Fears that Palmers Green was losing another of its small number of pubs were dispelled this week when an upmarket chain that now owns the Woodman announced that it is to be extensively refurbished and will reopen next year.
Photo sourced from a Facebook post by Mike Lawn
The new owner of the historic hostelry on Bourne Hill is Heartwood Collection, until last year known as Brasserie Bar Co. The firm's history can be traced back to the opening in 1996 by its founder, Raymond Blanc, of le Petit Blanc, the first of a chain of Brasseries Blancs. The company expanded into pubs in 2010, and a year later was acquired by the private equity company Core Capital, who in 2022 sold it to another private equity company, Alchemy Partners. It currently runs 25 Heartwood Inns and 14 Brasseries Blancs.
The press release announcing the new ownership says that the “extensive multi-million pound refurbishment” will create "150 internal covers with a further 60 external covers" - phraseology associated more with restaurants than pubs that clearly indicates the direction of travel of what was once a quaint country inn but when it reopens next summer will offer "seasonally changing, ethically sourced menus".
The Woodman was created in 1868 from two adjoining cottages built in 1727, its first landlord being a retired police officer. It reputedly has one of the smallest bars in England. A previous closure in 2012 caused local dismay and prompted a petition to the brewery that owned the pub, Burton-on-Trent based Marstons; it reopened a few months later.
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