Local Chum regulars Kit and Phil did a cracking job with the 2015 Cholmondeley Charity shoot in April. The event attracted a great deal of support and with fair weather was a great success with the shoot raising a record £3600 split equally between the Air Ambulance and Hope House with £1800 each. The charity shoot is an annual event so do join us in 2016. A big well done to Kit and Phil and all the rest of the locals with Jess and the Chum team for all their hard work!
South Cheshire Raiders enjoyed Cholmondeley before heading out for a day’s drive. Breakfast was served in the form of sausage and bacon baps and lots of coffee and tea too. The cars as always are a great spectacle and can be seen below in the gallery from Aston Martin’s to Lagondas…there are some special cars indeed…a stunning E-Type and some perfect old Rileys.
Any car clubs wishing to use Cholmondeley as a finish or a start to their drive day can contact Jess or Will at info@cholmondeleyarms.co.uk
Tuesday Evening saw Professor Ted’s quiz final at the Cholmondeley Arms, with over 12 teams battling to win.
Every month the winning quiz teams are awarded points to join the leader board, the season runs from October to April. At the final quiz of the season double points are awarded to the top 5 teams. There were four teams that were all in contention to be crowned leader board champions.
After a very exciting quiz, the scores were announced… The winners of Tuesdays quiz were a new team, despite their best efforts they were unable to budge the ‘Four Candles’ from the top of the leader board. Each team member won a £20 voucher and the whole team won a gin tasting.
We look forward to seeing you at the ‘Ted to Head’ on May 27th at the Three Greyhounds in Allostock…
For the second time in less than a year the Daily Telegraph Travel section has put the Cholmondeley Arms in the top ten places to bring your dog this time we are featured in the Top Ten Hotels around the UK.
Top 10: the best pet-friendly hotels in Britain
The best dog-friendly hotels in Britain, featuring the top places to stay for coastal walking routes, cosy fires, pet-friendly restaurants and in-room dog beds, in locations including the Lake District, New Forest and Yorkshire Dales.
Cholmondeley Arms, Cheshire
This former Victorian schoolhouse-turned-inn is as stylish as Beau Brummell inside. The glorious carved oak bar dominates the main hall and apart from the malted charms of Cholmondeley Best Bitter and Merlin’s Gold, there are a staggering 200 varieties of ruinously good gin to discover. Your faithful friend will not go thirsty either, as dog beer (made from meat stock) is readily available. Food is hearty and delicious and rooms in the old headmaster’s house behind the inn are calm, civilised and comfortable. Three of them are dog-friendly, and dog beds are supplied too.
We are sorry to announce that our loyal gardener and occasional raconteur Johnny O’Shea has passed away after a long illness. Johnny will be fondly remembered by us all here at the Cholmondeley Arms. In the summer when the beautiful roses grow around the ‘Chum’ we will think of Johnny and all the time he spent making everything look so beautiful.
Many visitors to Cholmondeley will remember Johnny and the stories he would tell over a ‘wee dram’. He was once asked where do you want to be in ten years and his answer was simply to be in the Cholmondeley Arms with a smile.
Johnny raced Greyhounds and at the opening of our Three Greyhounds Inn pub Johnny and his wife Anne made the trip specially from Cholmondeley with three real greyhounds to help us celebrate the opening.
God bless you Johnny, Cholmondeley won’t ever be the same without you.
For four long months ITV have been filming down the road in Bunbury and the crew and cast have stayed with us here at the Chum in our Headmasters House bedrooms. They have enjoyed relaxing at the pub and dining with a very occasional Gin and Tonic after a very hard day’s work on set.
Where else would they chose for their ‘it’s a wrap’ party than the Cholmondeley Arms and a marquee went up for the whole cast and crew to enjoy a little Christmas cheer early and finally relax after a job well done!
Bunbury had been the setting for the six-part Second World War drama ‘Home Fires’, starring Francesca Annis and Samantha Bond and produced by ITV Studios. It tells how members of the Women’s Institute hold the fabric of society together while their menfolk are away fighting.
Filming began in September and continued until December, with some of the villagers appearing as extras.
