Northamptonshire village pub named 'Best Destination Pub' in Muddy Stilettos Awards 2021

A neighbourhood pub in Yardley Hastings has been named 'Best Destination Pub in Northamptonshire' as part of the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2021.

The Red Lion pub, owned by the brewery Charles Wells and situated in High Street, is run by Dave Bell and Nate Alexander from Turvey.

They took over the cosy thatched roof pub after it stood empty for nine months following its closure during the first national lockdown in March 2020 and did not reopen.

Dave and Nate, on their award win, said: "We are extremely grateful to have been nominated and voted for by our customers for the Muddy Awards and proud to have gone onto win the Best Destination Pub Award for Northamptonshire.

"As for all hospitality businesses, it’s been a tricky 18 months of restrictions and closures due to Covid-19, with both staff and customers having to adapt to Track and Trace, wearing face masks and table service via an app, so the recognition is certainly something for everyone to celebrate."

As well as acclimatising to new restrictions, the pub owners created an outdoor secret garden restaurant, provided dine-at-home options for customers and transformed the Red Lion pub into a local shop to offer essentials as well as homemade baked goods when lockdown made getting out and about a challenge for residents.

The pub's menu has been described by its business owners as "high-end dining at an affordable price". It includes gin and tonic flavoured fish and chips, jackfruit bahjis and duck breast served pink, to name a few quintessential dishes. They pride themselves on their "theatrical" cocktail menu with drinks that have been likened to The Alchemist Bar, including dry ice and smoke bubbles.

Dave and Nate continued: "We wouldn’t be in the position that we're in without our amazing staff who have worked hard through the ups and downs that Covid threw at us, they’ve played a huge part in helping us achieve this amazing accolade.”

Lifestyle website, Muddy Stilettos, aims to help urban women who live outside of London make the most of their free time. These annual awards celebrate independent businesses across 25 different counties.

The coveted awards, now in its eighth year, are voted for by its readers with more than 750,000 votes cast in total and 75,000 businesses nominated across the country, making it the most popular Muddy awards to date.

Other award winners in the county include Silverstone Distillery in the 'Local Food / Drink Producer' category, Royal & Derngate in the 'Theatre Arts Venue' category and Nuovo in the 'Restaurant' category.

View the list of the Muddy Stilettos Northamptonshire award winners on the Muddy Stilettos website.To find out more about The Red Lion and upcoming events, visit www.redlionyardleyhastings.co.uk.