Thursday 1st February will see the opening of the Shakespeare Inn, a new Joule’s Brewery’s Taphouse. Joule’s is delighted to have Tony & Gill, who are moving from Joule’s Taphouse the Bricklayers Arms, Shrewsbury after 6 very successful years, to man the helm of the newly restored Shakespeare.
Over the past few months a team of dedicated Joule’s Craftsmen has been carefully restoring the ‘Shakespeare’ to encapsulate everything that is great about the English pub. Joule’s commissioned a beautiful array of traditional stained-glass windows for the Shakespeare. These bespoke stained-glass panels are created by Paul Georgiou whose work can be seen in many Joule’s Pubs, signed off by his mark of the honey bee depicting the pub as the honey pot of the community.
A key part of the restoration has been the creation and restoration of ‘the Boathouse’ which is a nod to Bridgnorth’s oldest society established in 1865, Bridgnorth Rowing Club. The Shakespeare is now a proud sponsor of Bridgnorth Rowing Club and will host an array of fundraising evenings for the Club and Bridgnorth community to support. The Boathouse tucked away across the beer courtyard now forms a new part of the Shakespeare where you can enjoy Sunday lunches, community events and it offers a place for local clubs and societies to meet surrounded by lovely reclaimed oak panelling and new ‘slip bricks’ from Stoke on Trent ‘Potter’ H.E. Smith to create a fantastic atmosphere within the restored Taphouse, complimented by specialist enamel beer signage, authentic to Joule’s.
Marie Poole, Property Manager comments, ‘We’re proud to have many Craftsmen who contribute to all our Taps and have such joy in their work. Our philosophy is to allow our whole team a great deal of latitude in how they interpret our ideas. Our projects are very much a team effort, we don’t have any designers, each of our Tradesmen put their own ideas into the work, and I hope people will see the care and research that has gone into the restoration of the Shakespeare’.
Tony, new Landlord comments ‘We are very excited about the refurbishment of this great old pub and I am looking forward to bringing our winning formula from the Bricklayers Arms in Shrewsbury to the Shakespeare, focusing on great beers and wines, great locally sourced food and excellent service.’ Tony adds, ‘We look forward to meeting all our new customer, who will not only be customers but also become friends. Between Gill and me we have nearly sixty years’ experience in the trade and along with Joule’s, we hope that our combined love of the pub, will make the Shakespeare the best place to be in town.
Gill new Landlady at the Shakespeare continues ‘We will run a proper pub with a friendly atmosphere and some decent banter, the type of place where everybody is welcome, and everybody feels safe. On top of this we are very locally minded and look to use as many local suppliers as possible. We look forward to seeing you here soon”
The sympathetic restoration has been focused on enhancing the cosy snugs and corners and creating a great pub for the community and people visiting the beautiful town of Bridgnorth. The Shakespeare Inn will form a part of an inspiring local Brewery Taphouse estate across the Joule’s heartland of Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.