Hello Everybody,

As always, what has the weather been doing? We’ve had some very wet days and cold nights but as yet, no snow.

Thank you to everybody that came to the carols at The Horseshoes which was a great success.

Thank you also to those who celebrated their Christmas parties and also everyone who visited over the Christmas period, including Christmas and Boxing Day. We were very busy and it was lovely to see so many people.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with music from across the decades from the band, Amber. We continued the tradition of no charge for the entertainment and, as expected, the evening was a huge success.

This month we held Christmas Family Quizzes on two nights. The first quiz on Tuesday 23rd had 12 teams made up of 62 players (including children). The winners were A Load of Cobblers with 61 points. Congratulations to them.

The second quiz had 13 teams with 65 players in total (including children). The winners were the wittily named Hoof Hearted. Well done to them.

In total 127 people came to the quizzes and raised £351 which was split between 2 local charities; St Denis’ Church, Silk Willoughby an St Barnabas Hospice. Both charities have already received £175.50 each. We thank everyone for two highly entertaining nights of good quiz fun. The next quizzes will return to the usual format and take place on Tuesday 20th and 27th January starting at 7.45pm. The 1-2-1 prize is £100. Quiz Basket Meals are £7.50 and served from 5.45pm. We are already taking bookings for this quiz so call us on 01529 414092 to reserve your team table.

We have ordered more Rosey Nosey and we do, of course, have all of our usual beers including Alpacalypse, Bateman’s 5G, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Doom Bar, Guinness, Stella, Birra Moretti and Carling and our cider is Thatcher’s Gold. We also stock a wide range of wines and spirits, alcohol free beers and ciders and also gluten free beers and, of course, soft drinks.

Major Changes at The Horseshoes

As previously announced The Horseshoes Public House is now a limited company with myself (Paul Steer) and Louise Nelson as directors and this will ensure The Horseshoes Public House will continue for years to come.

Extension of The Garden Area

We have for some time thought it would be ideal if we could expand the garden area whilst acknowledging that this was very unlikely to happen. Then, quite unexpectedly, an opportunity arose to acquire additional land. The offer was taken up and the purchasing process has now been completed. This will allow us to expand the garden area by some 120 squared metres. The new area will be slabbed using the same design and colour of slabs as used in the pergola area. The reason for slabs and not grass is that the area can be used in a wet time. A wooden structure, along with additional seating will be installed. Also, there will be 3 additional post lanterns installed on site. The path next to the present lawned area will be slabbed using the same design and colour of slab to blend into the new area. The conversion work will start on 5th January 2026, weather permitting.

Into 2026

The Horseshoes, along with thousands of other hospitality businesses, face a very difficult future but we are quite sure we can cope with whatever is thrown at us. I, on behalf of Louise and myself, thank everyone for supporting The Horseshoes throughout 2025 and we wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful New Year. At this time I also thank all Horseshoes staff members for their work throughout 2025.

Kind regards,

Paul Steer, Director

Louise Nelson, Director

A Statement from Paul Steer

To make such an investment, with what is happening in the hospitality sector nationally, I need to have and I do have confidence in the future of The Horseshoes Public House, Silk Willoughby.

Signed,

Paul Steer, Director

1st January 2026