The Castle

A Web site at last

2007-10-23T14:31:00.000Z

Read all about The Castle including the newly opened boutique bedrooms at: -

www.flatcappers.co.uk

The great outdoors

2007-07-24T17:30:00.000Z

A rare sunny day at The Castle

Food review

2007-07-18T08:43:00.000Z

It's our first food review courtesy of The Bath Chronicle

IT'S HATS OFF TO THE FLATCAP MAKEOVER

A Friend had been raving about an old pub in Bradford on Avon which has had, she said, THE most amazing makeover and that I really should try it.She warned me that Friday and Saturday evenings at the newly revamped Castle Inn - at the top of a hill overlooking the rooftops of the town - were very busy, so we went for a mid-week meal with two other friends, and a very jolly time we had too.

The makeover of what had been a tired looking pub, by Wiltshire brewers Flatcappers, has been astonishing. There are slate and wooden floors, muted grey walls hung with fascinating old portraits, stone fireplaces and, in the snug where we sat, a wall of tactile modern grey flockwallpaper, lit by mini-chandeliers and fascinating retro lampshades which my friend assured me were made by two-old-ladies-who-make-lampshades -in-Idaho.com. Wherever they came from, these cream and black draped affairs reminded me of a seance.

The music was muted jazz, the service friendly and efficient (you order at the bar) and the drinks and wine menu simply presented, and best of all, reasonably priced. A bottle of Chilean sauvignon blanc, complete with ice bucket, was £13.50.

Our party of four were all very impressed by the food too. My rump steak (£11.95) with cafe Paris butter, thin, crispy french fries and a huge helping of spinach-rich salad was melt-in-the-mouth tender and tasty too. J's risotto of creamy butternut squash with rocket and candied walnuts (£8.50) was a hearty big bowlful and Helen's enormous roasted field mushroom topped with smoked goats cheese (£7.95) was beautifully presented with an interesting mixed leaf salad and a pesto dressing.

We barely had time to register Carolyn's bowl of chargrilled fresh tuna, salad and a poached egg (£12.95) before she'd scoffed the lot appreciatively.

The evening progressed with much chat and laughter. We ordered a second bottle of wine and shared two puddings. One was a light, creamy white chocolate cheesecake with an unusual Amaretti biscuit base, the other was a chocolate brownie of such huge proportions that we didn't think one person would manage it all, delicious as it was. The puddings were all £4.95 each.

As the rain swept across the town beneath us, obscuring the view of the Westbury White Horse in the distance, we agreed it was a shame we couldn't sit out on the comfy looking wooden benches and tables in the garden at the front of the pub.

If we ever get a summer, I can imagine coming up here again to sit outside with a bowl of mixed olives and parsnip crisps, or some sweetcorn fritters with a chilli dip, which were on the 'picking/grazing' menu. Or coming on a late Sunday morning for a brunch of The Works Breakfast (£6.85) complete with bubble and squeak and Toulouse sausage and a pint of Flatcappers ale.

The Castle is a very welcome addition to the Bradford on Avon foodie scene. A couple of waitresses at weekends to take food orders at tables would ease the congestion at the bar. But otherwise, I doff my titfer respectfully to the Flatcappers.

The Castle Inn

Who for? We saw customers aged between one and 70, women out for an evening, couples, plus groups of friends just enjoying a drink - this is no gastro foodies-only pub

Price ranges? From £2.50 for olives and parsnip crisps, puddings all £4.95, specials from £5.95 to £12.95

Where? The Castle Inn, Bradford on Avon

To contact: 01225 865657

Food served: 9am to 10pm, daily, Sundays, 10am to 9.30pm

Family friendly? Well behaved children welcome

Vegetarians: Typical meat-free dishes include chickpea fritters and roasted red onions with onion and coriander, or a full veggie breakfast

Menu's

2007-06-20T18:27:00.000Z

Castle Menu
___________________________________

Smoked Salmon eggs Benedict – 5-50

The Works Breakfast – bacon, Cumberland sausage, tomato, black pudding, mushrooms, bubble & squeak, choice of egg – 6.85

Eggy bread & bacon tower – 5.50

Tortilla, Borlotti beans, cheese, tomato salsa, guacamole & coriander yoghurt (V) – 5.50

Veggi breakfast with sweet corn fritter, beef tomato, field mushrooms, bubble & squeak & egg (V) – 5.95

Smoked haddock with bubble & squeak, poached egg & butter sauce – 7.95

The Castle Burger with sweet dill gherkin & tomato salsa served in ciabatta – 7.50 cheese/bacon 0.50

Flatcapper Ale battered fish with mushy peas, chunky chips & tartare sauce – 9.50

Warm salad of chickpea fritters & roasted red onions with onion & coriander (V) – 7.50

Spinach & cream cheese pancakes with a Gruyere sauce – 6.50

Rump steak with cafe Paris butter & frites – 11.95

Crispy honey glazed duck confit on a creamed celeriac & rocket with bacon lardons – 10.95

Steak sandwich on ciabatta with blue cheese butter, rocket & sweet potato crisps - 7.95

Ploughman’s with a selection of English cheeses, pork terrine, pickled onions and wholemeal bread – 7.95

Pickings / Grazing
___________________________________

Cheesy chips with garlic mayo – 2.95

Mixed olives & parsnip crisps – 2.50

Roasted sweet peppers with herb de Provence
& spiced almonds – 2.95

Marinated char-grilled aubergines – 2.95

Sweetcorn fritters with chilli dip – 3.50

Deep fried squid rings tartare sauce – 4.95

Specials
___________________________________

Leek and potato soup 3.50 (S)

Country pork terrine with spiced onions and wholemeal bread
5.95 (S)

Prawn cocktail £5.50 (S)

Fresh mussels £5.50 (S) / £8.95 (M)

Salmon fishcakes with fries and tartare sauce 7.50 (M)

Pan-fried calves liver with grain mustard mash, glazed carrots, roasted red onions and Port jus 12.50 (M)

Chicken and leek pie with new potatoes and glazed carrots 8.95 (M)

Puddings all 4.95
___________________________________

Walnut & treacle tart with lightly whipped cream

Old English syllabub with Cape gooseberry & homemade shortbread

Chocolate St Emillion with brandy cream & grated chocolate

The transformation

2007-06-20T15:14:00.001Z

THE MAIN TRADING AREA

THE POOL ROOM & OLD LADIES

THE SNUG BEFORE & AFTER

WE ARE OPEN

2007-06-20T15:06:00.000Z

On Monday at 3pm (3 hours later than we'd hoped) The Castle finally re-opened it's doors for business. It was a fantastic first night & the pub was extremely busy. Other than one of the chef's walking out at 8.40am there were no major hitches & food & much ale was enjoyed by all. Very heavy head on Tuesday not to mention strange memories of break-dancing with the builders!

1 DAY TO OPENING...AARRGRH!!!!

2007-06-17T08:36:00.000Z

We're almost there & it's all go - builders, chefs, cleaners, all on the final push. Late gas crisis averted after the metre wasn't fitted until 2 days after the supply came in & we almost didn't have any cellar cooling until Monday. All we need to today is some dry weather so the painters can finish off the outside. In 24 hours we need to be open - WE WILL BE OPEN!

We love the Bath Chronicle!

2007-06-14T17:14:00.001Z

Our 4th feature in the Bath Chronicle!

