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10
Apr
Sneak Peek: The microbrewery replacing Harrogate's Old Bell
A new Harrogate pub will open tomorrow on the site of what was one of the longest serving pubs in the town.
The Harrogate Brewing Co. currently operates a site in a unit on Hookstone Chase. However, in March it was revealed that the company had bought the former Old Bell Tavern.
The Stray Ferret today visited the Royal Parade site to get a closer look at what people can expect.
Co-owners Joe and Julie Joyce will run it together with Paul and Hannah Emmett, who were not present.
Though frantically preparing for the pub’s grand opening, Mr Joyce took time to sit down and speak about the venture.
It will open from 12pm-11pm, seven days a week, and employ about six staff.
The Old Bell, which it has replaced, was a famously traditional pub with a history of serving a range of craft ales. However, in its last few years its reputation faded.
Mr Joyce said that he wanted to bring back the original feel of the Old Bell:
The Old Bell was always a classic drinkers' pub, but that sadly wasn’t the case in its last years.
We want to bring it back to its former glory. The Old Bell was known for its wide range of ales but lost that a bit at the end – we want to try to bring that back.
We’re focusing on independent locally sourced beers to try to do that.
The microbrewery will sell 10 keg lines and six cask lines. Mr Joyce said that, while most of the bar will be populated with its own beers, there will always be two or three guest kegs and two guest casks available.
Mr Joyce implored people give them time to make changes:
It’s not a process that can happen immediately. There are a few stages to it.
First stage is to sort downstairs out and get people back into the venue. Then, we’ll start thinking about food.
The company’s microbrewery on Hookstone Chase currently employs various food vendors to trade from on-site vans. There is nowhere to park food vans at the new site, but it does have a kitchen that vendors will be able to operate from.
Mr Joyce said he has a schedule organised for various vendors to provide temporary residencies in his kitchen, starting from May 1.
The Old Bell also had an upstairs bar area. Mr Joyce said that, whilst it is not an immediate priority, renovating the area would be the final stage of his project. It could possibly become a function room.
Though untouched at present, the upstairs area has potential to make a function room.
Established in 1786, the Old Bell has served customers for centuries. The most famnous was former US President Bill Clinton – which the pub commemorated with a plaque above the chair he sat on.
Mr Joyce told me how he navigates taking over an old pub as a modern business:
We don’t want to lose the history of the pub, but we must also look to the future.
It’s not lost to us that it’s been open since the 1700s, and we’re well aware that Bill Clinton visited. We’ve got the signage, and we want to celebrate the building’s history, but we have to modernise it somewhat.
For example, we’ve refurbished the old Farrah’s framework in the back room. We’ve kept the bar as it was, but we’ve tiled the back and changed the pumps, so it all looks much cleaner and more modern.
The refurbished framework of the old Farrah's toffee shop
Mr Joyce said the pub had a fighting chance of success depite the many problems of running a business currently.
He said that they were “very customer focused”, and that as long as they continued to be so they would have every chance of succeeding.
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