After a major restoration, this charming village pub has re-opened – the frontage is fun with a stack of old beer barrels between two large glass windows and box topiary. It’s on Lord Stafford’s estate at the centre of Swynnerton and a circular walk (details on their website) guides you from the pub car park and back again – just in time for lunch; dogs will be greeted with a biscuit and a water bowl. As you enter through an impressive glass door the bar sits proudly at the centre of this atmospheric pub to the right is a raised fireplace styled like a furnace as homage is paid to the ‘old Smithy’ of the village with blacksmiths’ tools and relics.
Down a step to the left is the older part of the pub with button-back leather armchairs beside a two-way fireplace, rugs on flagstones, hops and some fine old brickwork with the bar where friendly staff serve Fitzherbert Best (from Weetwood) and Swynnerton Stout (from Titanic) with a couple of guests from breweries within a 35 mile radius, good wines by the glass, a fantastic and carefully chosen choice of 30 ports with helpful notes (they hold port tasting evenings – phone for details), and a farm cider on hand pull from the Apple County Cider Company; The beamed dining room has similar tables and chairs, window seats with scatter cushions, gilt-edged mirrors, black and white photographs, and chandeliers, Do look out for the glass-topped giant bellows or anvil tables, door handles made of old smithy’s irons and candles in sconces within old port bottles. Outside, an oak timbered, covered terrace has contemporary seats around rustic tables, heaters, fairy-lit shrubs in pots and country views; more seats in a small hedged garden, too. The pub is owned by Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin who also own the Three Greyhounds Inn in Allostock, Bulls Head and Church Inn in Mobberley and Fitzherbert Arms in Swynnerton (all Cheshire) and Red Lion in Weymouth (Dorset).
The very first annual Fitzherbert Arms Car Club Treasure Hunt was a huge success! 14 cars took part in this year’s Treasure Hunt and after a close couple of rounds we had a winner!
Cheshire Cat Pub and Bars, has been named as ‘Pub Group of the Year 2016/17’ by the prestigious Good Pub Guide. The award follows a string of successes for the company over the year including being chosen as the Best Drinks Act in the UK at the Publican Awards in London.
The pub group was chosen by Fiona Stapeley, editor of the Good Pub Guide, and were marked on a range of criteria from the quality of service to product range, aesthetic design and the pub’s hospitality.
The Fitzherbert Arms in Swynnerton has been voted as the ‘Best Newcomer’ in the prestigious Sawday’s Pubs & Inns Guide of England & Wales. The award comes after the Fitzherbert saw off competition from more than 800 pubs also featured in the guide.
The judges were impressed with the pub’s enticing décor, featuring creative interiors and pieces such as a blacksmith forge and unique anvil tables. The guide also praises the mix of customers from dog-walkers and ale-drinkers to those who have travelled from further afield to enjoy the quality food and impressive range of ports.
Tim Bird, owner of Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars who operate the Fitzherbert Arms, comments; “With nearly 800 pubs featured in this year’s guide, winning an award so soon after opening is a fantastic achievement for the team. What’s more important however is to see the positive response we’ve had from customers and to see such a famous old pub thriving again.”