1 week Ago By Charles Graham
The Belle Vue on Woodhouse Lane, Springfield, looked doomed until recently. Closed since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the hostelry had been badly vandalised since and, with two other pubs as neighbours, many thought its hospitality days were over. But that was without reckoning on Debbie Kearns and her family who have transformed the place over recent weeks and have re-opened with a new name: the Barkley Tavern.
Part of the adventure so far has been restoring some of its older features, not least a Victorian fireplace which had been concealed by raised flooring, cladding and a more modern hearth. And Debbie’s partner Andy got a fright when he pulled up floorboards to find a concrete fright mask snarling up at him. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to ManchesterWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
The face, believed to have been planted to cause such a reaction in the 1980s (a paper dating from then accompanied it), has since been painted pink, named Frank and will hang on one the wall. Owner Debbie is changing the name because she wants it to be known as a dog-friendly pub, and also has a planning application in with Wigan Council to use the premises as a doggy daycare centre on weekdays during the day. That project, however, is looking far from certain at present due to noise issues that have been raised.
But whatever the outcome, she says she hopes locals will be delighted to see an old watering hole given a new lease of life. Daughters Laura, (the licensee) and Staci, son Josh and her skilled joiner partner Andy have all played a part in reviving the premises, along with the help of local tradesmen. It’s a huge career departure for Debbie, who spent 20 years working with children in social care, then retired to bring up her granddaughter.
She said: “I realised that at 55 I have plenty more in the tank yet, my daughters both have experience in the hospitality industry and thought ‘why don’t we do something with the Belle Vue?’ Advertisement Advertisement "It’s amazing how much we have achieved in a short amount of time. When we arrived, the door had been kicked in, the place was vandalised, the ceiling was down, furniture rotten and the garden overgrown. 'Ordinary Mancs, extraordinary stories' You’re currently reading the new-look Manchester World and we’d love for you to have a look around the site and tell us what you think.
We’ve got you covered however you digest your news. You can sign up to our new bumper Friday newsletter but if video is more your thing, you can follow us on TikTok "A local historian I know thought that it was built in the 1950s but we found a Victorian fireplace which proved otherwise and he went away to do some research and said ‘you’re right. It dates from 1864 and is one of the oldest pubs in the area.
’ It has been great bringing old features back to life. And folk will love Frank!” It is unusual in a residential area for three pubs to be in such close proximity these days, but Debbie thinks there will be room for the Barkley alongside the Prince of Wales and Douglas Bank because they all have different offers which should complement each other. She said they are in part aiming for a younger clientele but also have coffee and cake sessions for older punters in the afternoon.
She is also asking anyone with old pictures of the Belle Vue to bring them in and they could be used as part of the decor. National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting.
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