Village pub near Peterborough welcomes first customers today after almost two years

​The village of Northborough gets its pub back today, with the re-opening of much-missed The Pack Horse.​

Experience landlady, Lesley Newitt, has taken over the reins – after almost a decade building up quite a reputation for the Bluebell in Helpston.

The pub opens on August 31, after a soft-opening over Bank Holiday Weekend for people in the village who had been without a local since October 2021.

"It was quite busy, and went very well, but we wanted to do it for our customers in Northborough,” said Lesley, who has brought experienced chef Dan Roche with her from Helpston.

"We can’t use the main kitchen yet but we will be doing food, including Sunday roast this weekend, and more as we go forward.

"A lot of people have got to know what Dan is about and like his food, so this well be a restaurant as well as village pub.

"We do not want to lose the village pub identity, obviously, we want to remain a pub where people can come to drink, but food will be a big part of what we do. It will be modern British food with pub classics.”

Lesley says she needed a change and aware that The Pack Horse was available made enquiries earlier this year, finally getting the keys in June.

“It is just the sort of size that we were looking for,” said Lesley. "We have been sorting things out for the past two months, and are really looking forward to welcoming customers old and new.”

She will be open Wednesday to Sunday, lunchtime and evenings, and all-day at the weekend.

A spokesperson for Star Pubs & Bars said: “We’re delighted the Pack Horse in the beautiful village of Northborough is reopening and we’d like to wish Lesley all the best with her new venture. She has some exciting plans for the pub which we know the community of Northborough will enjoy.”