Swindon & Wiltshire News
Arkell’s Brewery officially celebrates its first ‘new build pub’ in a generation
Swindon-based family brewer Arkell’s has officially celebrated the opening of its latest new build pub – the first one in a generation.
It has been nearly 20 years since the Victorian brewery last opened a new-build pub.
The Strawberry Thief, in Tadpole Garden Village, Swindon opened early, in time for the Jubilee weekend celebrations, and has now been officially opened by the Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Sarah Troughton.
The new Strawberry Thief pub has been extremely well supported by the residents of Tadpole Garden Village since opening and had been long-awaited by the community since the first houses were built by Crest Homes.
Initially, the new pub opened with a low-key opening and limited food offering for the Jubilee weekend, but it is now fully open.
The new neighbourhood pub has over 400 covers inside & out which makes it one of Arkell’s biggest pubs. The Swindon site is located on Mackay Crescent, Tadpole Garden Village and looks out onto green space and lakes.
Having invested over £5 million into the build and created over 40 jobs in the pub for local people, George Arkell said: “As a local family firm that has survived the pandemic, we are delighted to have opened a new pub in these challenging times.
“We are extremely proud to be able to offer local employment to support the growing community of Swindon as well as a fantastic venue for the community.”
The team at the pub have been working tirelessly since the opening a couple of weeks ago for the Jubilee celebrations; headed up by Tom & Mairead Titcombe, the new homegrown licensees.
Tom commented: “We both started our careers in Arkell’s pubs and have been with the brewery at various venues since.
“We met in The Kingsdown Inn, and never looked back. Now we have the honour of becoming the first ever licensees of The Strawberry Thief. It’s set in the wonderful Tadpole Garden Village; the pub itself looks absolutely stunning, and we feel so proud to be at the helm of Arkell’s fantastic new establishment.”
The Strawberry Thief, was named as a nod to a William Morris textile design from 1883, which features the thrushes that Morris found stealing fruit in his kitchen garden of his countryside home, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire.
The William Morris theme runs through Tadpole Garden Village with street names and the school named after the famous British textile designer.
The pub has been designed by Clark & Maslin an Architectural Practice based in Malmesbury, and Concorde BGW Group, and the main contractor was local firm Edmont Ltd.
Craig Morton, managing director of Edmont said “On behalf of the Directors at Edmont, we would like to thank Arkell’s for appointing us as main contractor on this fantastic project.
“As a greenfield site, the project has been a great success, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Arkell’s team led by George Arkell, Clark and Maslin, Concorde and the Edmont team.”
George Arkell said: “We are honoured to have HM Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire to officially open our fabulous brand-new pub.
“We have done our best to use local specialists wherever possible, from Edmont leading the contract to local roofers, carpenters and the groundworks team. Everyone has done a fantastic job to bring this project to a reality since the turning of the sod, one year ago. Thank you to them all and the local community.”
Pictured from left: James Arkell, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire & George Arkell
