Celebrating 30 years at The Pheasant Inn

This lovely old black and white picture shows a previous owner of the property, Minnie Nevan. We can hardly believe it but last month saw the celebration of The Pheasant Inn having been in the capable hands of the Kershaw family for 30 years.

The building dates back to the mid- 1600s and was originally a farmhouse. The story goes that the farmer and his family were sociable types and over time people tended to gather there for a drink and a bite to eat and as the Royal Mail was delivered here it eventually became known locally as The Crown Inn.

When we spotted the pub in 1985 we  fell in love with the place, despite the fact it was obviously in need of some love and attention. A detailed refurbishment included creating eight comfortably-furnished en-suite bedrooms in what had been the barn and hayloft, and the place was transformed into The Pheasant Inn.

As a family we took the decision many years ago that The Pheasant Inn would always be true to its roots. You won’t find us making any lavish claims or using flowery descriptions, we are a traditional welcoming country inn serving good home-cooked food, wine and real ales and offering competitively priced Northumberland bed and breakfast accommodation. 

Over the years we have had a great team of staff around us, all working hard to give our customers a warm welcome and great service. We are proud to be the custodians of such a well-loved feature of the local landscape, and hopeful of another 30 years of welcoming visitors and locals through our doors.

Looking back at our history has brought quite a lump to our throats when we think of all the locals and visitors who have walked through our door. Why not join us in the bar next time you are passing, and we will raise a glass to The Pheasant Inn, and all those past and present who have helped to make it such a lovely place to live, work and relax.  

News round up from The Pheasant Inn Kielder

Decorating at The Pheasant Inn Kielder

In our latest blog we thought we would give you a round-up of what’s happening here at The Pheasant Inn Kielder, as we look forward into 2015.

It’s been all go as our winter refurbishment carries on at a pace, ahead of our re-opening next week. Robin has said a sad farewell to our trusty oven range, a Falcon Dominator which was installed in 1973 – the same year that Sunderland won the FA cup, if any of you can remember that far back. I can’t estimate how many tasty meals it’s produced but it must be in the tens of thousands, and we hope its replacement will be equally reliable.

Our dining room is also getting a makeover, with decorator Paul doing a great job finishing the painting ahead of the new soft furnishings arriving. We had a little bit of trouble with our beautiful new carpet recently, when a visitor accidentally walked some sort of heavy industrial grease right through the bar, dining room and up the stairs. Luckily, Barrasford-based carpet cleaning expert Malcolm Nixon was on our doorstep at 9.30am the following morning and did an amazing job cleaning the carpets – you wouldn’t even know there had been a problem, many thanks to him for helping us out.

It’s been a very chilly few weeks up here in Northumberland, and out in the kitchen garden, three loads of Ridley Stokoe farm’s finest manure and the local worms are busy working their magic, ready for the new growing season.

We’re also recruiting again, particularly for someone with kitchen experience and a keen interest in cooking, who can work alongside Robin or independently. If you know of anyone looking for a move, we would love to hear from them.

And lastly, the B&B season bookings are already taking off, in fact all our current accommodation is now booked for New Year break in 2015. We are hoping Garden Cottage, our new two bedroom self-catering cottage will be available by then too, pop over to our Facebook page to see how the conversion is coming along, and let us know what you think. 

Putting the garden to bed

Pheasant Inn garden produce

As frost and the odd dusting of snow remind us that winter is well and truly here, the warm days of summer seem light years away but our thoughts are already turning to the kitchen garden. 2014 was a great summer for growing, and our gardening team Nathalie and Geoff did a wonderful job supplying us with many of the vegetables, salad, fruit and herbs that feature on our menus.

We like to use fresh, local produce wherever we can and having some space to grow our own fruit and vegetables means we have been able to reduce many of our food miles to something more like food feet. But we all need a rest after a busy season, and plants are no exception. Putting the garden to bed properly means better crops next year, so it’s well worth investing the effort.

As well as having pruned the fruit bushes and trees, tidied the raised beds that hold the salad and vegetables, and sorted out the greenhouse, Geoff and Natalie have been busy helping us to assess what we should grow next year, for instance we are looking at establishing an asparagus bed.

Our raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants and blackberries did really well thanks to the warm weather, featuring in many of our tasty fruit crumbles and in Annabel’s special home-made mixed berry jam which our guests can enjoy at breakfast so they will definitely feature in next year's plans.

Artichokes were a fairly new addition and went down well, particularly in a tasty artichoke and spinach soup, and we saw a bumper crop of fresh and crunchy salad ingredients. We had tomatoes coming out of our ears and I swear some of our giant onions and big healthy leeks could have won prizes at the local agricultural shows – maybe next year if one of us has the time?

As the garden yield slows down to mainly root vegetables, we will use what we have in crop and supplement that with produce from our regular supplier Staffords of Hexham, who will provide the rest of what we need.

If you’re a gardener, do enjoy planning out next year’s cropping plans over the Christmas break. And if you’ve got any tips for especially good varieties, do drop us a line and we might give them a try.

Awards and reviews

"Good people, good place, good food, good beer."

visitor from London

"An old English pub with modern accommodation in an idyllic spot. Good food, friendly staff ...need I say more? Fitness Centre? The great outdoors!"

visitor from Somerset

"The Kershaws' cooking is fresh, generous and flavoursome, producing wholesome traditional English fare."

The Pub Guide

Read more reviews

  • Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence
  • Trip Advisor Hall of Fame
  • Visit England Four Star Award
  • Visit England Silver Award
  • Visit England Breakfast Award
  • AA Gold Award 2018
  • AA Breakfast Award 2018
  • AA Dinner Award 2018
  • Alistair Scwdays
  • Walker Welcome
  • Families Welcome
  • Cyclists Welcome