The Rutland on Stephenson Place was officially relaunched on Friday, May 5 – with Martin and Dawn Alvey taking on the venue.
Dawn was the former manager of The Rectory and Martin runs the Great Historic Pub Tours around Chesterfield – as well as pub quizzes at the Pig & Pump.
The Derbyshire Times was invited for a look around ahead of the reopening, and these 12 photos show customers what to expect from the pub.
1. Experienced team at the helm
Martin said that “Dawn knows running pubs like the back of her hand. The main thing with taking over The Rutland is trying to turn it back into a ‘pub pub’ again – just a nice place that people want to go to.” Photo: Brian Eyre
2. Bringing back the atmosphere
Martin said that the pair wanted to “get some nice ales on and different drinks that people will like, and get that atmosphere back again.” Photo: Brian Eyre
3. Local touch
Dawn and Martin work with Spire Inns, a Chesterfield-based company that takes on the leases of venues in the area – although the Rutland is still owned by Stonegate. Photo: Brian Eyre
4. Work ahead of reopening
Martin said: “It didn’t need a massive revamp, it was mostly just cleaning up. It was left in a bit of a state. We’ve been re-varnishing the floors and original wooden pillars and things like that, repainting some things. There’s a few different bits and bobs, but no massive changes.” Photo: Brian Eyre