Photos show the scale of the refurbishment of the Tap and Run pub that was gutted in a fire over the summer and is hoped to reopen next year. Co-owned by England cricketer Stuart Broad and former Nottinghamshire seamer Harry Gurney, the pub in Upper Broughton was gutted by flames back in June.
The roof was unsalvageable and the interior was severely damaged by the flames, smoke and water damage, leaving just the walls standing. Rebuilding work started at the end of June to dismantle the roof and strip back inside.
Back in June Mr Gurney said the cost of the rebuild, decorating and furniture for the gastro pub was likely to cost around £1m. Now, having been roofless for the past four months, the Tap and Run is beginning to look more like a useable building once again, as work is underway on the construction of the new roof.
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Once the pub is watertight, the internal work can begin - and Mr Gurney said there was a lot to do. He told Leicestershire Live: "We're going to have to dry out the floors, make sure the underfloor heating's working, then put in brand new electrics and plumbing. It's pretty much a new build." So what can we expect in terms of the look of the re-built Tap and Run?
"The exterior is going to look very similar to how it was before. We are replacing what was a concrete tiled roof with slate, which is what the building originally had and I think that'll look really nice, but, other than that, externally there are no major changes," Mr Gurney said.
"Internally, there's going to be a few changes to the layout hopefully, which we'll unveil in due course. Nothing overly significant, but it will look slightly different in there." The aim is for the pub to be up and running in April or May next year.
Mr Gurney also recalled the phone call he received, telling him the awful news of the fire. "I was in bed at home and my phone rang at about quarter past three. It was Jack, the general manager, who had been called by someone in the village to say the pub was on fire. It was a phone call I'll never forget."
"I was shocked, but, at that stage, I was hoping it might not be anything too significant. I jumped out of bed, got dressed and drove here from where I live at Long Whatton, and when I got about half way here, in Wymeswold; I could see smoke in the sky and I knew it was quite a significant fire. As I arrived in Upper Broughton, I was greeted by a massive fire."
The pub - the only one in the village - was formerly known as The Golden Fleece and had been closed for almost two years before the cricketing duo took it on. They transformed it into the stylish gastropub which opened in September 2018.
It was also picked out by The Times as one of Britain's top 30 places to visit for a Sunday lunch. At the time of the fire, pub co-owner Broad was playing in England's second test match against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire. "He was mid Test match at Trent Bridge, so I didn't bother him until about half past six in the morning. I FaceTimed him and updated him. And then when that Test had finished, a couple of days later, he came down," said Mr Gurney.
According to Mr Gurney, the fire was going from about 2.30/3am on June 11, until about 8am. Talking about the extent of the damage, he said: "It was pretty much destroyed in there.
"The whole of the first and second floors were burnt out, the roof was burnt off. The ground floor was eerily intact, but it was so smoke and water-damaged from all the water that went into the building to put the fire out that we've had to strip it right back to brick."
Such is the level of affection that Upper Broughton villagers have for the pub and its workers, they collected £1,500 to donate to the team - a lovely gesture, in lieu of the tips that they would otherwise have given to staff members during a visit to the pub.
With insurers accepting liability for the accidental blaze, work on the popular venue started almost immediately, and initially involved making the site safe, erecting the fencing around the site and removing any precarious timbers. The gable ends were taken down, as were the chimneys, to make sure there was no danger to public health.
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