We are very excited to announce that Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars have been nominated for three very prestigious awards at the 2019 Casual Dining Awards, taking place in London on Wednesday 27th February. We feel very honoured to be nominated for two such special awards as ‘Employer of the Year’ and ‘Multi-Site Operator of the Year’ and are also very proud of our sister pub, the Cholmondeley Arms, for being nominated for ‘Pub of the Year’. Our owners, Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin, are heading off to the Big Smoke as guests of our excellent wine suppliers, Boutinot, to attend the awards ceremony, and we will keep you posted on the results of our nominations.

For many years now our owners Mary and Tim, when visiting Donegal in Ireland, have popped in to their other favourite pub……the Glen Bar, in the tiny village of Glen. Once named ‘Mary’s of the Glen’ after the famous owner and true raconteur by the same name. Sadly Mary passed away this year and Landlord Aengus with a little help from Glen Bar Restaurant owner Cormac came up with a Gin that celebrated the life of Mary and the 250th year of the famous Glen Bar.

The team from Glen flew over to see everyone at the Bully, and Barry, who hails from Dublin of course as well as Mary who is from Derry, both presented Aengus with a bottle of our most local gin the award winning ‘Spirit Of George’ Gin which is now distilled at the Big Hill Distillery at our sister pub the Church Inn in Mobberley.

It was a great night as the two teams exchanged Gins and a few drinks as well as enjoying a ‘Food Safari’ with starters in the Roebuck Inn, Mains in the Church Inn and puddings and cheese at the Bully.

Big thanks to Aengus for bringing the local Donegal Gin over and here’s to a few more great nights together!

It seems like no more than a week ago that Steve approached our owner Tim with his brain wave of restoring Boys football to the village of Mobberley. Steve had a vision and he and his pals have done exactly what they set out to do and successfully restore boys footie to the village of Mobberley.

Tim didn’t hesitate in agreeing to pay for their kit and with other local firms became the proud sponsors of Mobberley Football Club. Mike Summerbee the famous former Man City footballer opened the club and from then it has gone from strength to strength.

The Bulls Head will always be proud to sponsor the shirts and with in the pub there are some great photos of the old team from back in the seventies and of course the new boys playing for Mobberley with pride!

The Teams play on Saturdays at the playing fields near Ilford’s in the village.

MIKE SUMMERBEE FORMER MAN CITY LEGEND LAUNCHES MOBBERLEY RANGERS

THE ALL NEW MOBBERLEY RANGERS

Bullshead Footie Burg

It was an amazing Halloween bash, with the pub spectacularly decorated by the wonderful Steph. There was some ghostly goings on, as well as some live tunes by the Fantastic Dave and Howard our house band. With All the staff dressed up from an evil Joker, to the Zombie Queen, with probably the scariest of the All, Kieran as MR BLOBBY!!!!!

However it was not just the staff that got into the Halloween spirit of dressing up, with a record number of our amazing customers dressing up for a chance to win a £50 Cheshire Cat voucher. It was a close contest in the end with the Mexican Ghost beating the Headless Horseman to the prize.

This is an event that is growing every year, so much so, we can’t wait for next year’s Halloween scare fest.

The Bull’s Head’s 2nd annual village fete was held on Saturday 25th August and was another fantastic success. The rain had poured on the Friday and continued to do so all Saturday morning, much to everyone’s disappointment. Then the weather Gods smiled on us again and the sun came out blazing from 12pm, ready for another fun-filled fete day.

70 dogs showed up for the dog show and pranced and preened for judge Vic Barlow. Best in Show and winner of the Prized Pedigree category was Shetland Robbie. Coming in 1st place in the Cheeky Chappie category was Jack Russel Scooby, taking the top spot in the Golden Oldie category was Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Dusty, leading the way for the Marvellous Mixed Breeds was Merlin and in the adorable Perfect Puppy category, the winner was Pomeranian Bear.

There was a fantastic array of sweet and savoury bakes on offer in our Mobberely Bake Off, all of which were sliced and sold off after the judging to raise money for the Guide Dogs charity.

Our Dad Dancing competition was very well received, and much hilarity was had by all who witnessed the very cringeworthy moves being showcased by the local dads.

Live music, a barbecue, a very busy outside bar and a very busy pub all added to the day.

A big thank you goes out to our sponsors for the day – Wilmslow Dog Grooming, Ark Veterinary Surgery and Vic Barlow, with a special mention going to Guide Dogs, who joined us with their fabulous stall of goodies and their beautiful dogs.

Thank you to everyone who visited us on the day – we hope you had as much fun as we did! Looking forward to seeing you all August Bank Holiday Saturday next year!

Ok so it wasn’t 32 degrees Celsius like last year but it was still a lovely day with probably the best floats for many a year…everyone had a great time and the rain was sporadic but never managed to spoil, what was, a special day at the Bulls Head and Roebuck Inn. In the marquee this year was a great Gin Bar celebrating the arrival of Mobberley’s own Big Hill Distillery soon to arrive at our sister pub the Church Inn! Our new Dog Bar helped our four legged friends feel part of it all!

Thank you to all our loyal customers for supporting the day and our teams for all their hard work!

The Bulls Head lady’s ‘boudoir’ has had a make over! Yes….over the 8 years we have owned the Bulls Head the lady’s boudoir has seen a number of paint jobs…this little space started life as a managers bathroom! But during the restoration back in 2010 a new bathroom was built in the upstairs accommodation allowing the introduction of a lady’s powder room or boudoir as we call it!

Thanks to Farrow and Ball in Wilmslow, who kindly supplied the paint and wall coverings, as a thank you for past business and Bully regular Barrie who did the decoration work. A lady’s worth visiting!!

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.