Inn keeping with popular demand

The 600-year-old Woolpack Inn is an award-winning pub with a family touch. After 30 years in the hospitality business, the Green family made the move to Kent, buying the tenancy at the Woolpack in Chilham. Three years later, after substantial efforts to bring the pub back to its heyday, it is a successful pub offering quality accommodation, refreshments and home-cooked food, all combined with a genuine welcome to all. Along the way the team at The Woolpack placed second in The English Tourist Board Beautiful South pub of the year and second in the Kent Times restaurant of the year. Serving a home-cooked menu with locally-sourced ingredients, simple honest food is the order of the day. While they support local businesses such as Worcester Eggs of Chartham, Laughton Ducklings of Faversham to local graphics firms, Bookers of Canterbury are their primary supplier. Essential back-up supplies are also provided by Bookers. In addition to a varied menu offering a wide range of food, there are weekly specials and a £7.50 two-course deal open to all during the week. The Woolpack is open for food from 8am to 9pm daily. With 14 rooms, this family run pub combines great hospitality and a fantastic location to make a trip to remember. Nestled in the shadow of a Norman Castle, and with its vast oak beams and inglenook fireplaces, it is said to be haunted by the ghost of the Grey Lady who wanders the main building. With a known history of landlords dating back to 1485, the Woolpack has always provided a welcome break. The rooms have a history of their own, having once been stables, a workhouse for the poor, a garage, a chapel and now a hotel. The Woolpack is at the heart of the local community and caters for local events on and off the premises throughout the year. Following the success of The Woolpack, The White Hart Inn, Worthgate Place, Canterbury, was taken on in February this year. Under the guidance of Elizabeth Green and just a twominute walk from the High Street and adjacent to Dane John gardens and the castle ruins, the pub is a real gem boasting Canterbury’s largest beer garden. The White Hart is built on the ruins of St Mary’s Church and the small park next door was once the church’s graveyard. Tombstones remain lined up against the park walls while the cellar of the pub, once used as a mortuary, still has a body chute. The White Hart also serves a home-cooked menu using locally-sourced ingredients. Like its sister premises, it is family and dog-friendly with a warm welcome from its young and vibrant team. It is well worth the short walk away from the mas-produced high street food to sample proper home-cooked meals.