Update 3/7/20 – We will be reopening our pub on Saturday 4th July from 12 noon onwards with social distancing rules in place. We will continue to keep our shop well stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and pies, traybake cakes and dairy produce.
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Update 11/5/20 – Following Boris’s briefing tonight, we fully understand the need to keep our pub (and holiday cottages) closed for the foreseeable future. It’s an uncertain time for everyone and we appreciate every customer and supplier who has supported us as we continue to support our local community.
– We will continue to offer a free delivery service for elderly and vunerable customers or those who are self-isolating
– We will continue to offer an ‘order in advance and collect later’ service, for customers in a hurry or with large orders
– We will continue to offer takeaway drinks from the bar at discounted prices including First & Last draught and bottled beers, and have added 4-pack cans of lager, Guinness and cider to the cellar. 70cl bottles of Gordon’s Gins, Famous Grouse whisky and Smirnoff vodka are also available at very reasonable prices. We have large bottles of pop, sparkling water and tonic waters as well as red, white, rose and sparkling wines, all £10 a bottle.
– We will continue to support Green’s and Greenbrae butchers with a twice weekly ordering system. We will hold some produce in the shop with specific customer orders taken on a Monday for a Friday collection or delivery.
– We will continue to support Morwick Dairy’s luxury ice creams and This Little Farmer’s delicious tray bake cakes – all of these are available every day whilst stocks last.
– We will continue to keep our shop well stocked with cupboard and household essentials, dairy produce, frozen foods, farm-fresh fruit and vegetables.
– We will continue to operate our newspaper deliveries with additional shopping drop offs, as required
– And last but not least, we will continue to work on our new pizzeria so that we can offer take away pizzas from June onwards – watch this space!
Please share our update and let your friends and family not on social media know.
Thanks again
Karen, Phil and Fern
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Update 13/4/20 – we are going to organise our future food deliveries so that they are available to collect from the following days onwards each week: Green’s butcher and traybake cakes – Friday, fruit, vegetables, dairy and bread – Thursday, cash and carry (alcohol, cupboard essentials etc.) – Wednesday. Meat orders will need to be collected on a Friday afternoon please as we don’t have a lot of chilled storage space to store them.
Update 13/4/20 – we have introduced a meat ordering system for Green’s of Longframlington. Please let us have your order by 6pm on a Monday for collection/delivery later in the week (likely to be a Thursday/Friday – tbc).
Update 6/4/20 – we are now receiving regular fresh meat deliveries from Greenbrae of Newton Farm and Greens of Longframlington.
Update 2/4/20 – we now have regular deliveries of diary items, bread and fruit/vegetables so should be able to keep up with the demand. We are hoping to be able to supply meat from a local butcher from 3rd or 4th April onwards.
Update – 30/3/20 – we have added a list of what we typically sell here, and are trying to keep up the stock levels. Dairy, bread, fruit and vegetables are fairly reliable as we now receive regular deliveries but the stock cupboard items is reliant on Booker cash ‘n’ carry at the moment which isn’t as good as it once was… We are also in discussion with a a local butcher at the moment too – watch this space!
Update – 26/3/20 – our first farm fresh fruit and vegetable delivery has been booked, available to buy from our shop from Saturday 28th March – see photos below for an idea of what we sell; the quality is excellent. We will also have a selection of freshly baked tray bakes – fruit & almond slice, chocolate brownie, fruit flapjack, orange bubbles.
Update – 24/3/20 – we have secured a supplier for fresh fruit and vegetables plus other products. Details to follow when this is up and running! In the meantime, we have an very good supply of dairy produce and a reasonable supply of carrots, potatoes, onions and peppers in stock as well as fresh sausages and chicken.
Update – 24/3/20 – we have significantly increased our dairy order from 25th March onwards. We will stock a lot more milk, butter, cream, yoghurts etc. It’s going to be tricky to get the demand right and hopefully not too much waste!
Update – 24/3/20 – we have suspended Wednesday’s Coffee and Cake but will continue with a selection of traybakes, available every day.
Update – 24/3/20 – we are suspending all refurbishment works to the pub for the foreseeable future until it is safe to start again.
Update 21/3/20 – We have been instructed by the Government to close the pub (other than for takeaway). The shop will remain open and we are looking to expand its stock, including fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy produce and fresh meat. We can also sell bottles from the bar with our off-licence – 10% discount.
1st communication
We know that the current situation surrounding Coronavirus is unsettling for everyone, as human beings and also for local businesses. We were expecting this month to be the beginning of the Spring/Summer season and are pleased with how the month started. However, the recent news and advice to self-isolate, reduce travel and stay away from public places will undoubtedly have an impact over the next few weeks and months, and we may even be forced to close for a period of time similarly to businesses in parts of Europe.
In any difficult situation like this, we have to try and think of the positives and what we can do to help others whilst also helping ourselves, particularly as insurance does not cover pandemic situations like this…
We plan to keep the pub open as per our recently published opening hours over the next few months unless we get instructed to close. We will, however, postpone/cancel our upcoming events. The courtyard garden is also now available for customers to use if they would prefer to keep their distance from others! Wednesday’s ‘Coffee and Cake’ will continue and we hope to see some of our regular customers as well as tourists staying locally, walkers and cyclists, whether to eat-in or take-away. Hot drinks can be served whenever the shop/pub is open and these can be drank inside the pub, in our courtyard or taken away in an insulated cup. If you’re lucky, we may also have some home made cake to go with it, especially Wednesdays and sometimes at weekends!
How can we help you?
We have a small village shop and newsagency at the rear of the pub. For customers self-isolating or unable to travel to us, we would like to offer a free delivery service of shop items, bottled/canned drinks from the cellar, magazines and newspapers – to homes in Harbottle and the surrounding area. To place an order for the following day (or a specific day), please contact us. We will leave an invoice for customers to pay by cheque, bank transfer or cash.
If there are enough customers to warrant a butcher, bakery or greengrocer delivery into our shop on a regular basis for the foreseeable future, we can speak to some local businesses to see if we can arrange this. Please let us know if you would be interested…
How can you help us?
We need to try to keep some money coming through the door to help us survive the storm! The success or otherwise of our business also impacts on the other local businesses we buy from, and in turn their local suppliers. An extra item or two bought from the shop, a take-away hot drink, a few bottled beers taken away from the bar, a packet of crisps or chocolate bar, an extra magazine or newspaper, a bag of coal or kindling – everything really does help!
If you receive anything by invoice – home shopping or newspapers etc., please pay quickly too.
Refurbishment
We will continue the refurbishment work that has already started where it is safe for tradesmen to work – but may not start any new projects until things are more certain – we will keep you updated in the usual way. Our focus will be our upstairs flat and perhaps the bar whilst it’s closed!
Thank you for your continued support – and stay safe.
Karen and Phil