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.

5 DAYS TO GO !!!!

2007-06-14T05:16:00.000Z

We Have Gas! (not flatulence)

Another landmark last night when we had our brand spanking new gas main put in, we were overcome with joy, due to it being done earlier that originally thought, until we realised that they weren't attaching a meter and that the meter was to come from our supplier, a slightly nauseating moment as we have done practically everything to get this far and the appliances are supposed to be commissioned this morning. If it doesn't happen there is a possibility that our plans to open on Monday could go tits up. We just have to look on the bright side, our beer engines have arrived, we have some beer, Heineken have done their install, we have more proper ale arriving today -unfortunately there is, as yet no stillage, a somewhat essential bit of cellar equipment that should be arriving on Friday in time for us to put it up and get the beers on the stillage to settle, and hopefully ready for us to sample a couple on Sunday (just to make sure that it's alright of course) for the opening on Monday.

Meanwhile the site is total chaos with every trade & their dog clambering over each other trying to get finished. All of this whilst stuff for the pub is being delivered. It's all at critical mass & we're all bloody knackered!

11 DAYS TO GO

2007-06-07T16:58:00.000Z

Water, water everywhere

Yesterday evening saw a major landmark in the build – we finally got our water supply upgraded. Just the gas to go now & we’re home a dry (ish). It is truly remarkable how happy such simple things as having your water supply upgraded make you feel.

Internally work is cracking on. The parquet floor is down in the hallway, the relocated elm/pine floor in the snug is being sanded, the flagstones are being laid in the bar overnight tonight & tomorrow, the plumbers & sparkies are final fixing, & the decorators are, well, decorating It’s all a bit well oiled & by far the most together build we’ve ever done with 11 days to go. How’s that for a kiss of death statement.

On the recruitment front something nothing short of a miracle has happened. From having no staff at all to speak of at the beginning of the week we are now fully staffed front of house & we’ve even been contacted by some of those rare breed ‘the chef’.

Orders have been placed for delivers next week & we’ve sample the house stout ‘Goodness’ & it is indeed very good.

This is the calm before the storm; next week’s going to be hectic.

14 DAYS TO GO

2007-06-04T22:22:00.000Z

The pubs chefs are raring to go (if only)

Two weeks today we should be funnel drinking ale & basking in the success of having seen this long project come to fruitarian. Suffice to say there’s still a shit load to do.

The gas, which has been a major potential stumbling block, looks like it may just work out for us. From a provisional date to upgrade our gas supply of the 21st June we are now informed, after twice daily pestering for 3 weeks, that this will now happen on the evening of the 13th June. This is going to be tight. The kitchen equipment arrives on Monday 11th but can’t be commissioned until 14th once the new gas metre is in. This will give the chefs a little over 3 days to get cooking in preparation for opening. Which leads nicely into another little problem, we don’t really have any chefs at the moment!

We have made a formal offer to a head chef, which we are confident he will accept. He is able to start next week & he’s very good (news on him when (!) he accepts). In addition to that we have a plan that involves using chefs from Flatcappers sister company Loungers as Loungers has a surplus of chefs waiting to start work at their new café/bar in Oldfield Park, Bath. This will get us through for the first month or so & buys us valuable time to get ourselves sorted.

Front of house staff are also a tiny bit scarce with Pierre being the only certainty, should his health hold out over the next 2 weeks! So suffice so say we trying to bust some serious moves on the recruitment front.

In addition there’s concern about when the flagstone floor for the bar will arrive. Wednesday would be wonderful but may be a bit too much to ask.

At this stage of pre-opening it gets very hectic & the trades on site all want a piece of you. The floors are being sanded on Thursday but the parquet in the hallway has not yet been laid. The kitchen is being delivered on Monday but the floor sanders might need Monday to finish & the floor that the kitchen fitters need to walk back & forth over is in the hallway. We need to sign off the proofs for the signs & the pump clips & god we need to decide on the menu presentation as that’s going to take a week to turnaround. Coke want to install, as do Heineken, we need to schedule in delivery of the stillage & who’s going to install the beer lines for the ales? The stone masons don’t think the stone we need to finish off the fire place will be with us on time, the sparkies are whinging about the antique wall lights we’ve bought, we can’t get into one of the ladies cubicles because the sink is too big, the door to the gents is too big & will look stupid if we trim it back, & the porta-loo should be condemned!! Not to mention we’ve forgotten about the bedrooms.

The 18th, the beer, the relief, & money going into the bank (we hope) instead of flowing out.

Rumours Abound

2007-06-01T15:29:00.000Z

Having spoken to a few of the locals rumour would have it that we are to be somewhat of a fine dining establishment, one that has a separate restaurant and bar. In order to dispell these rumours I can with uptmost confidence say that this is not the case. What we have set out to (hopefully) achieve is to be an inn, where you can come and grab a proper pint of local beer (or three), relax with a bottle of wine, maybe have some homecooked grub if the fancy takes you and, in time, be able to stay in one of our four wonderfully decorated rooms. We won't be taking reservations and it'll be first come first serve with all orders to be placed at the bar. If all goes to plan will be starting from Monday 18th June - not that far off now and it still seems like theres a ton of work to do.

Talking about opening we are now recruiting staff for bar work and for the kitchen so if you are interested call 07703570228.

Some Physical Work

2007-05-31T06:35:00.000Z

It's probably been a while for some of the guys or maybe not, but they were getting some exercise this week and it wasn't shifting more urinals. In fact we had the turf for the lawn delivered and it was down to all the boys to unload it and get it piled up ready to be laid (first and second photo). When it finally is laid the transformation is stunning, from what used to a wasteland (third photo) to an expanse of dirt (fourth photo) and finally a lush green lawn fit for a game of bowls & for our punters to enjoy on those warm sunny days, fingers crossed!(last photo). It's amazing to go through all the photos we have documenting the various stages and see the transformstion, so we will show a few more examples of before, during and after in time.

We're still on tender hooks regarding water & gas. Gas has a provisional date of 21st June, which is going to make opening on the 18th just a little bit impossible. We're hopeful that with enough nagging the date can be brought forward. Other than that (remarkably) the build is on schedule.

It's Looking Less Like A Building Site!!! (but only slightly)

2007-05-22T12:59:00.000Z

Work really is motoring with the bar in the first stages of assembly, unfortunately the chippies have had to go away whilst the floor is being laid behind the bar but at least they are managing to get some of the shelving made off site (photo 1). The plasters have all but finished downstairs with only a few patches that need touching up after the kitchen extract guys made a few holes (they were non too popular!) and they have now started on the bedrooms. The decorators have even got some paint on the walls in what will be the snug area off to the right of the main entrance (photo 2). The panelling is also nearly completed with just a few touches here and there to get sorted out(photo 3) and the flag stone flooring still needs to go down in the bar area. Outside the turf needs laying (and soon if it stands a chance of making it) along with a different type of flag stone for our seating area (photo 4, is taken from what will be the way to the main entrance). We have even had to have an arched door made to fit the archway (last photo) into the snug as we were not allowed to square off the arch (listed building) and it looks the business and will look much better once it has been painted mahogany to match the woodwork.

