A pub that closed down four years ago, and local residents feared would be lost to developers, is now on course to reopen before Christmas this year - after two years of delays.
The Cross Hands pub in South Bristol was shut down in 2019 by brewery Greene King and was boarded up for years, before a new development company took on the project, and decided that rather than convert it to flats or develop it for housing, they would refurbish it as a pub, guest house and events venue.
Local firm The Wring Group applied for planning permission to turn the skittle alley into a function room and build a second storey bed and breakfast rooms above - bringing the pub back to its Victorian roots as a coaching inn on the main road into Bristol from Somerset.
Read next: Another South Bristol pub is set to reopen after four closures were announced last month
The plans were caught up in a huge backlog at City Hall and the firm had to wait months for permission to be given, and hopes last August that the project would be completed by Christmas 2022 were dashed with a massive hike in building costs and the cost-of-living crisis.
A year on, and those leading the project say they are back on track. “The ground work is taking place at the back of the site before the block work begins,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve had to work on a new roof and the whole back area has been demolished.
“It’s an old site and the structural work takes time to do. We’re aiming to have the pub open for Christmas with the bed and breakfast soon after.
“It is exciting - the pub is being completely revamped with open log fires, a rustic interior and a large rear courtyard space for pop-up food companies to come in,” she added.
Read next:
- Greene King makes 'difficult decision' to close Cross Hands pub in south Bristol
- New owners of Bedminster pub The Cross Hands reveal plans for future
- Bristol City Council's planning backlog is badly 'impacting city's economy'
- Landmark South Bristol pub wins permission for renovation
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