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REFURBISHED CASTLE PUB TO THROW OPEN ITS DOORS
Date : 14.06.07
One of Bradford on Avon's oldest pubs will reopen its doors to the public next week after months of restoration work.

The Castle Inn, which was originally built as two houses in the 18th century, has been transformed inside and out since its closure in September last year.

Almost a year later, the pub is back in business under the leadership of a team that includes Pierre Woodford, a former general manager at Sir Terence Conran's Bibendum restaurant in London.

Mr Woodford said the new pub would be much more family orientated, with a large garden and traditional open fireplace.

He said: "The building will be cool in the summer and lovely and warm in the winter.

"We want people to come in and utilise it all year round.

"The sense of space in the building is completely different now to when we started.

"We've moved the main entrance and we're now using a reclaimed Georgian front door."

Maintaining the history of the building was one of the priorities of the £250,000 project by Mr Woodford and his developing partners, Alex Reilley, Dave Reid, Jake Bishop, Peter Dixon and Lee Jones.

Elm floorboards reclaimed from the upper parts of the pub have been laid in the bar area, with all doors, except emergency exits, made from reclaimed Georgian timber.

The public has been able to follow the progress of the project since it began in October through the developers' online diary at www.thecastle-boa.blogspot.com .

Mr Woodford added: "The transformation now is stunning from when we first went in and looked at buying it in April last year.

"Lots of people are interested in what it will look like, and hopefully we won't disappoint."

The Castle Inn at Mount Pleasant opens at noon on Monday and the new owners plan to offer upstairs accommodation to guests from mid-August.