JASON Hawkins grew up living above York pubs. Now, he is making them his own.

First, he took over The Three Tuns in Coppergate, which his parents Ron and Mary had run in the 1970s.

Now, he has done the same with The Corner Pin, which his mum and dad ran in the mid-1980s.

York Press:

Jason, photographed on Wednesday, while decorating

The Marston's-owned pub, in Tanner Row between George Hudson Street and North Street, has reopened on Friday afternoon.

This is Jason's third pub in York (he also runs The Blue Boar in Castlegate), and it is territory he knows well.

"I used to live here when I was a kid," he says. "My parents had a few pubs and this was one of them, so I remember the pub well. It's been a blast from the past coming back."

For the past couple of weeks, he has been overseeing a £50,000 refurbishment of the Corner Pin, which dates back more than 200 years, having originally traded as The Unicorn Inn.

"The pub has been crying out for attention," says Jason. "It's had various incarnations but it needs to focus on real ale and home-cooked food."

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Inside the pub

Like at The Three Tuns, the cask ales will all be from Marston's brands, which include Banks's, Jennings, Ringwood, Wychwood, Brakspear, and Mansfield beers. That means there will be household names, such as Hobgoblin, Cocker Hoop, Boondoggle, EPA, Pedigree and the like, but also a wide range of seasonal specials.

On top of that, there will be a variety of bottled and canned beers, including Grimbergen Blonde, Erdinger, Sierra Nevada, Lawn Mower, Bee 17 and Kwak.

The last of those, Kwak, could kick up something of a stink among customers - because Jason will be demanding a deposit of a shoe from anyone who wants it in its distinctive traditional glass.

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Kwak's distinctive glassware. Photo by flickr user darrensweeney, reproduced under licence.

"It will be served in its traditional egg timer shaped glass and wooden stand, but we are taking a tip from the Belgians and will be taking a shoe (to be place in special shoe basket behind the bar) as deposit on the glassware," Jason said.

"I came across this custom on a recent motorcycle trip to Ghent, where I noticed a number of people in the bar wearing only one shoe!"

Jason says he plans to serve home-cooked, locally-sourced food during the day, and will welcome telephone orders from nearby offices to increase the business, but says the evening focus will be on beer.

He also hopes to form a darts team (and is keen to hear from any interested players); plans live acoustic music at weekends and a mid-week open mic night; and hopes the rear bar will appeal to groups and become popular for parties and functions.

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And will Jason be following in his parents' footsteps at any more pubs? It looks unlikely, he says. Their first pub, The White Rose in Cornlands Road, has since been demolished, and he's happy being a sporadic local at their fourth, the Nag's Head in Heworth.

YORK BEER SHORTS

  • The Postern Gate, the JD Wetherspoon's pub in Piccadilly, has a meet-the-brewer night from 7pm on Thursday with Great Heck Brewery.
  • The Woolpack Inn in Fawcett Street has a "blondes and blues" event on June 26 and 27, with live blues at 8pm each night and 12 blonde beers from Yorkshire breweries.
  • Poppleton Beer Festival is at Poppleton Junior FC ground in Millfield Lane, from 4pm to 11pm on June 19 and noon to 11pm on June 20.
  • York Brewery's newest beer, Cardinal, should be on sale this week. It's named after the Slovenian hop included in the recipe.