Rose & Crown pub to receive 'top-to-toe' refurbishment with plans for accommodation, food and open mic nights

The new owners of the Rose & Crown, in Thorney, have revealed the landmark pub is to receive a comprehensive refurbishment.

Farmer, Michael Sly, hopes to restore the property, which he purchased via his Sly Estates real estate company, to its former glory.

Michael, who also owns the popular Tea at 18 café nearby, has big plans and a simple vision for the Rose & Crown.

He told the Peterborough Telegraph: “We want it to be a contemporary, country pub for the community and for anyone else who wants to come.”

He added that “better utilisation of space” was high on the agenda: “When you walk in, there’ll be more of an open bar.

"That will go through into the back bar, which will be a separate seating area but won’t have walls to block you off.”

In addition to making considerable “structural changes to make it more open-plan”, the 54-year-old MBE recipient plans to replace the main entrance with something more in-keeping with its late 19th-century heritage.

Eight en-suite guest rooms will also be available upstairs, accessible by a lift, and a large pub garden will replace what is now the front car park.

One side of the building’s exterior will be parking while the other will benefit from a veranda for patrons to sit under.

The refurb will not, however, commence until January 2023.

Sly Estates’ operations director and acting bar manager David Heron said: “We are open now until the end of the year, purely because the village hasn’t had a pub in 13-14 months.

"We could’ve remained closed and just started [refurbishing]. But it’s quite nice to be able to give the villagers something back because it was closed for so long previously.”

‘Opening on New Year’s Eve as thank you’

Both Michael and David are grateful for the support they have received from villagers.

David revealed that the pub will acknowledge that support by throwing a grand, end-of-year bash

“We will be opening on New Year’s Eve as a thank you to people, especially the villagers, for supporting us again through re-opening,” he said.

With regards to entertainment, David has live bands, stand up comedy and open mic nights on his future wish list.

He is quite happy, though, to defer to “what people want."

Mr Heron, 36, also pointed out that food will be an integral feature of the new pub.

”You’ll be able to order food from anywhere”, he said. “It won’t be a case of ‘you can only get certain food in certain areas’ - we’re not going to be that pretentious.”

Michael, who has also recently purchased eight classic passenger train carriages, admitted his motivation for buying the pub was fuelled largely by a wish to help retain the village’s character.

“The thought that the village would lose a central asset – driving past and seeing it as something else – wouldn’t have sat very well [with me].”

The Rose & Crown was owned and run by its former owner for 28 years.

Mr Sly confirmed that planning permission is now in its final stages and that, all being well, Sly Estates should be able to move forward with its plans "in the next couple of weeks.”