Three Henley pubs reopen their doors for summer

May 22, 2011

Pubgoers will soon be able to enjoy a drink and a bite to eat in three of the finest pubs in and around Henley, which are being reopened by Brakspear in time for the summer season. The Butchers Arms at Sonning Common opened last weekend, while The Three Tuns in Henley’s Market Place and The Plowden Arms at Shiplake will both be trading by the end of May.

Tom Davies, Brakspear’s chief executive, said, “We’re delighted to be opening the doors at these pubs just as the summer season is about to start in earnest. All three pubs have excellent new tenants at the helm, who we’re confident will make a great job of running them and offer excellent food, drink and service both to Henley’s residents and to the many visitors to our town over the summer months.”

At The Plowden Arms, the new faces behind the bar will be well-known to many in Henley. New tenant Julia Warriner worked at the very successful Rising Sun at Witheridge Hill for more than four years alongside Jude Bishop, who has also moved to the Shiplake Cross pub. Julia said, “We’re looking forward to reopening The Plowden Arms, and are grateful for the support shown by many locals and potential customers.  The pub will attract more passing trade than our last one and has a function room that we didn’t have before, so there’s lots of potential.”

She added, “We’ll be offering customers the same winning formula of great food and drink in a relaxed environment that made The Rising Sun so successful.”  In addition to the main food menu, Julia and Jude will be serving a new ‘snapas’ (snacks and tapas) menu.

At The Three Tuns, new tenants Mark & Sandra Duggan plan to offer ‘really great food, beautifully served – but without any pretension’ when they reopen the pub on May 27th. Their food credentials are certainly impressive: Mark is a classically-trained chef with many years of experience including a decade working for Carluccio’s, where he met Sandra.  Mark says, “Running our own pub was something we talked about for a while and we’re delighted to have found The Three Tuns which we think has bags of potential.”  He is particularly excited about the function room, which he describes as “an underused gem of a venue – perfect for small parties, wedding receptions and other events.”

The Three Tuns will be offering a main menu in the restaurant area and a more ‘gastropub’ style menu with lighter meals and sharing platters in the bar and terrace. A two-course menu for £12.50 will be available every day except Sundays, when it will be replaced by a roast meal.  Typical items include pan-fried sea trout, local asparagus,  steak frites  – and “there will always be a pie on the menu, because it’s a pub”, adds Mark.

Finally, at The Butcher’s Arms, new tenant Brian Thomas has returned to the pub trade after a number of years.  Brian plans to attract local families to the pub as well as build on its reputation for cask ale.

Caption to image: Sandra and Mark Duggan, new tenants at The Three Tuns in Henley, with young son Oscar