Former bar reopens as riverside events venue
IT HAD BEEN A POPULAR COFFEE SPOT
A FORMER Derby coffee shop and bar has opened as a stylish new private event space.
The River Mill at Darley Abbey Mills has opened after closing as The Shed in April. The River Mill now offers a smaller and more intimate venue alongside its sister, The West Mill, just a few paces away.
It can cater for all kinds of events including birthdays, corporate functions and weddings.
Run by Chrissie Rose and colleagues Adam Neale and Rhiannon Ball, The River Mill offers 80 parking spaces thanks to an agreement with Derby Rugby Club.
It can also provide accommodation for 10 people with the opening of the Mill Cottage, which was once Chrissie’s home.
It offers the same capacity as the West Mill, with space for 300 standing and 170 sitting.
It held an opening event for potential party-goers at the weekend, with food, Pimms, and river views along the River Derwent all provided.
Chrissie, 42, said: “We want to be indispensable and make it a place that people can come to and trust us with their lives. It’s a blank canvas for them to dress up however they like.
“So many people at The West Mill ask us if we do 21st birthdays or 40th birthdays or corporate events, and we haven’t been able to say yes as the weddings are so popular at The West Mill.
“So for us this is a place where we can be flexible and hosts can do what they want.
“If we don’t have a date available here we may have a date available across the cobbles at The West Mill. It’s a smaller, more intimate vibe, and you have the riverbank.
“You can create whatever you want, we will get partners involved who can create things for people and we will be really flexible.”
The opening of The River Mill comes just over three months after the same site closed as The Shed.
The site was formerly an events space but opened as a takeaway coffee shop during the pandemic, then a sitdown coffee shop and bar as restrictions were eased.
Chrissie said that due to the number of enquiries she received about hosting events in The River Mill, the plan was always for it to return to being an events space.
She said that while the decision was not taken lightly, with some staff having to be made redundant, the future remains bright with several functions already in the diary.
She said: “It’s been horrible, it was devastating to let people go, it was soul-destroying, but now to be able to open our doors again and hopefully welcome some of those people back, and hopefully get more and more events in and get more of those people back on a regular basis.
“We didn’t want to shut our doors to The Shed, it was doing so well before we left.
“There were dog walkers and people in the local community who really invested in us and were really loyal.
“I felt like we let them down a lot. But I hope they understand that this is a business as well and things sometimes have to change.”
Chrissie hopes that, along with the other businesses and events spaces at the Mills, the site can continue to offer something special for Derby.
This is hoped to only improve once a solution is found to the closed bridge connecting the site with Old Lane, which has been shut to all traffic since May.
She said: “It’s like the coolest part of Shoreditch in the middle of Derby.
“I have been into Derby city centre but it hasn’t got the same vibe as the Mills – this place has a real heritage and you’re surrounded by so much history.
“This area just keeps giving and I think it will keep getting better and better as time goes on.”
Adam and Mika Lindridge, from Chester Green, have booked a combined wedding and birthday party at the River Mill in November after the pandemic delayed their celebrations.
They regularly visited the site when it was The Shed, and while they were sad to see it go, they said hosting their event at The River Mill was “an easy choice”.
Mika said: “We really enjoy the food and the venue, it has a great character.
“We have seen the West Mill too and it is in line with the theme, quite rustic and industrial. It allows dogs too, which is a bonus.
“You’d be surprised how few private venues are available for hire in Derby. I’ve contacted them all and just to get something more than just a hire room is quite difficult. This is probably one of the biggest ones.
“During the pandemic, we could sit outside and they had heaters and it was really nice.
“We were gutted because even now people do miss the cakes and Danish pastries after their dog walks with a cup of coffee, as now there isn’t anything like that in Darley Abbey.
“But it was an easy choice for us as we know it and knew what we wanted.”
Adam said: “It’s very nice, and this riverside area is a bonus. It’s the perfect spot, and it was an easy choice.”
Staff are now being recruited for the venue.
To enquire about jobs, email events@therivermillvenue.com.