On the finish

2007-05-17T12:59:00.000Z

With work progressing at a frantic pace the time has come to set a target date for the opening of the pub. After some fag packet calculations & a surprisingly positive conversation with the main contractor we decide to aim for: -

Monday 18th June 2007

There are some known, & undoubtedly some unknown, obstacles but it’s a date for everyone to work towards. We start praying hard to the services god that our gas & water will be connected on time. We’re up with preverbal without a paddle if they’re not!

Oh that first pint is going to taste mighty fine.

It's taking shape

2007-05-17T12:53:00.000Z

Floors laid, walls plastered, windows in, skirting & panelling up, it's decorating next - when the 'takes an eternity to dry' plaster allows.

It's hernia's all round!

2007-05-17T12:41:00.000Z

More whinging from the builders as our now famous urinals get lifted into place. Anyone would think they were heavy or something!

The things that make the news!

2007-05-17T12:31:00.000Z

It's offical,the blog (& our urinals) are local news! Yesterday's Bath Chronicle: -

PUB WHERE YOU CAN STILL SPEND A VICTORIAN PENNY
Date : 16.05.07

Pub loos have the reputation of being a bit grim.

But gents spending a penny at a newly renovated pub in Bradford on Avon will find their surroundings more dignified following the installation of antique urinals.

The Victorian porcelain loos have been installed at The Castle. In their heyday, they were considered the height of fashion.

Businessman Alex Reilley said he hoped that such attention to detail would pay off when the pub opened next month.

"We really liked the idea of having some proper urinals and they are a very grand piece of porcelain ware," he said.

"A lot of them have been ripped out and replaced by stainless steel, but we managed to track some down.

"When blokes come to use them, most will not give it a second thought and think it is part of the building that we inherited.

"There are so many things we could do to cut costs and corners, but this is more than creating a business.

"As perverse as it might sound, it is quite fun sourcing things like urinals."

The painstaking renovation work has been detailed on a blog - an internet diary - and Mr Reilley said this had proved popular.

Entries detail the hunt for 1850s American, saloon-style lampshades - and the panic caused when a specialist workman broke his leg playing football and couldn't start work as planned.

"People are fascinated by this sort of story - how businesses are set up, how much they cost - the blog is a bit Kitchen Nightmares meets Grand Designs," said Mr Reilley.

The Castle will be a boutique hotel and family pub with the emphasis placed on locally sourced and reasonably priced food.

"We are very fortunate that The Castle had a lot of character already and we wanted to add to that character," said Mr Reilley.

"We have taken on what is effectively a building that is very, very tired with the interior in a poor condition, and are going to create a great looking pub with a lot of attention to detail.

"Half of the pub is reasonably safe in terms of its interior and people won't walk in and feel out of their depth.

"In the other half we wanted to have a grandiose theme with some lovely flocked wallpaper.

"Our lampshades and a lot of antique wall lights we bought on ebay, and we have got a fantastic finished product."

The scaffold's down

2007-05-17T12:08:00.000Z

You know your getting somewhere when the scaffolding starts to come down. With all the repointing finished & new windows installed the main entrance elevation overlooking the garden is exposed. There is still some stone work required at ground floor level & we are yet to replace the front door but this elevation is already looking stunning.

Next week will see the laying of the flagstone patio &, weather permitting, the new garden turf will also go down.

We're turning a corner!

2007-05-11T17:47:00.000Z

What a week! Just when it seemed as if the build was never going to end we entered into that magical stage in a refurbishment of this scale where it all starts to come together. After weeks of deconstruction where now start to see reconstruction & the builders are suddenly working with more hyperactivity than a 5 year old on Christmas Day morning.

The plastering has started at such as place that you get the sense that if you stand still long enough you’ll get skimmed! The sparkies has actually started final fixing in the kitchen, where the white rock walls are up & the extract ducting is in place. The kitchen could be made ready in less than a week if need be but the rest of the build wouldn’t, plus we do have the major snag, & concern, about when our water & gas supplies will be upgraded. The gas in particular is always a fun process & requires a degree in patience & good humour if you’re going to get through the 10 point process.

All the new windows are in & the elm/pine floor is down. Most excitingly the bar is now being constructed using the Allied Irish mahogany bank counter we purchased a few months back & the lengths of panelling seem to fit so perfectly it’s as if it had been purposely made for the space.

All the progress suddenly alerts us to the fact we are going to open in June (probably) & suddenly the many tasks you can put off until just before opening need tackling, & there is the major issue of not having a head chef yet.

To boot the method for getting money from the bank is fantastically complicated – instead of just giving us the loan we’ve agreed with them we have to draw it down as jobs get ticked off. There also the issue of probably not having enough money so the pub will need to open first with the rooms being finished off a couple of months later. This should give us the opportunity to get some cash into the business to help towards getting the project finished. And just to compound matters our VAT quarter, when we can claim a sizable amount of VAT back doesn’t fall very favourable.

It’s squeaky bum time that’s for sure!

Disaster

2007-05-03T18:01:00.000Z

Lime plasters aren't quite as rare as rocking horse shit but they are few & far between. After finding a lime plaster who could actually start sometime this year it came as a big blow today to discover 4 days before he's due to start that he's broken his leg in 2 places playing football last night! This is potentially a major snag as the process of lime plastering is very specialised not to mention lengthy & a delay on the plastering effect's the schedule for the whole build. We need to bust some serious moves to avert a crisis. Did I say we'll be opening in June...

A Few Of Nifty Purchases

2007-05-03T16:57:00.000Z

We have been really lucky with some of the purchases we have made for the Castle, although they sometimes haven't gone down too well with the guys doing the job. One example is the Victorian urinals (first picture) that we got for the gents, they set us back a bit but then they look fab. The only problem was that they didn't have drainage so we would have to come up with a means of directing the flow as no matter how hard we tried we could not find any original glazed half pipe to go at the bottom of them. We managed to overcome this obstacle along with a means of having them separated enough to allow comfort whilst standing at them. Another good purchase was the front door, which featured earlier in the blog came with its original furnishings one item in particular was the original door lock mechanism which has been restored (second picture) and will set the door off magnificently. We have also got a couple of green marble lamp stands for the bar, which when adorned with our old western whore house esque lampshades will be really cool. These are just a small handful of buys, we have managed to get hold of some great portraits, chairs, tables and some gazelle heads.

Downstairs The Boys Are Busy

2007-05-03T16:27:00.000Z

The work downstairs has progressed well with the batons going up in the kitchen (first picture), the walls being plaster boarded ready for the White Rock (hygienic wall covering) to be added (second picture) and the ceiling has been plastered and painted, all we need now is the kitchen equipment and extract. The stud work has gone up for the ladies and disabled toilets (third picture) and a new window put in. As it used to be the old store room the walls were taken down and completely rebuilt, with a new roof going on with better insulation and build quality. We've found some great reclaimed Georgian doors for the cubicles as with most of the fittings for downstairs we have used several reclamation yards and ebay has been quite useful as well. We have been able to use the reclaimed elm and pine floor boards from upstairs on the floor, we have dated them for prosperity and also because we were told to (fourth and fifth pictures). We found some lovely old pine boards that we are going to use for panelling to break up the walls and also to tie the rooms in with the main bar area as it retains some of the original wood panelling surrounding the fire place.

