New era clocks in at revamped pub

Reporter: KEN BENNETT
Date published: 08 February 2010


SADDLEWORTH’S newest inn keeper has found a unique way of calling time on his customers.

Entrepreneur Andy Thornton has installed an imposing Victorian textile mill clocking-in machine in the plush bar of his Dobcross pub.

But 45-year-old Andy says although the beautifully restored machine is in full working order, he plans to keep it purely for novelty value.

He bought the timepiece — reckoned to be one of only 100 — to take pride of place at The Shambles.

The pub was originally called The Woolpack and is a familiar landmark for drinkers on the Dobcross New Road -Woods Lane junction.

But when Andy and his wife, Janet, took over and revamped the premises, he decided the pub needed a new name too.

“There is a Shambles in York,” he said. “And that’s really famous with locals and tourists, so why shouldn’t Dobcross have one too?

“There is also a Shambles in Manchester, again well recognised as an icon. Hopefully, I will be able to put The Shambles at Dobcross on the tourist map as well.”

As part of the refurbishment, he has installed a ‘chill room’ where customers will have the use of an X-box.

And, as an added outdoor attraction with a twist, he is setting up an area where drinkers will be able to play boule, the popular French game.

He has also installed a new music system and mini stage to encourage entertainment at the venue.

Andy added: “I have always wanted to run a pub. There is something quite special about them and I seriously hope The Shambles will be a big success.

“I admire traditional pubs but I want to encourage the 30-plus age group and families to come and enjoy our facilities and offer them some happy alternatives to what they would normally find in a conventional hostelry.

“The ‘clocking-in’ machine, for example, is a piece of fascinating living history linking to our area’s fine tradition in textiles to present day. It’s already attracting a lot of attention from curious customers.

“The ‘chill room’ takes in hi-tech and, like boule, offers families a chance to share some quality, fun time together.

“Boule is hugely popular in France and I believe there is a league in Rochdale. If the idea catches on perhaps we’ll have our own teams and maybe throw down a challenge.”

Diners will be able to sample traditional home-cooked pub food favourites with early week offerings including soup and sandwiches and locally sourced dishes for the weekend. And he is planning to start a bed and breakfast facility very shortly.

As The Woolpack, the inn had gone through a succession of landlords in recent years and had remained closed for some months.

One local, who did not want to be named, said: “Andy has got some very interesting ideas and the fact that the pub is open again is what is really important. We wish him good fortune.”

Last year, the village’s Swan Inn in The Square, was reopened by popular landlord Michael Mooney and his wife Sandra.

The couple had originally sold the pub to a brewery but took it over as licensees after villagers feared it may not reopen when a previous landlord quit.