'Vibrant' wine bar plan (From Gazette & Herald)

'Vibrant' wine bar plan

Major renovation work is underway to turn an historic Pickering building into the town's first wine bar.

Simon Boak, who runs The Events Office in Pickering, bought the former Hill and Jackson electrical shop in the market place last year, and hopes it will become a vibrant added asset to the town's night-time economy, while retaining its traditional features.

The grade one listed building dates back to the 17th century, and a lot of original features remain. Working closely with the conservation officer, Mr Boak has employed Atkinson's builders of Pickering to carry out a sensitive renovation of the site.

"It will retain a lot of traditional features within a modern setting," said Mr Boak.

Hill and Jackson took on the shop in the 1950s, and it has not been changed much since then.

Before that it was a cobblers named Coverdale's, and old tin signs for bootlaces have been found during the work.

Mr Boak is hoping the project will be complete by the end of July, but a date is yet to be set for the opening.

"It will bring a bit more of a vibrant place and I'm hoping it will bring people into Pickering instead of them disappearing to Malton, Scarborough or York so often," he said.

"Hopefully other pubs will benefit, too, in that respect because people don't stay in the same pub all night and it's better if they've more to chose from."

The front of the building has been taken out and the roof is currently being held up using Acrow props, and traditional matching stone is being brought from Middleton in Teesdale to make the new faade. Next week the new front will be put in along with new windows, which have been made in exactly the same way as the originals.

At the side there will be a conservatory area with a York stone flag floor. Further back in the bar area, some original terracotta flooring has been found, and reclaimed oak beams have been put in place. There will also be an extension to the back of the building.

"It's easy to just build a new place with bland walls, but if you can use the old features it can look really attractive," said Mr Boak.

He said the project, which will have taken around 12 months to complete, has been done by two teams of builders, with around ten builders on site each day. "Everyone working on it has been great and at the moment it's a final push to get it finished," he added.

Updated: 11:03 Wednesday, June 01, 2005