The Bedrooms (with en-suites)

2007-05-03T15:54:00.000Z

The rooms look a little cluttered, you can hardly expect them to be spotless whilst work progresses. Even with window frames, insulation and doors being kept in them the stud work has been put up for the en-suites (first, second and third pictures) it really gives a sense of scale and enables us to picture the layout of the individual rooms finally rather than referring to plans. The first fixings are in for the plumbing and electrical work so the plumbers and sparkies can now concentrate on the ground floor to get things up and running in time, although at the moment we are still waiting for a new gas supply and meter along with a new larger water supply which can take time and could possibly hold things up. We have the beds ordered already along with the fabrics, carpets, lighting and mirrors (pictures to appear at a later date). We just need to sort out a few wardrobes and desks.

Exterior Work

2007-05-03T13:38:00.000Z

The painters and the stone mason have been cracking on with their relevant jobs. The painters have been applying an under coat to all the new sash windows which have been fabricated to match the old ones taken out and have put the first coat of paint on the Mount Pleasant side of the building which is a soft green colour Antique Verde and will look even better when the door is painted black and the window frames painted White Tie (first picture). Meanwhile the stone mason has practically finished re-pointing the stone work and has a few stones to replace which haven't worn so well over the past couple hundred of years or so (second picture). Which leaves the mason to tidy up a couple of our open fireplaces inside and to replace the pillars at the front entrance with newly mined solid pieces and to repair the cornice above the entrance (third picture). We are also having the coach lamp at the front entrance replicated as the original was all but a bit of rust held together with cobwebs and ancient paint.

The Gardens

2007-05-03T12:49:00.000Z

We are fortunate to have two well sized gardens, one that will be for use by the public and another private garden to the rear. The front garden is in the process of being cleared, the old turf taken up and any straggling weeds and small trees taken away to tidy things up (first and second pictures). The garden will be returfed soon to give it a chance to take hold and develop before we open hopefully in mid June. There are going to be wrought iron railings running along the length of the wall by Masons Lane which are being stripped, treated and painted. On the inside of where the railigs are going we have planted some cherry blossoms that will sit in the new lawn and when developed will create a nice bit of shade for the southerly facing garden. At the end of the garden we have a couple of crab apples and a green gage (fantastic for chutneys), whilst on the fenced side there is going to be a rosemary hedge. The main garden will have a large area of lawn for customers to relax on in the warmer months and a paved area with tables and chairs for drinking and dining out side. There will also be a service hatch facing into the garden so customers do not have to stray to far from the sun. The rear private garden (third and fourth pictures) is going to be turned into a herb garden with a section of it being used for an asparagus patch which I am led to believe will produce an abundant crop within four years - yes only four years to wait for home grown asparagus! We may even be able to plant a few other bits and bobs - I think we may need somebody green fingered!

Some More Interior Work and Shopping

2007-04-09T15:46:00.000Z

Our stone mason, whilst waiting for the go ahead on the re-pointing, has re-built the window so we can make a bit of a feature of it in what will be the snug area (first picture) and has cleaned up the lintel over the snug entrance that previously looked like a rabid dog had had a chew on it (second picture). Meanwhile Phil and Kev have been busy knocking walls down and and laying a smooth foundation for what will be our ladies and disabled toilets (third picture). Whilst this has been going on we have been out and about scouring local rec yards looking for our front door, which needs to be fairly meaty and possibly with a bit of luck Georgian. We come upon such a door (fourth picture) at a rec yard in Bristol and also discover a couple of fireplaces that would look perfect in a couple of our rooms (fifth picture), especially the fireplace in the snug where we will have to be completely rebuild what is there currently.

Work Continues

2007-04-09T15:16:00.000Z

We are now into our fourth week of works and things are starting to take shape. We have replaced some of the old joists that we were allowed to and put new ones alongside some of the remaining older ones to strengthen the floors (seen in the first picture). The stud walls for the en-suite bathrooms have gone up and we've had the plumbers and sparkies on site running pipes and wires whilst we have the floors up and they have easy access. We have since been given permission to use the old floorboards from upstairs (the ones that hadn't been eaten by woodworm) for the flooring downstairs, which is great as it will add a bit of character to the ground floor and saves us a bundle.
Meanwhile the decorators are busy stripping back the old windows ready to have them tidied up and repainted (second and third pictures). We have decided on the colours for the exterior parts that are already painted and have a couple of sample patches ready for the conservation officer to come and have a look. Whilst we have the officer out we also need him to check our proposed railings from the early 1800's (fourth picture) to go alongside our garden wall and a sample patch of pointing (last picture), until we get the go ahead the stone mason will have to get on with other jobs.

We've got our logo

2007-03-26T18:22:00.000Z

After a number of draft's we've got a logo. The logo comprises all the key elements of what we're about - a flatcap, a couple of fat chef's, a castle (most important), pork pies, a pint glass etc, etc. Question is can you see the face?

The Third Week

2007-03-26T17:17:00.000Z

It's the beginning of the third week and the builders have made steady progress, as you can see in the top picture we have opened up the wall into the old toilets and created a much better space, the windows are going to be replaced with a 1.5 metre sash window to bring it in line with the rest of the windows in the building. In the second picture there are two openings, the one on the right will be reinstated as a window frame (no glass) and made a feature of, this will also help to strengthen the wall and the entrance into the room will be through the doorway to the left. This room will have a few book cases and the fireplace at the end is going to be cleared out, made good and have a hob-grate placed into it (picture above). All three rooms will have open fires to help heat the rooms and lets face it there is nothing like having a drink of your favourite tipple in front of an open fire.

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!

2007-03-24T16:43:00.000Z

The time had come to go to a few breweries and taste what was on offer in Wiltshire in the way of good beers for our pumps, some of the breweries instead sent us to pubs where their beers were on offer but still, we got to try some lovely beers and the day proved to be very productive (it's not often that beer and productive go together!).

David, Alex's father in-law, joined us on the trip. Being a beer buff and member of CAMRA he was on board to provide some expert advice. In all six of us went, with Peter being the nominated driver of his mini-bus. We all met at Peter's house at 11.30 to start the expedition and set off heading for the relatively new The Three Castles brewery in Pewsey where we were made very welcome and sampled a few of their very fine beers (top picture). After that we were in need of some food so headed of to a pub that we were told sold beers from Box Steam, unfortunately they had run out so we had to settle for 6X, not a beer we intend to stock, with a bit of nosh. After the quick pit-stop to refuel we set off in search of Blindmans (second, third and fourth pictures and not strictly in Wiltshire, Somerset in fact), where again we were welcomed and given a little talk on how their beers were made and were given the name of a local pub where their beers were on offer so we set off to find it. It was closed and reopened at 5.30, time was getting tight as we needed to get to Frome for our next appointment so we left it.

In Frome we descended upon a nice little pub that was owned by the Milk Street brewery. Again some great beers were tasted and a very nice stout too. We had a good chat with the owner about his beers and where he heralded from, before tucking into a full pint of our choice. Alas it was then time to leave and head back to base. Once back in Bristol & with the wind in our sales we took the executive decision to carry on with our tasting as we thought it should be necessary to try as many beers as we could whilst we had our expert in tow. We eventually found our way to a small pub by the name of Cornubia owned by another fairly new Wiltshire brewery called Hidden Brewery (fifth picture) and again settled in to taste some mighty fine ales. With much beer swilling around inside us it was 'curry time'.

The following morning was 'challenging' but the trip definately answered some questions for us if although it did raise some ones: -

Should we ditch the idea of selling Guinness & carry a good local porter instead?

