Gallery
PICTURES: High Street pub reopens under new management after refurbishment
Landlady Sian Powell, partner/owner Gary Berwick (left) and bar manager Callum Powell at the refurbished The Poacher, High Street, Portishead. Picture: MARK ATHERTON - Credit: Archant
A Portishead pub has reopened for customers and its new publicans have promised to ‘change its reputation’.
The Poacher, in High Street, has undergone an extensive refurbishment and a revamped food offering as it opened once again on November 24.
It is the second watering hole in the town’s High Street to reopen in the past month after the Old Mill also relaunched under new management.
The free house’s relaunch came as a surprise for owner Gary Berwick, a builder by trade who received an unexpected business proposal from Sian Powell, landlady of The Angel in Long Ashton.
He told the Times: “This has all come as a bolt out of the blue – I was working on The Angel when Sian called me and wanted me to come in as a 50-50 business partner.
“We have drawn up a plan of how we want to run the place and have kept the building’s old features while significantly improving it, the dining area has been upgraded and the menu has changed as we’ve brought in an experienced chef.
“So far the reviews and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive, our bar area sells premium beers and regularly changed guest ales.”
The Poacher has been a part of the town since it was granted its first official licence in 1683 and was formerly known as The Blew Anchor.
Most Read
- 1 Man jailed over theft and fraud at Worle butchers
- 2 VIDEO: Coastguard airlifts two people from Clevedon waters
- 3 Glastonbury Festival 2022: Our review of the Worthy return...
- 4 Census 2022: North Somerset's population grows by 7pc since 2011
- 5 Funding and inflation behind concerns over Portishead rail project
- 6 Nailsea CC return to winning ways with big win at Frampton Cotterell seconds
- 7 Portishead Tennis Club to host open day on new courts
- 8 Barrow Gurney lose unbeaten record after batting collapse
- 9 Clevedon Town arrange 2022-23 pre-season programme
- 10 Ben & Jerry's ice cream sold at Sainsbury's recalled due to health concerns
It changed its name again to The Anchor in the 1870s and became The Poacher in the 1970s and has had a number of different managers over the years.
The public house was handed a food hygiene rating of one in September last year due to ‘a lack of hygiene documentation’.
The Times reported in November pubs across North Somerset are shutting down at an alarming rate, with one in five closing their doors since 2008.
MORE: Alarming downturn sees one in five North Somerset pubs shut down.
A total of 65 pubs have shut across North Somerset in the past 10 years, with 20 closures taking place in 2017, but Gary is pleased to be bucking the trend.
He added: “The place was a wreck when I came in and it had a bad reputation in the town, but we are determined to change this.
“Pubs are essential to towns and villages across the country so to get this place up and running again at a time when most pubs are closing down permanently can only be a positive for Portishead.”