Time, gentlemen! Pub bosses retire after 18 years of pulling pints
LICENSEES at one of the best-loved and most historic pubs in Stockport are calling time on their stint behind the bar after nearly 20 years.
Joe Quinn and Steve King have been in charge at the Arden Arms, in the town centre, since 1999.
But they have decided it is time to retire and will do so in style with a weekend jamboree of leaving events.
The pair take with them a host of happy memories including presiding over the pub’s 200th anniversary celebrations in summer 2015 and winning a host of awards.
Steve said: “Working at the Arden Arms has taught myself and Joe invaluable life lessons over the years, and we can honestly say that we have loved every minute of it.
“We are very proud of the awards we have won over the years, and we would like to say a big thanks to everyone who has continued to show nothing but love and passion for the Arden. We have made some great friends here who we won’t be forgetting in a hurry.”
Among the awards the pub, on Millgate, has won was Pub of the Year at the 2008 Manchester Food and Drink Awards. It was also voted Greater Manchester’s Regional Pub of the Year in the 32nd edition of the Good Beer Guide.
To mark Joe and Steve leaving there will be events on August 11, 12 and 13, with live bands and food.
Joe added: “Myself and Steve have been licensees at the Arden for almost 18 years. We are so pleased with our journey and of everything we have achieved for the pub.
“We will be sad not to play an active role at the pub any more but it will remain in our hearts forever.”
The pub, owned by Stockport brewer Robinsons, was built in 1815 as a replacement for Ye Blew Stoops pub, which dated back 1650, and was a coaching inn with stables that still remain intact today.
It became a regular stay-over point for the servants of coach parties and was rumoured to have a tunnel running to nearby St Mary’s Church.
The pub’s cellar was used to store corpses during influenza outbreaks and George Rafflad Junior, who built the Arden Arms, is said to have hidden up trees to catch any would-be thiefs. It is a Grade II-listed building built when George, a member of a successful family, handed over land for the council to build a road and in return was given permission for the pub.