We really like the idea of having our own house ale - a pint of Flatcapper has a great ring to it. But do we simply re-badge an existing ale (very common practice) or do we get a brewery to brew our very own beer?

How many ales should we carry & should all the ales be from Wiltshire with the exception of 1 that is our 'Foreign Guest Ale'.

Lots to ponder, but it's so nice having total freedom to deal with anyone we choose & not be tied.

Revealing The Hidden Window

2007-03-24T16:25:00.000Z

The builders have carefully taken away the infill and have revealed what was once a window, it has great proportions and when it is tidied up and lime plastered, will house a fantastic painting and a little seat for guests to relax on. In answer to the previous comment we are going to be a proper inn, where tv averse drinkers will be made welcome along with all other patrons to enjoy good ale (we have recently been on a beer tasting exercise to decide on beers for the inn. It's a hard life!), good wine and good food. Eventually we will have four rooms, but have decided to open up the ground floor first.

Creating Space

2007-03-21T17:20:00.000Z

Meanwhile the boys inside are carefully taking out walls that we have permission to enabling us to widen doorways and creating larger rooms. Whilst doing this we are continually finding little treasures, for example in the top photo to the left of the pillar is a walled up old window which we are hoping to take all the stonework out and make a feature of. The middle picture is of our kitchen to be, after taking out a block wall and opening the room up we now have a bigger space to work with than previously thought. And the bottom picture is of an old doorway which we have taken through to what was the old ladies so we can essentially create an L-shaped room.

Cleaning Our Pipes!

2007-03-21T16:55:00.000Z

It's Wednesday of the second week and we are having the glamorous job of the drains being jetted and surveyed, as the name suggests this entails a length of hose attached to a high pressure pump at one end and a nozzle creating a powerful jet of water at the other. This will hopefully clear any possible blockages and enable the guys to get their mobile camera down the pipes and enable them to see if there are any problems that need sorting, this also saves us from digging unnecessarily along the length of pipes inorder to have them inspected.

End Of The First Week

2007-03-17T15:44:00.000Z

Our builders have managed to get as far as possible with carefully lifting all of the boards up exposing the far from sturdy joists - some joists have been completely eaten away & in one of the rooms it's a miracle that no who was stood in the shower suddenly found themselves behind the bar! These will then need treatment for woodworm and also to be examined by the conservation officer in order for us to get permission to replace any of the old elm ones that are unusable. This could have taken a while but luck is on our side and we are informed on Friday that the officer can visit the site on Monday 19th March, we also need to run a few other things by the officer including the colour of our exterior wall, a small matter of having to replace an old lintel and a couple of other items that have cropped up over the past week. If all goes well we should be back on track at The Castle with the chippies and stone masons starting work mid week. We are hoping to use the elm and pine boards that we have taken from the first floor and utilise them in the rooms downstairs, they would add great character by being visible rather than being hidden under some carpet and more importantly save us a few quid in the process.

Openings

2007-03-12T18:30:00.000Z

Day one & the builders have been busy. The old kithen & 'cellar' are now one room - this will house the new kitchen. There are also now 2 openings between the old ladies toilet & office - the ladies toilet block was a 60's addition & we have reinstated the old exterior door opening & the old window (taken down to the floor). It's amazing how much bigger & lighter it makes the space feel.

The 'new' kitchen

The opening from the old ladies toilet into the old office - this is going to be our snug.

We've actually started

2007-03-12T18:06:00.000Z

The scaffolding is up & we get straight up there to have a look.

The photo below shows the extent of the pubs garden. It needs a bit of TLC but it's a fair size & south facing & there are very few pubs in Bradford with gardens. We're going to be laying some slate at the entrance to the pub & have a fairly substantial outside seating area.

The views over Bradford & beyond are really spectacular from the upper floors of the pub. With the vantage point that the pub enjoys it's easy to see why it's called The Castle.

Lighting

2007-03-12T16:15:00.000Z

Take it from me, lighting is the most important feature of any design. The amount of places that are filled with lovely, expensive fixtures & fittings that are then 'ruined' by someone's inability to operate a dimmer switch will never cease to amaze me.

With the pub we really wanted something a bit salubrious - a sort of wild west whorehouse feel to the lighting (not to the pub obviously!). Amazingly, & after an exhaustive google search I found exactly what I had in mind (see top 2 photo's). We're going to get 5 shades for standard lamps & a couple for table lamps to dot around the pub. The only snag is that the shades, which are custom made by a couple of sisters, are from America so it's going to be a bit of a leap of faith. Should look fab though. The standard lamps will be complemented by some OTT wall lights (see photo) that we are busy purchasing off Ebay.

Buying stuff...it's fun

2007-03-12T15:41:00.000Z

We have started buying some 'stuff' for the pub. Recent purchases include: -

An old mahogany bank counter out of an Allied Irish bank that we're going to use for the bar.

Various club chairs (see above) for both the pub & the rooms.

A couple of gazelle heads (we also bought a crocodile head but thought better of it).

Some fantastic oil paintings that came out of an old gents club & ended up in a reclamation yard - all with some damage that is currently being repaired (photo's to appear later).

Some great Gesso mirrors.

Lots of 'country scene' prints including a set of 4 prints depicting 'The first ever steeple chase'

The logo

2007-03-12T15:33:00.000Z

We have got our designer working on the pub's logo. After a few castle related ideas (including a sand castle) he comes up with a slighly off the wall suggestion using the illustrator from an ironic cook book called 'First, peel the otter' (the illustation above is from the book). We like it & set him to work designing us a coat of arms to incorporate a castle (obviously), a flat cap, a gazelle head (we've bought a couple of antique gazelle heads), & some food related iconary like a pork pie, knife & fork that sort of thing.

Gordon Ramsay

2007-03-12T15:27:00.000Z

Great rumour going round town that Gordon Ramsay has bought the pub. He hasn't by the way.

Hallelujah!!!

2007-03-10T17:42:00.001Z

It's the beginning of March 2007 and it's been a long wait but in the end it's worth it we have been given permission to start work although there are a number of conditions, well three sides of A4. Pierre's moved down from London & the builders & stonemasons are all lined up & ready to go.

The Castle has had all the crap taken out and is ready to be overhauled and bought back to life as an Inn where good food and good drink is to be served and, in time, where guests can stay in our luxuriously planned rooms. The scaffolding is up and we will start work first thing on Monday 12th March. It is by no means going to be quick and easy, years of neglect mean that there is going to be a lot of work needed to bring this great building back to life.

The plan is to get the pub up & running in 12-15 weeks with the rooms to complete some 8 weeks later. So with any luck we'll be quaffing our first pint of ale & tucking into our first plate of proper pub fodder sometime in June - although don't be surprised in May if you read an entry on the blog stating our intention to open before Christmas!

The Enforcers Turn Up

2007-03-10T16:56:00.000Z

Unfortunately we get a visit, whilst we are on site a couple of enforcement officers turn up not looking too pleased with what we are doing without the relevant permission. They may have been alerted to our clear out by Dave's massive skip parked at the front or possibly just on a random day out from the office to have a look at Grade II listed buildings in the area, I suspect the former. After a long conversation where we explained that what we were throwing out was in fact worthless and couldn't possibly be listed, we were told to halt all works and that we couldn't do anything until we got approval, we were going to be in for a long wait. We decided to go for a drink and let the planning and listed building consent take its course.

