It has been a busy summer, with never enough hours to do things that take time
and thought, like keep the website updated. So here are a few items to bring you
up to date.We wish all of our customers and friends a happy and prosperous new year. We hope you all had a great break and look forwards to seeing you again very soon. I hope this year to do a better job of keeping the web site updated - I somewhat got distracted with too much going on and have relied on FaceBook to keep people informed of what is happening. If you have not yet found us on FaceBook, please click the FaceBook panel on the left and log in. You can then become a friend of the Tunnel Top and thereby stay up to date with what's happening. If you are a regular here, you might even find yourself in the photo gallery from one or another event nights.
We have a few things lined up already for 2012 which we hope will blow away the winter blues...
Do not forget our Charity* Quiz and prize bingo evening every Tuesday at 21:00.
Remember every Sunday there is a carvery with 3 roasts to choose from.
*The Tunnel Top quiz revellers have decided that Tuesday night's quiz events - for which so many generously give their time setting quizzes - should look towards supporting the local community. To that end the quiz is a quiz for fun and we invite all participants to gift £1 per head to the work of current charity. Also during the quiz we have a quick game of bingo (£1 per card) the proceeds from which are shared for a full line and a full house. We feel that this is a good balance between fun and the chance of winning - at least its not the same 'brain-boxes' who take home the winnings every week.
We hope to support four charities per year, each one for 3 months or so. For 2012 the chosen charities are...
We hope that you'll be active in supporting these very worth while local charities whilst also enjoying yourselves.
It has been a busy summer, with never enough hours to do things that take time
and thought, like keep the website updated. So here are a few items to bring you
up to date.
Norton Priory Brewery has entered commercial production of their beers after their formal public opening earlier in September by John Bishop. This was widely covered in the press, but what was not so publicly noted is that we the only commercial public house dispensing their beers. We started with a cask of their Norton Priory Ale (4.0% AVB) which sold out very quickly. We have two casks of CITRUS BURST (3.5% AVB) waiting for a gap in our beer plan - this should be available before the end of September. Keep a watch on FaceBook for flash alerts of this beer being available.
As you may have noticed the CAMRA 'rosette' on the right; we are proud to announce that we have been included in the CAMRA 2101 Good Beer Guide. There are only 73 pubs listed in the whole of Cheshire
David Grey, Halton CAMRA Branch
chairman said "The GBG takes into account the scores of discerning members who
have tasted the beer & as you know no payment changes hand. So, a
thoroughly deserved outcome!"
. We have very much appreciated the support and
encouragement of the CAMRA local and North Cheshire branches (the pub sits on
the boundary between the two) during our first 18 months here. Working in
partnership with CAMRA and our local brewers we moved from a real ale barren
pub, to a GBG listing in just 18 months.
This month is looking very busy; it starts off with Mother's day on the 3rd, school holidays start the day afterwards for two weeks. Easter weekend is towards the end of the month 22nd-25th closely followed by the Royal Wedding on Friday 29th. Three days later and its May Day Bank Holiday.
So there's lots of opportunity for you to get down here and to enjoy yourself. Remember that there's the children's play area and the Tunnel Top is a good base for a country walk along the Trent & Mersey Canal and River Weaver. See our 'Walks' page for some ideas.
Come celebrate St George's Day night. Last year's celebrations was great fun - see the photo album on our Facebook page. This year we have live music from DTB - Guitar & Vocalist.
Mother's day was very busy, we are sorry that we had to turn people away. So if you are looking for a friendly place to eat with great food on Easter Sunday, please book now to avoid disappointment.
Earlier in March we celebrated our first anniversary here at the Tunnel Top. Such a lot has happened over the last 12 months, indeed we've been very busy during that last 3 months getting the place ready to welcome you through Spring and Summer. The place has been deep cleaned and given a fresh coat of paint inside.
Moira and Kevin wish all of our regulars, occasional visitors and new friends made over Christmas and the New Year, a happy and prosperous 2011! Thank you to all of you who supported the festive events over the last two weeks.
We have already started work on planning events for this month: we've arranged a Charity Horse race on 21st Jan - first race is at 21:00. We need sponsors for the races and the horses. Please ask at the bar for details or see the link on the left. 25th Jan is Burn's night and Moira (being Scottish) is putting on a traditional Burn's night supper with "all the works" - Addressing the haggis, Bag Pipes and a Burns rendition. Please call in or phone to reserve a place!
