Hello Everybody,
Here we are 2nd January 2023 and first of all from myself, Louise and everybody at The Horseshoes Public House, we wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful New Year.
As a business how do we review 2022? In two words: we survived. As a business what is our objective for 2023? Two words: to survive. Which we will do.
Looking back at our Christmas events:
We hosted the Village Hall Raffle Draw on 17th December and we had a full house.
On 21st December at The Carols at The Horseshoes, led by Kip and Dave of Winter Wilson we had at least 100 people in attendance.
On Christmas Day we served 55 Christmas lunches and we were very happy to see other visitors for a Christmas drink. Louise and the team did a wonderful job on the table setting, layout and making the whole day run smoothly.
The Christmas Family Quiz took place on 27th December with 76 quizzers taking part and the entry fee of £3 per person raised £228 for St Denis’ Church, Silk Willoughby.
On New Year’s Eve the pub was packed with the band Amber providing the musical entertainment. It was very noticeable that people started dancing a lot earlier than usual during the proceedings which was lovely to see with everyone having a good time. The last of the revellers left at 2.30am on January 1st.
So thank you everyone who visited us over the Christmas period and we will endeavour to be as successful for Christmas 2023.
2023 is a very special year for myself and The Horseshoes. It was on November 24th 2012 that I purchased The Horseshoes Public House. At that time it was shut down with steel barriers at the windows. I obtained a set of keys and I thought I had better go and have a look at what I had purchased. I’ve been a customer of this pub since 1971 but I was only familiar with the bar and not the upstairs apartment. What I saw shocked me. Ceilings were falling in and part of the floors had been dug up to repair a leak and piles of concrete had been left lying around. I walked back downstairs, stood in the bar and thought “What on earth have I got myself into?” I put a plan together, building contractors were brought in and the bar and toilet area were opened on April 19th 2013. Over the following 3 months work was done on the restaurant and kitchens and they were opened around July 19th 2013. The building was constructed in 1831 whether as a pub or coaching house, we don’t really know and so like all constructions of that age there will always be work to be done.
Ten years on from the opening date I now intend to hold an event this year on Saturday 8th July to celebrate the 10 year anniversary. What this event will entail, I don’t know yet but I will keep you updated.
Public Houses are a valuable asset to any community. They provide a space for people to meet friends and make friends, renew acquaintances and escape their day to day issues.
What makes a pub work, to a large extent, is the staff and I say a big thank you to all members over the years up to and including the present day that make this such a warm and friendly environment.
Along with the other events of 2022 it was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations where we raised £538.29 and along with the money raised from the 10 monthly quizzes this makes a total of £1563.29 which has been donated to Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.
The next quiz will be on Tuesday 31st January at 8pm which will include the 1-2-1 question which has now reached the magic sum of £200. As always please book a table for your team and if you are unable to attend closer to the date do let us know.
This year we do intend to have Sunday Lunches once per month in the cooler months with the dates to be announced. Otherwise the kitchen and restaurant are now back to their usual opening hours.
Guest Beers – we still have Rosey Nosey which is hugely popular, Doom Bar and Timothy Taylor Landlord with a possibility of Batemans XXXB being brought back as a guest ale as well as all the other ciders, lagers and, of course, Guinness.
Finally thank you to everyone for supporting The Horseshoes in 2022. We look forward to seeing you all sometime in 2023,
Kindest Regards
Paul Steer, Landlord/ Owner
Louise Nelson, Manager
