Stone’s oldest pub, the Red Lion, will be closing its High Street doors as they call last orders on Sunday 19th March to allow for a refurbishment inside and out
The refurbishment will create a new secluded beer garden at the rear of the pub, which will extend all the way back out to the bypass.
Inside sees a full re-decoration as well as the introduction of new beers on tap and a great wine, gin and whisky selection. The Red Lion will also be able to finally take card payments!
Sports fans will be catered for with BT Sports, Sky Sports and Racing UK and there will be themed nights throughout the week:
- Monday – Free pool
- Tuesday – Poker Night
- Wednesday – Real Ale Club
- Thursday – Free Jukebox and drinks offers
- Friday – Fizz Fridays!
- Weekend – Live music and sports
The Red Lion will welcome new and old customers back on Thursday 13th April with live music from the Mill Band.
This leads nicely up to the Easter bank holiday:
Good Friday, 14th April, they have DJ Glynn 80s disco
Easter Saturday they will have another DJ set
Easter Sunday the fantastic band, Sugar Rush, play the Red’un again.
Punch Taverns are making a substantial investment in to this Stone local so I hope that local people will be able to get behind them and check it out once it re-opens. There will be a community noticeboard inside the pub which it is hoped will be full of information about local businesses to encourage people to shop local and support the community.
Best of luck to Tanya and her team and we look forward to seeing you on the other side!
5 comments
Andy Burdon
We ran this pub for nearly 12 years and can assure you that it was/is a very successful business. Otherwise the pub company wouldn’t be investing if they didn’r see a return. In the twelve years we were there we were the only pub in the town centre which was Good Beer Guide listed, raised thousands of pounds for our chosen charities and was the home for many years to the Stone Jazz Club. Having been one of only two pubs in the town to have a “market licence” the Red ‘Un has always been seen as a “drinkers pub” rather than food led as other establishments in town have become, and as such has attracted people from all walks of life, from the unemployed to retired people, manual workers and professionals because of it’s down to earth nature. OK, it is not everyones’s cup of tea (or morning coffee) but what public house is? What it is is a survivor of the vissisitudes and the vagaries of fashion and the marketplace when many others have fallen by the wayside. They must have been doing something right for the past 224 years. And it has only had 5 landlords in the past 50 years. Not many businesses in Stone can boast that kind of lengevity. I suspect the Red Lion will always have a “reputation” mainly promulgated by people who are not drinkers and have never been there, but the many regulars will testify that it is a pub where they can relax and let their hair down at the end of a busy and sometimes stressful week of work etc. If it continues for another 224 years then it is doing very well. Good luck to Tanya and her team with the refurbishment and her business for the future.
Tanya Moran
The Red Lion
25 High Street
Tanya Moran
Thanks Andy. Appreciate your comment.
Jill Billingham
Hi. I have lived in Stone Staffs for a long time but do use the Red Lion occasionally. The trouble is that this pub has a bad reputation to live down. Bad language is the main culprit as people do not want to hear this on a nice evening out. Managers so far have ignored this problem and we need someone in the driving seat to turn this pub around and get rid of the problem drinkers. It’s in the town centre and the potential is enormous. It would be so good to call in for morning coffee without the f word being used every 5 minutes – embarrassing if you are taking visitors in there. Please put in a firm manager who will welcome the majority of happy drinkers. Regards.
Tanya Moran
Hi Jill, the Red Lion has many regulars, some of whom can be a little rowdy at times I agree. However as the owner I am dismayed to hear you mention “problem drinkers” . Whilst I appreciate your concerns regarding bad language I have to say we do try to reprimand anyone who is over the top and could be causing offence. Have you ever mentioned your concerns to either myself or indeed any of the staff, because as far as I’m aware no one has complained?
I totally take on board your comments though and can only say we have a strong manager in place already who does, and will continue to do an excellent job and we endeavour to make the Red Lion user friendly to everyone.
Whilst people continue to say we have a bad reputation we will have an uphill struggle though.
It would be a very welcome and refreshing change if people made their own minds up by actually coming inside regularly rather than continuing to tarnish us with a reputation that is now unjustified and unfair.
Regards
Tanya Moran