A York village pub is reopening today (Friday) under new management.
Adam Atkinson and his girlfriend Josie Cundliffe have taken over The Wenlock Arms in Wheldrake.
It closed after the previous landlord Lisa, who had run the pub for a decade, announced her last day of trading.
Now it’s set to return – and Adam and Josie can’t wait to get stuck in!
The village pub will reopen on Friday 28 June from 5pm. It will initially be offering drinks only, until the new head chef joins later this summer.
Between them, Adam and Josie have over 20 years experience working in pubs, restaurants and hotels. Adam first started at a large hotel in in Ilkley, before moving to York 10 years ago to join the management team for what is now the Doubletree by Hilton.
For the past eight years, Adam has been the general manager of The Drovers Arms in Skipwith. Josie, with her own prolific career in hospitality, also joined the management team at The Drovers Arms two years ago.
“I have known The Wenlock Arms for many years as I live and worked locally, so when it came up on the market earlier this year it was an opportunity that I felt I had to look into,” Adam told YorkMix.
“It has been my dream for as long as I can remember to own my own business and run my own pub and The Wenlock Arms was perfect – it’s a gorgeous pub in a wonderful village and the history that comes with the building is something that also attracted me to it.
“Josie and I both instantly fell in love with The Wenlock Arms and could see the massive amount of potential that it holds.”
Some of the biggest changes coming to the pub are a brand new bar installation, new furniture, decor changes, and a new head chef with a new seasonal menu.
These changes will happen “gradually over the upcoming weeks.” The bar will feature a “fantastic range of premium lagers and an ever changing selection of guest real ales”, a new wine list and over 30 gins from independent Yorkshire distillers.
The new chef will be joining the pub in late July, and aims to create a menu that will highlight “the best of traditional English pub food.”
Adam and Josie’s ideas for the pub are “endless.” They plan to carry on the popular quiz night, as well as continuing to support the charity events already in place.
“Wheldrake is a fantastic village with an amazing community feel and we would love to continue to support this at The Wenlock Arms. The pub currently hosts Wheldrake Sharing Life’s coffee morning which is a brilliant community project that we definitely want to continue with,” said Adam.
“Community is incredibly important to us and we can’t wait to speak with everyone in the village and see what we can do to help and support Wheldrake.
“We are also incredibly lucky to be inheriting a great team who we cannot wait to work with!”
The initial opening times at The Wenlock Arms will be Monday and Tuesdays 5pm-10pm, Wednesday to Friday 12pm-3pm and 5pm-11pm, Saturday 12pm-11pm, and Sunday 12pm-9pm.
The hours are expected to extend once the food offering is underway.
Keep up to date with The Wenlock Arms at their Facebook page here.