Rising Sun in Winchester to reopen as a ‘real alehouse’

12:02pm Tuesday 17th July 2012 in Winchester

New owners Nicola Ramshaw and Alex Bell at the Rising Sun in Winchester New owners Nicola Ramshaw and Alex Bell at the Rising Sun in Winchester

A HAMPSHIRE pub has been thrown a lifeline after being closed for four years.

The Rising Sun, in Bridge Street, Winchester , is set to reopen on July 20 after its lease was taken on by new bosses.

Alex Bell and Nicola Ramshaw have agreed a 23-year lease with owners the Wellington Pub Company and plan to turn the building into a traditional alehouse.

Mr Bell, 27, from West Wales, said: “It’s going to be a pub for locals. I don’t think there is a really traditional pub in Winchester where you can just go for a drink with your mates. We aren’t going to do food, we will make it a real alehouse.

“There doesn’t seem to be a place here where you can just go and sit at the bar for a drink, and you have to be able to do that at a pub.”

Work started on the pub three weeks ago and so far the pair have put £25,000 into refurbishing it.

They previously ran The Horse & Jockey in Curbridge, near Botley, and have more than 20 years of experience at pubs between them.

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Comments(21)

Niel says...
1:14pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Good luck to them, keep the ale's well and it'll be popular, keeping the cider and lager swilling riff-raff out may be more of a problem...

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Shoong says...
1:25pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Good intentions granted, but without the food income, the location of the place isn't ideal and this the first time I've heard anything about it. The last owners had let it disintegrate into a hell hole.

It had best sell a few of those real ales then, good luck all the same, it's good to see pubs opening again after all they've been through recently.

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Shoong says...
1:28pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Niel wrote:
Good luck to them, keep the ale's well and it'll be popular, keeping the cider and lager swilling riff-raff out may be more of a problem...
What pompous snobbery, I'm a cider drinker and have never been in trouble because of it!

You'll be one of these red trouser wearing knobs who holds the entire bar up for 10 minutes then because you're so up your backside you can't decide drinking what ale makes you look cultured in front of everyone.

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JoLovegrove says...
1:44pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Niel wrote:
Good luck to them, keep the ale's well and it'll be popular, keeping the cider and lager swilling riff-raff out may be more of a problem...
I think perhaps you may be more suited to drinking in the Wykeham Arms...real Pubs don't cater for snobs they cater for "real down to earth" people and you don't sound like you fit into that category. On a more positive note I really wish them luck...there is one other "real pub" in Winchester, love it or hate it, The Bakers Arms. I always loved the Riser when Alfie ran it....I hope they are as successful as he was. Good luck!

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Condor Man says...
1:56pm Tue 17 Jul 12

The South Western Arms in St Denys sells almost exclusively locally brewed beer. I don't drink but I appreciate why it's important to maintain local traditions. You can walk into most pubs and guess they'll be selling Fosters, Guinness, Stella and John Smiths, it's good that people are starting to buck this trend.

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Georgem says...
2:07pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Condor Man wrote:
The South Western Arms in St Denys sells almost exclusively locally brewed beer. I don't drink but I appreciate why it's important to maintain local traditions. You can walk into most pubs and guess they'll be selling Fosters, Guinness, Stella and John Smiths, it's good that people are starting to buck this trend.
The South Western doesn't even sell draft Guinness any more! Breathe of fresh air, that place.

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Beer Monster says...
2:37pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Agreed - if you can keep a decent ale, you soon build a reputation and people will flock to the place. Look at the likes of The Guide Dog, Waterloo Arms and, of course, The South Western.

p.s. a few decent ciders wouldn't go amiss either :-)

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miltonarcher says...
2:53pm Tue 17 Jul 12

The Black Boy pub in Winchester has the right balance. Simple food and good ale. Superb Pub

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dopplershift says...
3:48pm Tue 17 Jul 12

All hail the ALE!!! I think getting the Ale right is a priority. Don't over do it and bite off more than you can chew (drink!). just a couple of nice well maintained brews is perfect. Have a couple of nice wines for the ladies coupled with a bit of home food and it's a recipe for a blossoming business.
.
I'm not a wine drinker but my wife is and it's surprising how many pubs can't get the wine right. Cheap is not good!
.
Bottled cider should be banned. And people drinking it over ice should be banned.

