Pontefract pub set to reopen following near £320,000 makeover
The Travellers Rest in Featherstone, Pontefract is set to officially reopen on Thursday 6th November following a transformational investment of nearly £320,000. The pub is part of Proper Pubs, the award winning community wet led operator division of Admiral Taverns, which operates more than 220 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales.
Behind the bar is passionate husband-and-wife duo, Simon and Gail Davies, who bring an impressive 15-years’ worth of knowledge and expertise to The Travellers Rest having previously run several other community pubs together.
Despite considering a career break, Simon and Gail leapt at the opportunity to come to the helm of this pub after meeting with the Proper Pubs team and seeing everything the venue has to offer.
The pair looks forward to creating vibrant community hub, with a focus on sports – thanks to Simon’s background in professional sports photography – and entertainment, that sits at the heart of Featherstone.
Inside, The Travellers Rest will be completely refreshed to breathe a new lease of life into the pub and create a vibrant, welcoming space across its separate lounge and games areas.
The investment includes a full internal refurbishment with brand new flooring, fixtures, fittings and furniture, alongside an enhanced audio-visual system complete with several flat screen televisions featuring Sky Sports, TNT Sports and horse racing channels.
A new dedicated karaoke wall is also being installed, along with a pool table and two state of the art virtual darts boards in the games room for customers to enjoy.
Outside, guests will be greeted by a full external refresh with new lighting and signage, as well as additional external seating added to the front of the pub and an upgraded garden area to the rear of the venue with brand new wooden benches that will seat a total of 80 people.
The pub will officially reopen to the community on Thursday 6th November at 7pm with a champagne reception and buffet followed by a live performance from Andy and Tracey Lewin from the band ‘Face the Strange’ at 8pm.
The entertainment will continue throughout the weekend with live music, karaoke disco parties and the Premier League being streamed live all day on Sunday and Monday.
The Travellers Rest will offer a wide range of drinks promotions, including Wine Wednesday, where customers can get £2 off a bottle, Fizz Friday, offering customers a bottle of fizz for £10, along with cocktails, bottle and shot deals throughout the week.
Simon Davies, Operator of The Travellers Rest, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be taking the reins at the Travellers Rest and can’t wait to welcome everyone back to see the transformation.
"Thanks to the refurbishment, we’ve been able to create a fantastic community hub where people can come together to enjoy brilliant live sport and entertainment with one another and we are extremely grateful to everyone, including the team at Proper Pubs, who have supported us on this journey. We’re just getting those final finishing touches in place before reopening next week and showing off the pub’s brand new look!”
In addition to the fantastic drinks selection, The Travellers Rest will host regular entertainment to bring the community together including Monday live music clubs, weekly bingo, quiz and pool nights as well as karaoke and live music every weekend. Simon and Gail will also be collecting food to donate to the local food bank and will be raising money for MacMillan in honour of a close friend currently battling cancer.
Nikki Greenhalgh, Operations Director for Proper Pubs, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Simon and Gail to The Travellers Rest and it’s fantastic to see the transformation taking shape. On behalf of the whole Proper Pubs team, I’d like to wish them the very best of luck for the reopening and I look forward to seeing the pub buzzing once again.”
Proper Pubs is always looking for ways to support its communities through an annual schedule of events and fundraising initiatives. In March 2024, it was crowned Community Pub Operator at the Publican Awards. Most recently, the Group collected over 20,000 Easter Eggs to donate to communities in need and raised nearly £100,000 in just three months for various local charities across the UK. Last year, Proper Pubs also successfully donated enough food to local foodbanks across the UK to feed 1,300 people for a week and has also been recognised for its UK‑wide defibrillator installation campaign which has already saved 11 lives.