ONE of York's largest pubs has re-opened to the public after a ten-day closure and a £200,000 refurbishment.

The Windmill in Blossom Street had a soft opening for invited guests on Thursday night, and opened to the general public again on Friday.

Greene King acquired the pub and many others around the country, when they bought Spirit Pub Company last summer.

Four others in York were also included in the sale: The Golden Lion in Church Street, The Quaker Wood in Acomb Wood Drive, Ye Olde Starre Inne in Stonegate and the Flying Legends at Clifton Moor.

The Windmill is the first to undergo wholesale changes, with a bar refit and new decoration, fittings, furnishing throughout.

 

York Press:

Structurally the pub is unchanged, at the request of council conservationists, but the design and atmosphere are radically different, with more soft furnishings and less garishness.

For many years, this place thrived on its reputation as a sports bar but it has faced increased competition for that market, notably from Micklegate 127 just the other side of Micklegate Bar.

The Six Nations rugby and big football matches will still be shown, but manager Bobbi Benton says no pub can afford to put all its eggs in one basket these days, and she is keen top appeal to a wider clientele through the week.

Bobbi is originally from Vancouver Island but moved to the UK 11 years ago, and has worked in hospitality in Scarborough and York since then. The pub's first newsletter says she has a love of gin, running and knitting, and she was also deputy manager at The Golden Lion before she moved here just before Christmas to take up her first manager's post.

She says she plans to turn the outside area behind the pub into a prosecco bar for race days, and says that when she visited one of Greene King's similar pubs in Liverpool, she realised the "ladies that lunch" market was a key one to target.

For those more interested in the beer There are four cask handpulls, selling Abbot Ale, Old Peculier, Cameron's Strongarm and Greene King IPA.

Alongside them in keg are are Greene King's East Coast IPA, Sharp's Cornish Pilsner, Amstel, Heineken, Peroni, Greene King IPA. There's also a "craft beer" fridge, with bottles including Goose Island IPA, a couple of BrewDog beers and Brooklyn Lager, among others.

There's also an expanded range of gins, vodkas and malt whiskies.