We are proud that we have been chosen to host the North West CAMRA Regional meeting on 15th Jan, for which we will be introducing two beers from Tatton Brewery, a comparatively new local micro brewer. See the Real Ale page for further details.
December is the time to party and we have a few fun things lined up for the Christmas period. Party time starts on 29th November lunch 12:00-14:30 or dinner 18:00-20:30 - a three course Christmas meal only £17.50 per head. Down load a booking form for full details. Please print the form and book early so as to avoid disappointment. If you are unable to print the form, please collect one from the bar or phone us and we will post one to you.
Christmas Day: Live alone? Don't feel up to cooking Christmas dinner yourself? Then come down to the Tunnel Top and let us cook it for you. £17.95 a head - bookings only; please phone or email us.
Boxing Day: Worn out from Christmas day? Need to get away from the kids? Well we had thought we'd close on boxing day, but there have been so many requests from locals for us to open that we are thinking about it! All you need to do is ask... tell us what you want!
New Year's Eve: See out 2010 and 2011 in down at your local. There's a disco and a buffet supper, bar till we fall over! Only £10 each - tickets available from the bar.
Christmas & New Year opening hours:
| Food | Bar | |
| Fri 24 Dec | 12 - 7 | 12 - 12 |
| Sat 25 Dec | 12 - 3 * | 12 - 3 § |
| Sun 26 Dec | 12 - 5 § | |
| Mon 27 Dec | 12 - 7 | 12 - 11 |
| Tue 28 Dec | 12 - 9 | 12 - 12 |
| Wed 29 Dec | 12 - 9 | 12 - 12 |
| Thu 30 Dec | 12 - 9 | 12 - 12 |
| Fri 31 Dec | 12 - 7 | 12 - Late |
| Sat 01 Jan | 12 - 3 § | |
| Sun 02 Jan | 12 - 7 | 12 - 11 |
| Mon 03 Jan | 12 - 7 | 12 - 11 | * Pre-booked meals only - § or later if people still here! |
Autumn has just whizzed by - September, October and most of November just vanished!
Bonfire night was a great success with over 300 people in and around the pub.
The bonfire was a great blaze and was still smoldering on Sunday afternoon.
We had a visit from Graham Evans our local MP and received an "All party
parliamentary beer group recommendation certificate". A great night was by all
I hope you did not miss it!
The Tunnel Top now has a page on Facebook - follow the
link on the left - there you'll find more information about the bar and what people
who come here think of the place. Why not become a friend of the Tunnel Top?
From 2nd August 2010, the Tunnel Top Bar & Restaurant is proud to announce
its new menu, prepared by our new chef Neil. The focus of the menu has been
shifted to a full fresh-cooked focus where for many dishes, food is cooked from
raw for each meal. In some cases, this might mean that your meal will take a
little longer to prepare, but we trust that you will find that short wait is
really worth while.
The menu also moves towards a greater use of local produce across the whole range of our offerings. See the food page for full details. Talking of local offerings, this month we were certified as a CAMRA LocAle pub - the first in the Halton district. See the real ale page for more information.
Please see the calendar for information on forth coming events - especially the arrival of new lines in real ale.
You asked for it, so we've provided it for your entertainment...
Premiership and Championship football matches can now be seen on our 8ft TV screened each weekend and weekday evening as and when broadcast. 12:15, 15:00 & 17:00 kick off matches are all available. There are usually three 15:00 kick off matches to choose from - which one gets screen will depend on local demand. Please do come and support your team and this service.
We have also added a dart board to the facilities provided in the pavilion Sports Bar.
In direct response to the wishes of our loyal regulars and the for the local
community, we are pleased to announce the opening of the Pavilion Sports Bar
as a separate and dedicated area for watching football and other sporting events.
The pavilion has been fitted with an eight foot wide screen so that every one
can get a good view of all the action! The first major sporting event to be
screened will be the 2010 FIFA World Cup series. All of the matches will be
screened live and many will be available for "Watch again"
or "Watch
Later"
if for some reason you missed the first transmission!
The bar also has two full size pool tables in tip-top condition.
We are most grateful for the support from Dave, Mike and Dave, especially for their encouragement and kindness in establishing this new venture at the Tunnel Top Bar & Restaurant.
Moira now returns to the Tunnel Top as landlady, with (her new husband) Kevin as landlord. Both are passionate about quality and customer service and look forward to meeting friends both old and new.
Contact Kevin and Moira Johnson