Closed, but still working. The refurbishment at The Shepherd’s Inn in Melmerby has been taking shape for some time. Over the past few months, the garden has been extensively landscaped and is now really starting to come together.

Our ambition is to bring back the country pub beer garden as a destination in its own right: somewhere that gives people a reason to get out of the house, meet friends, eat, drink and relax, with many of the comforts of home, but a different view.

More recently, attention has moved inside, which is why we’ve had to close the doors for a few weeks. Walls have come down, rooms have moved and parts of the pub have been stripped back as we make some fairly major changes to the way the building works.

Right now, it may look more like a building site than somewhere you’d come for a quiet pint or a lively music event, but that’s exactly why we’re doing it. Closing the pub for refurbishment wasn’t something we took lightly, but we knew that if we were going to do it, we wanted the work to make a real difference and to turn it around in as little time as possible. No pressure.

This isn’t simply about giving the pub a fresh coat of paint. A lot of what we’re changing is about making The Shepherd’s Inn easier to use, more accessible and better able to serve people both inside and outside the pub.

Some of those changes will be immediately obvious, while others are happening behind the scenes. Together, though, they should make quite a difference.

Making the Pub More Accessible

One of the biggest changes has been the relocation of our toilets. Both the ladies’ and gents’ toilets have moved, and we’ve also added a new accessible toilet as part of the refurbishment.

For us, that was important. Older village pubs were not always designed with accessibility in mind, and buildings such as ours have evolved over many years as rooms have been adapted and uses have changed.

This refurbishment gave us the opportunity to look at the layout again and make accessibility part of the plan from the beginning. We want The Shepherd’s Inn to be somewhere as many people as possible can visit comfortably, and the new facilities are an important step towards that.

It may not be the most glamorous part of a refurbishment, but it is one of the changes that matters most.

A Better Cellar and a Better Pint

Another major change is one most customers will probably never see. We’ve moved the beer cellar much closer to the bar, which may sound like a relatively small detail, but the location of a cellar has a big effect on how a pub operates.

The beer lines running between the barrels and the pumps will now be considerably shorter, and the system itself is being renewed with new lines and modern components. Shorter lines mean less beer is sitting between the barrel and the pump, while the new system will be easier to clean and maintain.

All of that helps us look after the beer properly and serve it in the best possible condition. There is also a practical benefit: changing barrels and carrying out cellar work during a busy service should now be quicker and simpler, meaning less time away from the bar when the pub is full.

You probably won’t notice where the new cellar is. Hopefully you’ll notice what comes out of it.

Straight from the Pub into the Garden

The new layout has also allowed us to improve the connection between the pub and the garden. Previously, if you wanted to get from inside The Shepherd’s Inn to the rear garden, you had to make your way around the outside of the building.

It worked, but it wasn’t particularly convenient. We’ve now created direct access from inside the pub to the garden, close to the new toilet area.

It sounds like a simple change, but it makes the whole building much easier to navigate. Customers will be able to move naturally between the pub and the outside space without having to leave through the front and walk around the building.

That becomes particularly useful when you see what has been happening outside.

A Completely New Beer Garden

The most visible part of the refurbishment so far is probably the garden itself. The area behind the pub has been completely landscaped to create a new beer garden spread across three levels.

Rather than fighting the natural slope of the garden, we’ve used the changing levels to create a series of distinct seating areas. It gives the space a real sense of discovery, with different views revealing themselves as you move through it.

You might want a table with a group of friends, somewhere quieter with the family or simply a good spot to sit with a drink and enjoy the view. And there is quite a view. The garden looks out towards Cross Fell and the Pennines, giving us a backdrop that would be difficult to improve upon.

We’re also adding an outside bar and a pop-up food servery. That will allow us to make much better use of the garden during warmer weather, serve people outside more easily and introduce different food ideas and events as the year develops.

We’ve always had the space behind the pub. Now we want it to feel like a proper part of The Shepherd’s Inn.

Making the Pub Work Better

A refurbishment can easily become about appearances. There will, of course, be plenty that looks different when we reopen, but most of the decisions we’ve made have started with a much simpler question: how can we make the pub work better?

Moving the toilets has allowed us to improve accessibility. Moving the cellar should make life easier behind the bar and help us look after the beer. Creating a new doorway makes the garden easier to reach, while developing the garden gives us an entirely new space for eating, drinking and events.

Individually, they are practical changes. Together, they should make the whole pub easier and more enjoyable to use.

Looking Ahead

We’ve spoken before about the importance of The Shepherd’s Inn remaining a proper village pub. That hasn’t changed.

We love the character of the building and we don’t want to turn it into something it isn’t. But keeping a village pub alive also means allowing it to evolve.

Buildings need to work for the people using them today, while still retaining the character that made them special in the first place. That is really what this refurbishment is about.

We’re looking forward to getting the work finished, opening the doors again and letting everyone see what we’ve been doing. More than anything, we’re looking forward to seeing people back at the bar, out in the garden and enjoying the pub again.

We’ll see you soon.

Rasmus & Azareth