The Clear Out

2007-03-10T16:30:00.000Z

In November we decided that whilst we were waiting for planning and listed building consent to come through we may as well clear out all what we thought to be worthless junk i.e. the old bar, all the old bathroom suites and a whole mish mash of rubbish that no one would miss. Dave decided to hire a skip to get all the junk out of the place, only it was no ordinary skip and I doubt if he could have found one bigger if he tried!

The Space Beyond

2007-03-10T16:12:00.000Z

When we managed to squeeze through the gap and investigate the space beyond. It's like something out of Scooby Doo! There's bits of original floor left (some of which is a little unsafe as one of the builders was later to discover), the remains of lath & plaster walls, a door with some very sinister markings on it (like someone was locked in there & was marking of the days!), & there's 150 year old cobwebs thick with dust. Despite the rooms needing a little bit more than a general tidy up & redecoration we see potential for another couple of (stunning) bedrooms. We get both the architect & our conservation officer out to have a look & it's decided that it's possible but is not going to be cheap (now there's a surprise). We decide to apply for planning separately to the main application & stick the idea in our top pocket for a rainy day (phase 2).

The Top Floor

2007-03-10T16:00:00.000Z

Above are pictures showing the top floor in the top one you can see where the staircase came up into the room. We also took out a couple of boards to see what if anything was behind and discovered even more potentially habitable space.

The Upstairs

2007-03-10T15:46:00.000Z

The photos above are of the rooms on the 1st floor in one there is a large hole in the ceiling (you can just see a ladder propped going up to it in the last photo) which used to house the wrought iron spiral staircase up to the 2nd floor which was at some stage nicked. These will be transformed into 4 opulently decorated rooms for our guests. There will be 2 reasonably sized doubles, a family room and a luxurious no holds barred large double with an incredible en-suite (doorway into the en-suite in the last photo).

The inside

2007-02-17T15:02:00.000Z

The photo's above show the pubs main trading area

Seen above is the wall between the old office & the ladies toilet. The toilet block was added in the 60's & you can see the old window opening that was blocked up. Astonishingly the door to the right was behind the modern panelling in the room - it opens onto a brick wall.

The photo above & 4 below show the ground floor trading area to the back of the pub, that comprises of a room that was used as an office, the ladies toilet, & a room that used to house the pool table. Our intention is to relocate the ladies loo & join the 3 rooms up to create an L-shaped trading area.

At what point do we stop?

2007-02-17T14:55:00.000Z

With all the stuff left over in the pub in the back of a rubbish clearance van (including ever last utensil & bit of kitchen equipment) we discuss how much further we should go in terms of removing carpets, en-suite's in the rooms etc. We've wary that with no listed buildings consent we need to be careful. We decide to remove what we feel is not of historic interest, i.e. all modern fixtures & fittings in order that we can see exactly what we have just spanked £1/2million on. The wiring, which we hoped could be in part usable, will all need to come out.

The clear up operation

2007-02-17T14:33:00.000Z

We get the keys, move Kevin's piano for him, agree a price for the remaining stock, & check of the inventory (we note that the dart board has disappeared). The pub is full to the brim with stuff, including a mouldy sausage in a pan on the kitchen stove! We decide that nothing is worth keeping & we immediately set about clearing the place out.

It's a wrap

2007-01-07T22:59:00.000Z

After 10 days of complete stress remarkably the deal goes through. We're almost not convinced it could have happened. Bizarrely we become landlords for a week (we don't charge any rent as that would have probably been the last straw) although the pub has already been shut for a few weeks. I text Pierre who's in New York when the deal goes through, there's a mixture of excitement & anticipation. There's a long way to go & the hard work has only just begun, not to mention Pierre has just found out he's going to be a dad for the first time & his new born is due at exactly the same time as we expect to be opening!

Stress!!!

2007-01-07T22:19:00.000Z

The bank finally get back to us about exactly how much they are willing to lend. It's reasonabally good news & with agents breathing down our neck we enter into the final stretch. We're going to buy the leasehold first & at the same time exchange on the freehold with a completion a week later. However as each days passes a new snag seems to appear.

Snag 1

The bank have lost our account opening form, therefore we are required to fill out a new one. No problem you'd think. Well the form is fine but each shareholder has to ID themselves at their local branch. This is going to take time & we can't register for VAT (which we need to complete the deal) without our bank details. We hurriedly get everyone to the bank in order to get our account open.

Snag 2

Our business manager needs to get personal guarantees signed by all of the directors in order to release the funds. This doesn't sound complicated until he explains that he needs to see the directors in person to do this as it's a policy of the bank. With Pierre in London & Lee near Blackpool this poses an interesting problem.

Snag 3

Peter's property deal has slowed up & he won't have the money in time. Loungers can just about bridge it but with a big VAT return to pay we sail mighty close to the wind.

Snag 4 (major snag)

Having taken some (very expense) VAT advice our solicitor informs us that we have to buy the freehold first & then buy the leasehold, not sooner than a week afterwards & that there is a bloody good reason for this. If we to do the leasehold deal first VAT would need to be added to the freehold sale. Whilst we get the VAT back in a few months it would mean us needing to find £84k! In addition we would not only get pushed into a new stamp duty threshold but, unbelievably, we would also pay stamp duty on the VAT!

I call the agent to inform him of this, it sounds as if the owner is about to burst - I know how he must feel, my head feels like it's going to explode!

Peter's in!

2007-01-07T22:00:00.000Z

A couple of days after meeting with Peter I get an out-of-the-blue email. Following a chance meeting with his accountant at a wedding in Cornwall, Peter is declaring himself in! We're delighted, particularly as the dynamics feel right.

Peter's money is tied up in a property deal that should complete soon. We now need to get a move on.

We meet Peter

2007-01-07T21:53:00.000Z

We meet over at Peter's house & really hit it off. He likes the scheme & believes strongly that it will work however he expresses concerns about it being a high risk investment but seems encouraged by our background & past & present success. Peter concludes that he needs to talk it through with his accountant & by the end of the meeting we're unsure whether he's in or not. It's 50:50 & we won't know for another 10 days or so. If nothing more as someone local his reaction has encouraged us we're doing the right thing.

An investor

2007-01-07T21:28:00.000Z

A couple of days after speaking to Philip he calls me to tell me a good chum of his called Peter Dixon is interested & wants to meet. A major plus point is that Peter is local & has lived in Bradford for years. As proverbial outsiders we like the idea of getting someone local involved. I make contact & we organise to meet.

The pressure mounts

2007-01-07T21:11:00.000Z

With the deal beginning to drag we start to get pressure from the seller's agent. We're accused of delaying the deal in order to tie up the freehold transaction with the leasehold purchase. Who us...never! This is not helped by our last visit, when relations between us & the owner were just a tad frosty. In addition we decide it would probably now be a good idea to address the fairly large blackhole in our finances & take the decision to offer up 20% of our merry scheme to an investor, ideally for £100k.

I put the word out to the usual hopeless gossips as well as speaking to a couple of contacts in the industry. This include Philip Addis, who owns the award wining Bath based Great Western Wine. I have known Philip for the last 7 years & have the utmost respect for him & his company. Philip says he may know a couple of people who might be interested. He'll be in touch.

