Familiar face back behind the bar as Kettering pub prepares to reopen

A Kettering estate pub is set to reopen tomorrow (Friday) – and former regulars might recognise those behind the bar.

The Mikado Pheasant, known as the Mucky Duck, closed in January but will have a new lease of life after being taken on by new tenants.

And it certainly won’t take them long to get to grips with the Highfield Crescent venue because they were there 20 years ago.

Sharona Beirne was landlady for about a year in the early 2000s and is back behind the bar in a joint venture with daughters Camara and Sasha Davies, who grew up in the pub.

Sharona, 46, said: “We are really excited to be doing it all together. We can’t wait to get started.”

The trio have always had a lot to do with the Highfield estate. Sasha helps at a local youth group, Sharona volunteers with the estate food bank and Sasha and Camara’s grandfather lives just down the road from the pub.

When they saw the pub was put up for let by Admiral Taverns they discussed taking it on, decided they possibly wouldn’t, then discussed it again and decided to go for it.

They’ve been working hard to redecorate it and the pub will reopen at 7pm tomorrow night.

Camara, 30, said: “We have got a vision of how it was and that’s how we want it.

"We want families to be here and we’ll have quiz nights, discos and more.

"When we were last here so many people on the estate were here all day and all night and that’s what we want to bring back.”

The pub has no working kitchen at present and will be serving snacks using the nearby community centre kitchen to prepare them, but they’ve got plans to reintroduce their own food.

Sasha, 26, added: “We’re hoping to get the kitchen back up and running in the long-term.

"We want to bring back Sunday lunches.”

Despite previous involvement at the pub it will be Sharona’s first work in the industry for some time, having had two more children and then working in a school.

And it will be Camara and Sasha’s first pub stints – with Camara working in council customer services and housing departments and Sasha working in catering and a canteen.

But the trio aren’t fazed by taking the ‘Mucky Duck’ on.

Sharona said: “We’ve had a lot of people knocking on the door asking when we’re opening. Everyone’s excited and so are we.”