Culcheth much-loved The Cherry Tree is temporarily closing from January 25 for a refurbishment, or as the pub rather fabulously calls it, a “glam up”. It is expected to be shut for around 18 days, with the doors due to reopen on February 13, assuming the paint dries, the signs behave, and nobody discovers a mysterious carpet layer from 1986.
The update, reported by Lois Dean, Senior Reporter, also came with a note about an exclusive subscriber partnership involving USA Today and sister title The Herald. Very grand for a story about a village pub facelift, but there we are, Culcheth has clearly gone international.
The Cherry Tree has asked customers to bear with them on stock levels while they run things down before the closure, aiming to keep waste to a minimum. Credit where it is due, that is sensible and responsible. Less chucking good stock away is exactly the sort of grown-up behaviour we like to see, even if it does mean someone's favourite drink may vanish before the final weekend.
The pub also thanked guests for their continued support over the years and said it cannot wait to welcome everyone back with a brand-new look. Fair enough, The Cherry Tree has long been one of those familiar Culcheth fixtures where people pop in for a pint, a meal, or a good old-fashioned analysis of everyone else's parking.
The refurbishment follows planning approval last month for external alterations at the Common Lane venue. Applicant Sizzling Pubs sought permission to replace and install a new illuminated totem sign, along with seven new fascia signs around the outside of the building.
The venue has been described as a “traditional pub with a bit of added sizzle”, which is either marketing genius or the sort of phrase that escaped from a laminated menu. Still, a tidy-up is no bad thing. A village pub needs to feel welcoming, not like it has been quietly negotiating with damp since the millennium.
The temporary closure will be a nuisance for regulars, especially in the bleak stretch between Christmas spending guilt and spring optimism. But if the end result is a smarter, fresher Cherry Tree that still feels like a proper Culcheth pub rather than a soulless identikit refit, then this could be a very welcome polish-up indeed.