Awkward visit

2006-11-22T19:49:00.000Z

Following the conservation officers visit we make contact with an architect that Amanda has recommended to us. We organise a site visit with him in order that we can talk through our plans. We also use the opportunity to get our builder over to have a look.

We speak to the agent marketing the property about organising a visit. The agent comes back to us advising that it's all set up however we need to be a bit discreet as it's not common knowledge that the pub is being sold! This should be interesting.

So we turn up at 11am before the pub is open with our builder who has brought along a site foreman with him. There's 4 of us walking around, needing to get into every room & trying to be discreet. The architect then turns up to join us & we sense that the cat's now out of the bag. It's all very awkward & uncomfortable.

Listed building consent

2006-11-09T20:24:00.000Z

We decide it's time to speak with a conservation officer about our proposed works. As always we don't think that anything we are proposing is controversial but we suspect that something sacred might crop up.

We engage our excellent planning consultant, Amanda Frith, who organises a site visit. So one dreary summer morning Dave & I set out in Dave's van complete with new & very large graffiti of a huge cock on the side above the side door. At this stage we were both still, stupidly, of the illusion that Bristol to BOA is, oh about half an hour. So as well as arriving in a van with a huge cock on the side of it we are also very late.

To our pleasant surprise the conservation office, who is waiting patiently outside with Amanda, is quite young & without a beard laced with that mornings cornflakes. I'm sorry if you are or know a conservation officer that is perfectly normal but from personal experience they are usually blokes that seem to have a keen interest in trains & real ale & not much in personal grooming. I now wonder if that's just officers in Bristol (who all look like the chap above), anyway enough of my stereo-typing.

We do a grand tour of the pub pointing out the many positive things we intend to do to the building & muttering under our breath about walls that we want to remove. The officer is very impressed with the amount of restoration we intend to carry out, I even thought at one stage he might hug us. There are however a couple of areas that he foresees potential conflict, a skirting board here, a bit of wall there, but we agree that there are many positives to balance out against the negatives. He states he looks forward to our application & we leave feeling pretty chuffed.

The valuation

2006-11-09T20:16:00.000Z

As the summer just seems to get more hectic news comes in that the valuation report is with the bank. So what's it worth we all wonder? £450k is the answer (god our guts must be good). In addition to the magic figure you also get a very comprehensive report, that tends to include stacks of info that you already know, like where the pub is, the fact that it trades as a pub, that sort of thing. However there are also some really positive comments in the report & a suggestion that significant value can be added to the property.

So bank, how much are you going to lend us? We get the usual referral to some bloke upstairs who seems to decide on everything & wait.

Goldbrick House

2006-11-08T20:48:00.000Z

After 2 very, very hard years Goldbrick House, which is a project that Loungers has invested heavily in & is the largest shareholder, finally opens. It's a warren of rooms set over 2 Georgian townhouse's & a Victorian factory that is now home to a café/bar, Champagne/cocktail bar, Restaurant with roof terrace, & private meeting/party rooms. A real monster of a project & a real monster of a spend! We're delighted with it & it hits the ground running, proving, as we hoped, to be the missing link in Bristol's restaurant/bar scene.

www.goldbrickhouse.co.uk

I made some good contacts on the build & see design elements that, watered down, could really suit The Castle. We also learnt some very valuable lessons about dealing with a listed Georgian building - did I mention that The Castle is Grade II listed? Well it is, & my vow never to do listed again didn't last long!

It's nearing the end of July & we realise the need to crack on.

June

2006-11-08T20:34:00.000Z

That wasn't what was supposed to happen damn it!

It's now June. Valuers have been instructed, the solicitors are busy racking up fees, & we're all distracted big style & the Castle is far from anyone's minds. Banco Lounge, our 5th bar, opens at the end of month & Dave is in full headless chicken mode. I'm up to my eyeballs in our other major investment Goldbrick House, which after 2 years of planning & building is nearing opening. And just to compound matters there is a real sense that England are going to end 40 years of hurt. We seem to split our time between being at work/on a building site, jumping around throwing beer over each other, or laying in a drink/completely knackered induced coma.

It's great...but not great

2006-11-08T20:10:00.000Z

There's the small matter of money to consider

We decide it's time to speak to the bank. A brief conversation follows with us explaining our great plan & how we enjoy working with NatWest etc, etc, we then cut to the chase. "How much can we borrow as a commercial mortage?", & "What happens if the valuation if short?"

Now as you all know when you buy a house you can borrow all of the property's value & in some cases even more. With a commercial property it's different & with pubs (high risk loans apparently) you'd be lucky to borrow more than 70% of the freeholds value. Therefore on the basis of the Castle being valued at £480k (& that's by no means a certainty) & us being able to borrow 70% as a mortgage that would leave us needing to put down £144k as a deposit (you may recall an earlier entry when I stated we had £140k in the pot). So we could find an extra few grand buy the place & then have no money to do it up with! Not an option.

On the positive side the bank are willing to lend against the development & subsequent rise in freehold. The bank agree to put the valuation out to tender & take it from there. It seems unfiar that such good news only serves to create more problems.

Good news...New problem

2006-11-08T19:51:00.000Z

A few days after our meeting with Martyn I receive an email. The freeholder is willing to sell...For the right price. "What is the right price", I ask. "Not sure" replies Martyn, he says he'll get back to us. Having discussed it amongst ourselves our gut instinct (for what it's worth) is telling us it going to be around £450k, anymore & we feel that we be overpaying.

Martyn gets back to me, they want £500k & not a penny less. I send him an email back stating that we feel the freehold value is closer to £400k & attempt to hit him with some good reasons why. He's prompt & to the point in his reply & in a nutshell tells us to get real!

We up our offer to £450k & hope that the we can meet somewhere between - we're concerned about going too much over £450k for fear that the bank will value it either at £450k & leave us with a shortfall or maybe value it at less, hey for all we know they might value it at £300k & then we'd be really stuffed!

Marytn comes back to us, they'll sell for £480k. We agree & have a formal offer accepted. We feel a small sense for victory. However, our jubilation at securing our first freehold, is short lived when it suddenly occurs to us that we are going to need to find a lot more dosh. Time to have a serious look at our finances.

Are we reputable?

2006-11-07T21:00:00.000Z

We get a call from our man, Martyn, at the management company requesting to meet us to check us out. We set up a meeting at Lounge on North Street in Bristol (our first bar), Pierre comes over for the occasion.

Martyn asks us a few questions & satisfies himself that we, sort of, know what we are doing. At the conversation draws to a close I ask him the question we're dying to know the answer to, "Has the landlord got back to him about the freehold?"

"No", he replies, but he thinks it's a possibility & will pester them for an answer.

The freehold

2006-11-07T20:50:00.000Z

Can we buy the building?

With the leasehold deal agreed we make the obligatory enquiry about whether the landlord is willing to sell the freehold. For us this is a common question with all the leasehold interests we take on. However until now the answer has always been "No, don't be stupid" followed by a clip round the ear for being so cheeky.

The pub is managed by a locally based management company & the freeholders are some investment company based in Guernsey. Our contact at the management firm says that he'll ask the question & he even seems a bit optimistic about the answer being positive. We wait to hear.

We've got our company name

2006-11-06T20:51:00.000Z

We need to decide on a name for the new company. I feel inspired by a totally random clothing purchase that Pierre had made a couple of weeks earlier in Bristol - we we're in Clifton Acarde when he suddenly darted into a retro clothes shop & emerged wearing a flat cap. He actually wore it for the entire day, including dinner at the Pear Tree!

