and is fuelled by his ambition to showcase Northumberland produce at its best.
The bar is well stocked with local spirits and brews. The diversity, extent and price range of our wine list competes with many across the country.
Our aim is to ensure all guests experience warm hospitality, professional service and a luxurious stay in our little oasis away from the hustle and bustle of modern day life. One of our greatest achievements has to be entertaining our local rural community and visitors from far and wide in tandem.
Facts ’n’ stats
Pub name: The Kirkstyle Inn & Sportsman’s Rest
Address: Slaggyford, Brampton, Northumberland, CA8 7PB.
Senior staff: Nick Parkinson, general manager; Roz Parkinson, marketing manager; Connor Wilson, head chef
Website: https://theksi.co.uk/
The publican
Nick Parkinson is general manager at the Kirkstyle and has been involved with the inn since its purchase in 2021, throughout rebuild and renovation. He opened the inn in February 2023 with head chef Connor.
Prior to the Kirkstyle Inn, Nick was owner of the Royal Oak Paley Street in Berkshire. He was the licensee for 19 years. The Royal Oak held many accolades, including a Michelin star for eight years.
Nick was also the licensee for the Belgian Arms, Holyport, for four years. His earlier career took him to Australia to run the food and beverage operation for Intercontinental hotel group. His career in hospitality started at the age of 12 as a bottle boy at the Crown in Bray. After attending Slough Catering College, he took on the role of apprentice chef at The Savoy, London. The rest is history...
The trade
The Kirkstyle is located in the middle of nowhere. We have few chimney pots surrounding us and our locals from our rural community can most often be found at the bar rather than the table.
Our restaurant trade is from across the country, more regularly from towns in the nearer vicinity eg, Hexham, Corbridge, Newcastle and Carlisle.
The team
Nick Parkinson heads up the Kirkstyle while restaurant manager, Nick Parker, runs the front-of-house team where he has an assistant manager and barman who are permanent salaried employees. The rest of our front-of-house team is made up of casual staff from our local rural community. We have a core team of five (two of which just work one day at the weekend) and others we can call on to cover sickness and holidays. All of our casual staff were trained in-house and came to us with no previous experience.
The housekeeping team is managed by Jess Carr. Jess has a team of five to six casual workers all from our rural community to help cover the Kirkstyle and the four en-suite bedrooms, The Old Rectory, our six bedroom holiday home, next door to the pub and the in-house laundry, which also caters for other businesses local to us.
Connor runs the kitchen where he has a team of seven chefs and a full and part-time kitchen porter (KP). The team includes sous, pastry and commis chefs. The KP and junior chefs were recruited locally. Connor is dedicated to training the team in his techniques and ethos and will always recruit from within whenever possible.
I manage our marketing, which covers communications across all platforms, including award entries, communications, newsletters and websites. We have a social media curator who works on a part-time basis. Our customer experience executive is part of my team and is responsible for sales and customer service.
The drink
The beverages offered at the Kirkstyle are sourced locally and when that’s not possible, from as nearby as we can through local suppliers.
Our range of beers and ciders on tap include award-winning Juno from Twice Brewed Brewery, just 10 miles away at Hadrian’s Wall, along with international brands. Our cask ale is brewed locally and the Kirkstyle ale is brewed under licence at Twice Brewed. Our second ale is always from a local brewer.
On the spirits front, we offer 20 gins, 20% of which are sourced locally from Northumberland and Cumbria.
We have a fine array of whiskys with more than 20 malts and blends. Being so close to the border of Scotland, we like to promote whisky to our clients and support local distilleries, like the award-winning Ad Gefrin Distillery in Wooler, Northumberland.
The wine list now comprises 350 bins and includes a good selection of British wines. Although it’s impossible to use local producers for other regions, we do select local suppliers to help develop the list. We offer over 20 wines by the glass; thanks to the Coravin system, some of these are specialist titles. We also focus on value for money, which helps us encourage those less versed in the world of wine to sample and develop a palate. Our mark-ups for expensive wines are x2, which enables us to offer our customers great value.
To help promote our beverage offerings we hold regular wine tasting events for the locals and those further afield.
We have a good cocktail list that has proven very popular. We have developed our own homemade cordials and fermentations. Our non-alcoholic offering combines homemade and bought in beverages where necessary; again, supporting local suppliers as much as we can.
The food
Connor grew up just 10 miles down the road from the pub and his passion is to showcase and promote the amazing produce from his home county that is bred and nurtured here. His menus show a deep respect for food provenance. Our menu is game-led, championing game birds and venison from the surrounding estates and meat from our neighbouring hill farmers, demonstrating the deep connection to the surrounding moorlands.
We buy whole animals and use every part possible to craft thoughtful, flavourful dishes. We embrace pickling and fermentation methods to use the lesser-used parts of the animal, creating a larder for scarcer times while minimising waste.
We primarily source fish from the Northumberland coast and the Tyne. Our fruit and vegetables, dairy products and eggs are from reputable local suppliers that can provide ethical proof of their origins. We forage for the finest seasonal berries, mushrooms and herbs when in season to minimise our dependence on external deliveries. All dishes are made on site, including our delicious sourdough bread and complimentary cookies in the bedrooms.
The events
We run a series of events throughout the year. The list is diverse and includes wine tasting dinners, focusing on a particular region, wine tastings, game tasting dinners, guest chef collaborative dinners with Connor.
There’s also darts tournaments, quoits tournaments, quiz nights, family fun days, domino nights, cocktail-making classes, beer tasting events and chef masterclasses. We are also available for community, charity and group events, private parties, wakes, christenings and weddings.
The future
In its previous life, the Kirkstyle was a wet-led pub with a food offering. Transforming it into a food-led establishment was risky, especially given our location and the state of the pub nation. However, we are delighted to say that three-and-a-half years in, the investment and an enormous amount of hard work and dedication has put us in good standing and enabled us to claim a place in the culinary world, pub and tourism industry.
Going forward, we need to retain our consistency and standards, across food, beverages, accommodation and service. We will continue to develop our sustainability processes and procedures and invest in our staff and venue.
We have plans in place to build a car park opposite the pub. The land for our vegetable garden has been identified and drawings and plans are in place.
A compost machine is in the budget for next year and we hope to build our own food processing plant and microbrewery in the not-too-distant future.
What’s on the menu?
Selected dishes
Starters
Barbecued beetroot, smoked sour cream - £15
Pigeon pie, smoked bacon, onion - £16
Scallop, mushrooms & spelt ragout, Hollandaise - £20
Mains
Dairy cow sirloin, carrot, ox cheek, creamed potatoes, peppercorn sauce - £32
Duck breast, leg sausage, rosti potato, turnip, morel - £30
Gnocchi, squash, hen of the woods - £28
Sundays:
Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese, seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes, gravy - £28
Desserts
Savarin, cherry compote, woodruff ice cream - £12
Pairing: Sauternes Grand Vin, France - £12
70% dark chocolate mousse, caramel, hazelnut - £12
Pairing: Vinsanto del Chianti Marchese Antinori, Tuscany, Italy - £19
Darling blue cheese pannacotta, guelder rose, pear, cranberry & hazelnuts, toasts - £12
Pairing: Tokaji Late Harvest Oremus, Hungary - £10
