Stone Food and Drink Festival brewing up a fun addition
The doors are being opened for a sneak peek behind the scenes of a canalside development.
Visitors can sign up for a trip to see progress on the Joule’s Brewery development on the Crown Wharf in Stone as part of its Food and Drink Festival this autumn.
The brewery closed in 1974 and was acquired by Joule’s in 2017, some seven years after entrepreneur Steve Nuttall resurrected the brand back in 2010, with a new independent brewery behind an original Joule’s pub, the Red Lion, in Market Drayton.
The firm now boasts 45 pubs across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, and its return to Stone – where the original brewery was founded in 1779 – has long been in the planning.
Work started on the ambitious transformation of the Crown Wharf site in February 2019, with a new Joule’s taphouse set to open its doors next year alongside a community heritage centre and theatre.
Excited
The tours, which will take place over festival weekend on October 5 and 6, will offer an exclusive chance to see behind the scenes as the project brings vision to reality.
Vicky Shirley, brand and communications manager at Joule’s, said: “We’re hugely excited to open the gates at Crown Wharf for these exclusive tours.
“The local support for the project has been phenomenal, so we wanted to offer people the chance to see the progress to date. The project has been a true labour of love for us and we want to share the fascinating journey we have had – including artefacts and stories donated by local people with links to the brewery.”
Richard Stevens, chairman of the Stone Food and Drink Festival, said: “This is a fantastic addition to the festival programme;
Tour places are £5 including a voucher for half a pint of Joule’s in any Joule’s taphouse in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.
Proceeds will go direct to the Stone Food and Drink Festival CIC. See stonefooddrink.org.uk for more information.
