EACH week we give a bit of the spotlight to our publicans and their great efforts to keep us happy after tough times.
The Sunnyhurst pub in Darwen is our latest place in the spotlight
Name of the pub
The Sunnyhurst
Address of the pub:
Tockholes Road, Darwen
Landlord/landlady name:
Katie Howland
How long have you been the landlord/landlady for?
9 Years
Bar staff and their names:
Kellyanne, Kim, Grace, Georgina, Kira,
Give us some history about the pub
Located on the edge of Darwen Moors in the neighbourhood of Sunnyhurst. Old staging post hotel on route from Tockholes to Darwen. Sat at the bottom of the path that leads directly up to Darwen Tower.
Traditional country pub, roaring log fire in winters, serving the community and the many Darwen moors walkers for hundreds of years.
Is there a beer garden
Yes we have a beer garden at the back which over looks the bowling green. It’s all decking and seats around 20 people.
Do you have any darts/snooker/pool teams
No
Most popular drink served is:
Wide variety - We won Thwaites best pint for our cask real ale in our area at their awards the year before lockdown. Birra Morretti and San Miguel are the most popular lagers and we also have a very extensive gin bar!
Most memorable moment at the pub
Every year we run a charity golf day which is held at Darwen Golf Club and everyone piles back to the Sunnyhurst. Each year the number of competitors grows and grows and each year the evening is more and more raucous. This years was Friday 10 Sept and we raised £1,000 for Blue Skies Hospitals Funds.
We were the first pub in Darwen to be awarded the Cask Marque. There’s been many days when it’s been chaotic - every Christmas Day we have queues of people when we open at noon. The residents of Sunnyhurst Association have a bi annual fete, one in May and one in December whereby Father Christmas comes to turn on the lights which adorn the area directly connected to the pub. These are great days where the community comes together as one.
Do you have an entertainment line-up?
Not as such...But we do run a very successful fortnightly, very keenly fought Pub Quiz
Have you faced challenges?
The biggest challenge by far since we’ve been in has been lockdown.
Whilst Government support was good and the brewery helped in many ways, since things have reopened it’s clear some of our regulars have got out of the habit of their regular times coming to the pub. It’s not as frequent and it’s now at different times. Cost is also a very major issue - people realised during lockdown how cheap Supermarkets are and yet we face the annual increases and the regular don’t understand why we have to pass this on.
The best thing about running a pub is
Cliché to say it but it’s the customers, the regulars and the irregulars. There’s no doubt that we have our fair share of quirky & unique characters. They never cease to support each other and the whole Sunnyhurst community comes together with the pub being the hub.
The worst thing about running a pub is..
The continual battle of price hikes, trying to justify why we’re had to put the prices up. We recently took Peroni out because of a huge price increase which we couldn’t justify passing on to our customers.
We shouldn’t have to keep explaining things like this - just let us compete on a level footing without forever trying to kill the golden goose.
The perfect hangover cure is...
Long walk over Darwen Moors in the fresh air with Lola (my dog!)
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