February at The Castle Inn
As February begins, we’re thrilled to share some positive updates at last on the progress at The Castle Inn. Many of you will have seen the activity in recent weeks, which has put us through some enduring times to achieve. With the deep Medieval Well, caverns and some of the dangerous risk areas in hand, we have been given permission to re-enter some of the Inn at last.
However, it’s been devastating to see the deterioration that’s taken place during such a protracted forced closure. So we’ve been hard at work “ripping out” all the damaged items, emptying the large walk-in freezers and fridges – that were still full of rotten goods from a long distant past – and preparing for a thorough deep clean of every corner of the Inn, as the next stage of repair.
Reaching this point has been a huge relief, as it means we can now begin looking ahead and planning the next phase: the total refurbishment. The dilapidations will mean extensive works but the Inn deserves to have her dignity reinstated, ready to welcome you all back into the familiar, cosy, community filled village pub that she is.
However, before we can reopen, there are still crucial structural works outstanding, that need to be completed. There remains areas affected by subsidence on monitor that will require underpinning and a vast project of drainage work to ensure the stability, safety and mitigated risk confirmation of the building. Until this is in place, such matters continue to be out of our hands unfortunately. While we are progressing steadily, these vital repairs must be addressed before we can confidently reopen.
We’re cautiously optimistic and continue to support progress but are still not able to be given timescales or dates. We can assure everyone that we are doing everything we can to engage a positive outcome!
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we move closer to that goal. Your words of encouragement, understanding, and positivity have made a tremendous difference to us throughout this unwelcome time. The surprise of reading the lovely supportive message to us in last months copy was so welcome. Whoever arranged this, thank you! It reached us on a very dark upsetting day and made such a positive impact to keep us on track. A heartfelt thank you to all those concerned.
Please continue to follow our social media pages for the latest updates, and we’ll keep you informed every step of the way.
Here’s to a brighter spring ahead!