With a screenplay by Simon Block, who penned shows including Lewis and Casualty, the drama is inspired by Julie Summers’ book ‘Jambusters’ and is set to air on screens sometime in 2015.
Bunbury residents were informed of the news by leaflets posted through their doors explaining how their village would be affected by the filming, and also giving them the opportunity to feature in the show as extras.
Steve November, ITV’s director of drama, said: “We’re really delighted to have commissioned ’Home Fires’. Great writing from Simon has given Julie Summers’ wonderful book a fictional life.
“The women are real and engaging and have fantastic spirit and attitude. With World War II on the horizon, multiple strands of plot interweave to create a period drama full of jeopardy and intrigue, but also great humanity and modernity.”
The AGA was held last week and well attended by budding distillers of sloe and damson gins. Annually our guests come together with their home made gins to try and be the pride of Cholmondeley!!
20 gin lovers and makers took part and the evening was judged by David from Langley’s Gentleman’s Gin. He thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of the contestants and needed a taxi home afterwards. David presented the Chairman’s Champion 2014 to Roger Keys (our very own coffee supplier) and runner up went to another Roger this time Roger Haydock.
The Peoples Champion was chosen by everyone who take part as they sipped their way through 20 glorious mixtures! The People chose Kate Smith as Champion and Philippa Heler as runner up 2014.
Big congratulations to all who took part and of course the winners!
The main picture shows David of Langley’s holding the board with Kate and Philippa and Roger and Roger.
If you are a keen Fruit Gin maker then get ready for the AGA Cup next December 2015. Click on image below to view gallery.
Saturday 1st November saw our first annual bonfire and fireworks display which proved to be a roaring success. The bonfire blazed and crackled whilst everyone enjoyed a fantastic display of fireworks. The outside bar and BBQ went down a treat, with warm mulled wine, local hot chocolate and real ale. Everyone enjoyed the homemade Parkin and Treacle Toffee.
Roger one of our regulars built a superb guy who stood proudly above the bonfire. We would like to say a massive thank you to all of the regulars who helped and supported the evening.
We look forward to welcoming you to next year’s bonfire – once again there will be no entry fee to thank you for your ongoing support.
It was a beautiful albeit windy day in Cholmondeley on Saturday for our annual car treasure hunt. The treasure hunt was open to our car club members as well as locals who wanted to partake.
All teams set off at 3pm with the instruction to arrive back by 5.30pm along the treasure hunt there were general knowledge questions to answer and pictures to take. It was a beautiful route around the Cheshire Countryside.
When the teams arrived back at the pub all question papers were marked whilst teams eagerly awaited the results. There were two teams who finished the treasure hunt and general knowledge questions on the same mark, so it went to the tie break question!
These two teams were ‘The Pitstops’ who finished in third place in their Alfa Romeo Spider. ‘The Pitstops’ were beaten by the ‘Westfield Wallies’ by 3 points in the tie break. The ‘Westfield Wallies’ completed the treasure hunt in their Westfield. In first place was ‘Team Google’ they completed the hunt in their Mitsubishi also known as ‘The Tank’.
Thank you to all of the teams who took part and we look forward to seeing you all again next year!!
A Cheshire pub has welcomed the 200th gin to its record-breaking collection.
The arrival of the 200th gin at The Cholmondeley Arms, near Malpas, marked the end of a week-long ‘Gin Fest’ and the third anniversary of the pub’s refurbishment and opening.
Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin opened the pub in 2011 with 40 gins and established a reputation for stocking a collection of some of the best and most unusual gins in the country.
The 200th gin to be unveiled was a newly launched Burleigh’s Gin.
The new gin arrived at the pub in a helicoptor, where it was welcomed by hundreds of guests and locals celebrating the culmination of ‘Gin Fest’, which saw gin tastings, a collection of sports and vintage cars, live music and a pop-up gin bar in the pub’s garden.
Tim Bird, owner of the Cholmondeley Arms, said: “It was a fantastic festival of gin at the weekend.
“We’re delighted to welcome the 200th gin to our collection and intend to keep building on this in the years to come.”
The pub continues to challenge brand owners and customers to ‘bring a gin to the Inn’ to see if they have it in stock.