Saracen’s Head bounces back
The Saracen’s Head pub in Halsall reopens on March 19 following a £330,000 refurbishment.
The canal-side pub has been taken over by old friends Dominic Dunning and Steve Winstanley who have moved to the area from Bristol after many years in the pub and restaurant trade.
As the pair were putting the finishing touches to the pub, cash-strapped Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling was announcing huge increases in duty on alcohol.
The rises come amid warnings of catastrophic effects on country pubs, with Camra reporting that 57 pubs a month are closing down for lack of drinkers.
However Lancashire-born Dominic said the pair will resist raising their prices for the time being and are confident about the future.
“Pubs are closing because they haven’t got things right for their market. We’re sure that people will respond to what we’ve done, the place looks fantastic and we will offer customers a warm, Lancashire welcome.
“The Saracen’s will be a pub that family friendly and attractive to those interested in fine dining. I think we’ll exceed people’s expectations.”
For drinkers there will be two cask beers on a rotational basis with the possibility of more to come. The first two on will be Old Speckled Hen and Courage Directors. Neither will generate much excitement but let’s hope for more interesting beers in the future.
Next up for the pub is the bringing back into use of the children’s play area and trying to find someone able to repaint the famous swing-sign, which is more than a little weather-beaten.
“We’re trying to find someone who can paint a true comparison of the original pub sign but so far it’s not been easy.”
The Saracen’s Head during refurbishment
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Not seen him for a while but Adrian who used to do the signwriting for the Sands and Sprinbok could certainly do the pub sign. Andrew Tate, licensee of Ainsdale sports and Social club may know his whereabouts.
jmensa - March 15, 2008 at 7:22 pm
All very promising, saying the right things then two of the most boring beers ever. No chance on that basis!
Tandleman - March 16, 2008 at 8:19 am
Tandleman – My heart sank when he told me the first two beers that were on but I think a campaign of gentle persuasion is better than the finger. I’ve a horrible feeling it’s going to be case of Duchars, Theakstons, Directors, Old Speck, Black Sheep -in other words, OK beers but you can get them everywhere else.
Jmensa – thanks, I’ll pass that on. I think it’s really important that we preserve proper pub signs
southportdrinker - March 16, 2008 at 9:03 am
Agree with Tandleman. I’d rather have aunt twanky and good beer. I suppose it’s because too many people who set up pubs don’t drink cask ale themselves. The pubs that are doing well tend to be the ones where the licensees care very much about the beer on offer because they want to drink it themselves
Aggers - March 16, 2008 at 8:59 pm
[...] a busy Bank Holiday, plus chaos caused by overly ambitious lunch and night menus, the pub which opened in a blaze of glory last week was today only able to offer a small selection of sandwiches to their disappointed [...]
Saracen’s chaos « The Southport Drinker - March 25, 2008 at 8:15 pm