At last a few new drams arrive!

Its been a while but we are happy to announce that our new ‘Whisky Bible’ has arrived. This is the fifth edition of the ‘bible’ in the 8 years the
Bully has been re-opened under the ownership of Tim and Mary. Because of Barry and Mary’s Irish roots there are one or two more whiskies to try from the Emerald Isle. Ireland has quite a number of craft whiskey distillers arriving on the scene and one of these is Dingle Distillery. One has to age whiskey for three years and a day before it can be legally called Whiskey. While Dingle Distillery have been waiting for their whiskey, they have become famous for their Gin and their vodka. They had the clever idea of selling barrels of whiskey very early in the  process and this whiskey is now maturing.

The photo shows Tim outside his favourite pub in Donegal, Ireland…..the Glen Bar situated in the tiny village of Glen. The Glen Bar is the Bulls Head’s ‘twinned’ pub. Tim is holding one of the first bottles of Dingle Whiskey kindly presented to him by Aengus the landlord of the Glen Bar. This bottle takes pride of place on the wall of the Bulls Head in a very cool frame by our third fire place.

The Bible also includes a couple more Japanese whiskies and of course some Malts, as well as an English Whisky from the Lakes Distillery. The collection has grown over the years and now stands at just over 100! So get down to the Bully and finish that meal with a we dram!

Download the new Whisky Bible here

The top movers and shakers of the UK drinks industry gathered last night in London to hear the results of the Imbibe Personality of the Year Awards 2018.

The nominees were voted for by Imbibe magazine’s readers in record-breaking numbers and the shortlist included the highest calibre of UK on-trade professionals.

Tim Bird, co-founder of Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars picked up the award for Pub Personality of the Year.

Imbibe editor, Chris Losh, commented: ‘Tim has worked in the industry for over 35 years, and since he’s saved many pubs from closure in that time, it’s safe to say the UK’s pub scene would not have been the same without him.

‘He’s proved himself amazing at running everything from big pub groups to small independents, and, for the last seven years, his own group of country pubs and Inns. This passion for the industry is exactly what Imbibe Magazine is all about’.

Judges for the competition included restaurateur George Bergier, the Connaught Bar’s Ago Perrone, Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, Northcote’s Craig Bancroft, Gin Journey’s Leon Dalloway, Beer Belle Annabel Smith, Mixology Group’s Myles Cunliffe and the Imbibe editorial team.

Imbibe launched the Personality of the Year Awards in 2011 and previous winners have included Heston Blumenthal, Ronan Sayburn MS, Thinking Drinkers, Alex Kratena, Christine Parkinson, Xavier Rousset MS, Dee Davies, Lyndon Higginson, Stuart McCluskey, Salvatore Calabrese, Laura Rhys MS, Thomas Decan, the Galvin Brothers and Jake Burger, as well as many other on-trade professionals.

The 2018 awards were presented on Monday 12th February at Mahiki Kensington.

Launched in March 2007, Imbibe magazine has rapidly become the UK’s leading magazine for on-trade drinks professionals working in premium UK establishments. Imbibe is a quarterly magazine, with more than 20,000 drinks buyers and servers in the UK receiving a copy. Copies are available upon request.

Imbibe Magazine is the UK’s leading drinks magazine and tonight at their annual awards in London our owner Tim was chosen as ‘Pub Personality of the Year 2018’.

Tim was up against some of the pub industry’s top talent on the night, but the judges not only looked at Tim’s vast experience in the industry but particularly the success of Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars, Tim’s company that he operates with his wife and business partner Mary McLaughlin. They have taken pubs that were either closed or close to closure and through their restoration have created one of the best small pub companies in the UK!

On winning this prestigious award, Tim thanked the team at Cheshire Cat…..”I have had many proud moments in my career but nothing has made me prouder than the achievement of our pubs. Starting our own business was the best thing we have ever done and tonight I share this award with Mary and the Cheshire Cat team! I would like to thank Imbibe Magazine for giving me one of the proudest moments in my career! I look forward to celebrating with the team!”

Barry starred as Mrs Brown (without the boys!) at the Bully Halloween party! People could have thought it was Irish Week rather than Halloween but Barry looked scary enough…Steph stole the really scary show with her red eyes and Olivia twisted heads with her devilish red skirt! All in all a great night with the pub decked out brilliantly with more treats than tricks and a great‘ghoul-ash’ on the specials board!

See you all next year!!

Well what a great day for the Bulls Head Mobberley Fete. A dog show and a bake off were the big events of the day. The sun shone, the live music was enjoyed, as the clock moved to 12 mid-day and registration for the dog show commenced as Karen became inundated with entrants! 65 dogs registered for the show with a another 20 in the crowd!

Tim our owner was on megaphone and our Judge ‘the Dog father’ was on hand to ensure all the dogs were observed before winners were picked! The Overall winner was Hattie….pictured.

There were five categories for the dogs and below you will see the Cheshire Cat news page covering the whole event. There is also a gallery for you to look at see below to.

We want to thank everyone for attending and yes, we promise to do the fete again next year. Put the date in your Diary! Bank Holiday August Saturday 2018!

Unbelievably this is our 8th Rose Queen and this was certainly the hottest one we have enjoyed. Talk about perfect timing! Hottest day of 2017 lands on Rose Queen day! The children (and adults) managed to stay cool on the floats and the efforts made were tremendous. So much work and endeavour goes in to the floats and they were truly appreciated by all the people who turned up early to see them in the lane before they set off on their procession round Mobberley.

At about 1.45pm they paraded back down Mill Lane to big crowds of well-wishers and proud mums and dads! We had many interesting vehicles rock up in the sunshine…only at the Bully can you get a vintage tractor parked next to a classic Porsche and then an American WW2 jeep too!

The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all at the Bulls Head (and the Roebuck Inn too) even though a few did say those words….”it’s a bit too hot today!”

Thank you to all the wonderful floats and the all our customers that supported the day.

Here’s to next year!

The Ted to Head quiz took place at the Three Greyhounds Inn on Wednesday 24th May, with the year’s winning teams from the Cholmondeley Arms and the Bull’s Head going up against one another. The victors were Ted’s Tarts from the Bull’s Head, stealing the show for the fourth year running. Well done, girls!

Wednesday 26th April saw new champions pick up the Bulls Head quiz cup plus lots of Bulls Head vouchers and a free gin tasting!!

Ted’s Tarts were the 2017 champions-well done and congratulations!!

Big thanks as always to Professor Ted our supreme quiz master, we couldn’t do it without you!!

The ‘Ted to Head’ final between the Cholmondeley Arms and The Bulls Head happens at the Three Greyhounds on Wednesday 24th May at 8pm.

A big thankyou to all of the teams that took part in the quizzes over the past 6 months- we will be back in September!

By The MA, 16-Mar-2017

Pioneering food couple Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin have used their vast experience in the foodservice sector to build their growing fleet of seven food-led pubs. Read More