It should be open in the autumn. It’ll definitely be open by Christmas but Andrew Reed, the owner of Charnwood Brewery, hopes it’ll be much earlier – perhaps by the end of September. And how do I know? Andrew told me so when he kindly gave me an interview in July.

If the other micropubs owned and run by his Charnwood Brewery Company are anything to go by this one in Barrow will be equally attractive and successful. Readers may already have visited Mountsorrel’s ‘Sorrel Fox ‘and Shepshed’s ‘Hall Croft Tap’ and therefore have a good idea of what a Charnwood Brewery Micropub is like but for those who haven’t I’ll outline the plans. The former large hairdressing salon, H2O, is going to be divided up into three retail units and the micropub will be in the end unit next to The Blacksmith’s Arms. At present there is a high wooden fence in front of it which, in itself, has created a lot of curiosity!

The entrance to the micropub will not be on North Street but in Church Lane because providing disabled access from there is easier. The front of the building will be made up of large bifold windows which will open onto an outdoor drinking area for about thirty people. This area will be enclosed by a 3ft wall along the inside of which will be bench seating interspersed with built-in planters filled with fragrant blooms such as lavender. The main drinking area, entered from Church Lane, will contain the bar, tables and chairs. An extension is going to be built at the back of the present building to house the cellar, a store room and toilets. The décor will be modern and elegant throughout.

The idea of creating a micropub in Barrow has long been Andrew’s dream and its name will reflect the fact that it should have been up and running, albeit on a different site, before those in Mountsorrel and Shepshed. It was going to be Charnwood Brewery’s first baby so it’ll be called ‘The Fox Cub’ – the fox is the brewery’s symbol. As Barrow already has many well-established pubs, I asked Andrew how this micropub would be different. His answer was that it will concentrate on two things – selling beer – beer so good that people will walk not only across Barrow but even the slabs to drink it – and talking. Andrew believes that going to a village pub to talk to people is vital to strengthening a sense of community and he wants The Fox Cub to achieve this in Barrow as it has done in his other micropubs. The pub will focus on an adult market, no background music, no bouncy castles and there will be a “No Under 18s” age limit. And there won’t be food except for the odd sausage roll, slice of pork pie or bag of crisps. Dogs are always welcome.

There isn’t any parking at the site and when I suggested this could be a problem, I learnt that for micropubs 99% of customers walk to them. They are small and local and what’s more cars and beer don’t mix. The local nature will be reflected in the bar staff too as, although the manager will come from Castle Donington, other staff will be recruited locally.

And the beer? Charnwood Brewery brews such good ale that they are in the wonderful position of not being able to keep up with demand at present. The choice of beer is wide but two of the best sellers are Vixen and Salvation. All the ale is brewed in Loughborough; the only imported product is a lager, a German Pilsner from Stuttgart, because, in Andrew’s opinion, it is head and shoulders above the rest. Gin, malt whisky, wine and soft drinks will be available but the overwhelming emphasis will be on their locally brewed prizewinning beers.

Bottoms up!

Gaynor Barton