My Proud of Pubs Week diary
Proud of Pubs Week has been one of the Fox & Grapes' busiest weeks since last Christmas and New Year, even though it is usually a high turnover pub.
With doom and gloom facing most licensees with bad weather and the smoking ban, the Fox and Grapes proved this week neither of these things had affected the popular village pub.
I never thought five years ago when I moved to Hawarden village that I would be the licensee of two pubs next door to each other, the Fox & Grapes and the Bluebell. I knew nothing about the pub trade and was only a customer.
It's now like having a large family that all come together every night, I must have one of the best jobs in the world.
Monday was our weekly quiz night, which consisted of 25 teams. This week we had a special Proud of Pubs Challenge 21 round, needless to say most of the teams guessed the ages wrong with the pictures.
Tuesday we created a special Proud of Pubs menu, building the menu around the green theme of the logo. We had homemade split pea and ham soup, stuffed green peppers and sirloin steak topped in a stilton and green pepper sauce.
Wednesday we asked the Cheshire Paranormal Society to visit us, as the Fox and Grapes is over 400 years old and we have been having strange incidents of things moving in the pub and ghostly sightings by members of staff. They came down and found that they were getting such good readings that they are visiting again on Saturday night at midnight to bring a team and equipment in for six hours!
Friday our local MP Mark Tami visited the Fox, a lot of our customers attended and asked questions. My Punch BRM Jim Lepki and I discussed supermarket prices, the smoking ban, our refurbishment plans and involving customers in our choice of décor, and energy-saving ideas we wanted to create. He later expressed that he would like to hold a monthly surgery at the pub for local residents to visit and ask questions.
Sunday was my 40th birthday, we asked a local up and coming singer, songwriter and producer Nik Turner to come and sing and play. We must have had over 80 regulars come and support their pub. I even had one customer who wrote a letter to thank me for what I had done over the past 18 months.
He wrote: "You have endeavoured to bring the community spirit back from afar, by organising charity events, promotions and creating a homely atmosphere in both pubs for all members of the family to enjoy".
We now cannot wait until next year for the next Proud of Pubs Week. We are going to think of new ideas to celebrate the week, perhaps a fun day involving the community and both the pubs together.
Kimberley McGibbon,
The Fox & Grapes and the Bluebell,
Hawarden,
Deeside
