We are very proud to announce that the Cholmondeley Arms has won ‘Dining Pub of the Year 2018’ at the Cheshire Life Food and Drink Awards 2018 at Carden Park Hotel near Chester.

Big congratulations go to our General Manager Tim and the entire Cholmondeley team.

Tim attended the awards presentation with Tom our Head Chef and Fliss our Deputy Manager.

Hard work and passion has persevered…

well done everybody!

Last weekend has been a fantastic festival of gin, with a record breaking weekend, bigger and better than previous years!

With crowds coming to spend their weekend at the Cholmondeley sipping different gins from the outside bar, enjoying our BBQ with delicious stone baked pizzas! And dancing the night away to a great line up of live music all weekend.

Not only that but history was made on the Saturday as England beat Sweden in the World Cup Quarter Finals! This will be the first time in 28 years they have made it to the Semi finals! So we are happy to say it was a ‘Gin Gin Situation’.

A big thank you goes out to all our distillers including Thomas Dakin, Sipsmith, Stanley’s Gin, 5th Gin, Whitley Neil, Chase Gin, Warner Edwards, Forest Gin, One Gin, Langleys, Spirit of George, Opihir, Cuckoo, Brockmans and fever tree tonic for being a part of Gin Fest 2018. Another thank you goes out to all our customers and to all our staff for their hard work!

This past weekend has been a true ‘GIN’spiration of what’s to come! We hope to see you all at Gin Fest 2019!

Kit Hopely, Phil Probin and the big band of Cholmondeley Arms locals raised an amazing £4000.00 which has be shared, equally, between North West Air Ambulance and Hope House Children’s Charity.

A big well done and thankyou to them for organising another brilliant shoot day this year!

So now it’s official! The Cholmondeley Arms (‘Chum’) has been recognised by three national newspapers in the space of six weeks as a great place to bring your pet dog! The Guardian’s latest take is linked here below….we have featured in the Independent and the Telegraph too. Voted in the Top Ten Pubs in the UK three years running! Nowadays our chefs bake the biscuits for the dogs staying with us….a gourmet treat…and we have Cholmondeley Arms blankets that one can buy their Pooch as a lasting memory of their favourite pub! Dog Beer is available to toast ones Master as well as a bed or two to sleep it all off! The Chum…..a real howl!

Read the article here

The top movers and shakers of the UK drinks industry gathered last night in London to hear the results of the Imbibe Personality of the Year Awards 2018.

The nominees were voted for by Imbibe magazine’s readers in record-breaking numbers and the shortlist included the highest calibre of UK on-trade professionals.

Tim Bird, co-founder of Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars picked up the award for Pub Personality of the Year.

Imbibe editor, Chris Losh, commented: ‘Tim has worked in the industry for over 35 years, and since he’s saved many pubs from closure in that time, it’s safe to say the UK’s pub scene would not have been the same without him.

‘He’s proved himself amazing at running everything from big pub groups to small independents, and, for the last seven years, his own group of country pubs and Inns. This passion for the industry is exactly what Imbibe Magazine is all about’.

Judges for the competition included restaurateur George Bergier, the Connaught Bar’s Ago Perrone, Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, Northcote’s Craig Bancroft, Gin Journey’s Leon Dalloway, Beer Belle Annabel Smith, Mixology Group’s Myles Cunliffe and the Imbibe editorial team.

Imbibe launched the Personality of the Year Awards in 2011 and previous winners have included Heston Blumenthal, Ronan Sayburn MS, Thinking Drinkers, Alex Kratena, Christine Parkinson, Xavier Rousset MS, Dee Davies, Lyndon Higginson, Stuart McCluskey, Salvatore Calabrese, Laura Rhys MS, Thomas Decan, the Galvin Brothers and Jake Burger, as well as many other on-trade professionals.

The 2018 awards were presented on Monday 12th February at Mahiki Kensington.

Launched in March 2007, Imbibe magazine has rapidly become the UK’s leading magazine for on-trade drinks professionals working in premium UK establishments. Imbibe is a quarterly magazine, with more than 20,000 drinks buyers and servers in the UK receiving a copy. Copies are available upon request.

Imbibe Magazine is the UK’s leading drinks magazine and tonight at their annual awards in London our owner Tim was chosen as ‘Pub Personality of the Year 2018’.

Tim was up against some of the pub industry’s top talent on the night, but the judges not only looked at Tim’s vast experience in the industry but particularly the success of Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars, Tim’s company that he operates with his wife and business partner Mary McLaughlin. They have taken pubs that were either closed or close to closure and through their restoration have created one of the best small pub companies in the UK!

On winning this prestigious award, Tim thanked the team at Cheshire Cat…..”I have had many proud moments in my career but nothing has made me prouder than the achievement of our pubs. Starting our own business was the best thing we have ever done and tonight I share this award with Mary and the Cheshire Cat team! I would like to thank Imbibe Magazine for giving me one of the proudest moments in my career! I look forward to celebrating with the team!”

The Cholmondeley Arms listed in Britain’s 25 most dog-friendly pubs

Finish a weekend walk with a trip to one of these hound-welcoming hostelries. Introduced by Kate Humble

No need to leave your canine companion outside: Kate Humble introduces our choice of dog-friendly pubs

If you love having a dog, you probably love doing things that dogs love doing too – and a good walk is top of the list. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful country, and not only that, a country that is criss-crossed with a network of public footpaths crying out to be explored. This wonderful access we are given to our countryside is one of the greatest privileges of living and holidaying in Britain. As dog owners, we naturally want to share the scenery with the company of a dog or two – or in my case, three. Yet often in the past it has been a challenge to find somewhere equally pleasurable to have a restorative drink – and perhaps a lovely meal as well – at the end of a stroll. I’m sure I’m not the only one of us who has ended up in a poky, lino-clad room tucked away down some dark corridor that describes itself as “dog friendly”. But there are plenty of civilised, dog-friendly pubs out there. The dedicated team at Sawday’s has travelled the length and breadth of Britain to find an enticing collection of places to eat and stay. And if, like me, you are eccentric and dotty enough want to bring your dog along too, you can. I call it the “tail-wagging” guide, and it has never failed me or my dogs yet..

THE CHOLMONDELEY
ARMS, WRENBURY ROAD,
CHOLMONDELEY, CHESHIRE
SY14 8HN
As prim and proper as a Victorian schoolmistress on the outside, this old school house is as stylish as Beau Brummell within. The glorious carved oak bar dominates the main hall and apart from the malted charms of the local ales, there are 200 varieties of ruinously good gin to discover. Fear not, for your faithful friend will not go thirsty, dog beer is available and baskets provided for those that stay over.

Lunch/dinner £7.25-£17.95, Sunday
lunch £14.50. Rooms from £75 per
night, dogs £10 per night. cholmondeleyarms.
co.uk; 01829 720300.

The crowds gathered for our annual bonfire party, our trusty locals made a huge bonfire which started the festivities. We had our outside bar and BBQ running and the live music really got the party rocking!

A big thankyou to our group of regulars that helped us and all of the Cholmondeley team!

See you all next year!!