I register us with Companies House. We were now FLATCAPPERS LTD.

Pierre's in

2006-11-06T20:23:00.000Z

Middle of next week & Pierre calls - he's in. Suddenly we have a plan. We'll set up a new company comprising of Loungers, Lee & Pierre. Lee's going to raise some money by re-mortgaging his house & Pierre & Nicola are going to sell their London flat, use some of the money from the sale to invest & move over. Pierre's going to run the place - it's going to be his baby.

In the meantime we test the waters with a couple of business parnters on another project we've involved with in Bristol, Goldbrick House. They both show initial interest but they want too much for too little. We decide against it, & agree that we've got enough in the pot, about £140k, & that we'll borrow some dosh from the bank. Fag packet estimates come in at around £240k for the lot, although we could always get the pub up & running first & then tackle the rooms at a later date if money was short.

We discuss concept. We decide that BOA needs a pub that serves decent food, served all day, coupled with a mature drinking environment. We want to appeal to Bradford's residents & we also want to keep it reasonable. We'll have informal food offerings, a damn good homemade burger for instance, & a few 'proper' restaurant style dishes. This is roughly what our bars in Bristol provide, although we see scope to offer a bit more on the food side & to offer more wines & real ales. The general feeling, when we ask around, is that there's no where to go for a good meal without having to spend £30 a head. A 'less is more' approach seems sensible.

With the rooms we see a boutique approach - big beds, opulent furnishings, dirty great big showers. However we've never done rooms before & don't know the first thing about the legislation. Everyone we speak to mutters something about "Above 3 rooms & the legislationon gets more complicated". We've got 4 possibly 5, so complicated it is.

Pierre comes down

2006-11-05T13:03:00.000Z

The following weekend Pierre arrives with his wife Nicola to check out our find. Like Lee, Pierre is a longstanding friend of Jake & myself from our days back in our home town of Leicester. We met Pierre whilst working at the same Mexican restaurant when we were in our late teens & consequently ended up sharing/destroying a house & in a 9-month period when we ended up with enough stories to fill any normal persons lifetime - we've bored anyone & everyone with them since.

When we all left Leicester a year later Pierre went to London & started working at Conran's famous, & first, restaurant Bibendum where he started as a glorified plate carrier. Eleven years on & Pierre is still at Bibendum where he is now (rather impressively) general manager.

Over the years wine-fuelled conversations have touched upon how great it would be to do a restaurant together & how Pierre should move over the SouthWest, without any plans developing. However of late both subjects seemed to have gathered more momentum & we had a strong ally in Pierre's wife Nicola, who wanted desperately to swap London for a slice of the West country. Two weeks prior to us finding The Castle Pierre & Nicola had been over visiting & we'd enjoyed a great meal at The Pear Tree in Whitley. At dinner I'd (apparently) promised Nicola that we'd find something for Pierre & now here we were just a fortnight later & not that many miles away.

They both saw what we saw, potential. Nicola summed it up best, "I love it, but I hate it" - I think we all got what she meant.

They decided to go away & talk it over, it all seemed very positive.

Offer accepted

2006-11-05T12:47:00.000Z

We're at the top of the hill, which could be a problem, apparently!

Our offer is accepted & with Pierre due down at the weekend we start to canvas anyone & everyone who knows Bradford for their opinion. I speak with Chris, who until recently lived in BOA. Chris has his own design firm, Blu Inc, who we have worked with for years. He moved to BOA from Bristol & I was very interested in his thoughts as he's a thirty-something who likes to go out. "Bradford's not got a lot", he states, "And boys it needs something". "You'd do well there, the pubs are all doing the same sort of thing & there's no where that decent to eat". It all sounds pretty promising. Chris goes on to tell me that BOA is popular with young families who relocate from Bristol & Bath to "Get a slice of country life with the cow shit", I get the drift. Evidently BOA is popular with commuters who work in Bristol & Bath.

As for the pub we get a mixed bag. There are concerns about the lack of parking (although what pub in BOA has parking), & there are also concerns about it being "At the top of the hill". However this concern is tempered by the fact that a lion share of BOA's residents live at the top of the hill so we're not that concerned.

Northern investor

2006-11-05T12:10:00.000Z

I call Pierre - he's interested & agrees to come down. Ironically we have some friends, Lee & his wife Sarah, from Lancashire staying at the time . Lee's an old mate that Jake & I met in a bar on the Greek party island of Ios back in 1993. We instantly forged a great friendship in those hazy days of flaming Lamborghini's, melon bombs, & Kandy shots & in the years since we've got together every 6 months or so for a weekend of good food & heavy drinking. Lee's business is manufacturing & he's often given the impression he'd be interested in investing in a restaurant/bar/pub project.

Over the weekend our talk/excitement of taking on a pub with rooms seems to rub off on Lee & he slips it into conversation that, should an opportunity arise, he'd love to get involved - "Just a friendly 10%" he says. Why not - we agree to talk over the coming week.

We decide to offer

2006-11-03T20:31:00.000Z

We go back over with Jake. He also likes it & we decide that we could do something really nice. We also decide that it would be good to involve other people & not to do it through Loungers. We decide to offer the £35k premium being sought without knowing for sure what we are going to do with the place or who's going to be involved. I get on the blower to a mate ours called Pierre.

Nice pub in Bradford

2006-11-03T19:50:00.000Z

April

A regular internet search throws up a rather nice, & cheap, looking pub in Bradford-On-Avon. The rent is reasonable & most importantly there is not brewery tie - brewery's really shaft pubs with a combo of high rent & a tie on anything from all draught to everything wet. If you're reading this & thinking about opening your own place a word of advice - stay away from brewery tied pubs!

I call Dave & we decide to go & have a gander. As a bit of background myself, Dave & a guy called Jake own a neighbourhood cafe/bar company based in Bristol called Loungers. We own 5 cafe/bar's in suburban Bristol - Lounge, Tinto Lounge, Porto Lounge, Deco Lounge, & Banco Lounge & we've been casting an interested eye towards BOA for a while.

I contact the agent & one Saturday morning myself & Dave jump in his van & drive over to have a look. The outside looked lovely from the (very small) photo on the particulars & oddly there are no internal shots. We conclude before we get there that the lack of internal shots & the cheap premium being sought are probably linked.

On entering our suspicions are confirmed; to say it was a bit untidy & a bit tired. Despite the poor internal repair we like it - it's got a nice aspect & a cosy feel. We wander round checking out the bogs, the 'office' & the very scary kitchen whilst chatting with the landlord.

Upstairs there are letting bedrooms & a managers flat, again in need of some TLC, but all of the rooms have good proportions to them.

On enquiring about a large rectangular hole in the ceiling of one the rooms it becomes apparent that there is another room on the second floor. This used to be accessed via a spiral staircase, which we are informed was stolen. Interesting!

We drive back to Bristol & chat about it - there's a lot of potential & consequently a lot of work. We speculate about how much stone masons costs, whether the lack of parking is going to be a problem, & whether with everything else we've got going on (we're currently working on a another café/bar in Bristol as well as a major restaurant/bar project in Bristol)we got the stomach for what is going to be a big job.

We decide that Jake should see it & I give him a call.