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Irate Wintonian says...
3:52pm Tue 17 Jul 12

JoLovegrove wrote:
Niel wrote: Good luck to them, keep the ale's well and it'll be popular, keeping the cider and lager swilling riff-raff out may be more of a problem...
I think perhaps you may be more suited to drinking in the Wykeham Arms...real Pubs don't cater for snobs they cater for "real down to earth" people and you don't sound like you fit into that category. On a more positive note I really wish them luck...there is one other "real pub" in Winchester, love it or hate it, The Bakers Arms. I always loved the Riser when Alfie ran it....I hope they are as successful as he was. Good luck!
Well said Jo.
The Bakers is and always was a proper local.
It'll be good to have The Riser back again.
I hope the new bosses have been warned about the haunted cellar...

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mabel1966 says...
4:13pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Loved this pub when it was with Alfie he was such a lovely man. Wish them lots of luck with it. Cant imagine what it must have looked like when they first went in there after all the years its been left empty.
Good luck Alex and Nicola :0)

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Kerryp says...
4:45pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Make sure you have Mild!

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IronLady2010 says...
6:14pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Good luck to them, but they will need to sell a lot of Ale to make a decent profit. Most profit in pubs comes from food, but maybe they can make it work?

Will they be selling wine?

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bazzeroz says...
6:43pm Tue 17 Jul 12

They obviously haven't any stock yet as their glasses are empty. Good luck anyway. Nice to see a pub opening instead of closing!

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dolomiteman says...
6:44pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Shoong wrote:
Good intentions granted, but without the food income, the location of the place isn't ideal and this the first time I've heard anything about it. The last owners had let it disintegrate into a hell hole.

It had best sell a few of those real ales then, good luck all the same, it's good to see pubs opening again after all they've been through recently.
The rising sun fell into disrepair after the owner Alfie became ill and had to give up running the pub, it is a pub which succesfully traded for many years without the need to rely on selling food. I have also been in the Horse and Jockey whilst Alex Bell was running it and he is an excellent and friendly landlord, I wish him the best with his new venture.

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IronLady2010 says...
7:02pm Tue 17 Jul 12

dolomiteman wrote:
Shoong wrote:
Good intentions granted, but without the food income, the location of the place isn't ideal and this the first time I've heard anything about it. The last owners had let it disintegrate into a hell hole.

It had best sell a few of those real ales then, good luck all the same, it's good to see pubs opening again after all they've been through recently.
The rising sun fell into disrepair after the owner Alfie became ill and had to give up running the pub, it is a pub which succesfully traded for many years without the need to rely on selling food. I have also been in the Horse and Jockey whilst Alex Bell was running it and he is an excellent and friendly landlord, I wish him the best with his new venture.
I've just looked at the website for The Horse and Jockey and it looks like a beautiful pub, will add this one to my places to visit.

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SFC4EVA says...
9:46am Wed 18 Jul 12

Good luck to them. Love a drop of decent real ale.

Everytime I've been to the Horse and Jockey the food has been terrible. Hope if there is going to be food at the rising sun it will be better.

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Frank28 says...
10:53am Thu 19 Jul 12

A 23 year lease is a very long commitment. How can you not afford to sell food, when there's a busy JD Wetherspoon pub in the City?

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Saintcosser says...
11:55am Thu 19 Jul 12

Georgem wrote:
Condor Man wrote: The South Western Arms in St Denys sells almost exclusively locally brewed beer. I don't drink but I appreciate why it's important to maintain local traditions. You can walk into most pubs and guess they'll be selling Fosters, Guinness, Stella and John Smiths, it's good that people are starting to buck this trend.
The South Western doesn't even sell draft Guinness any more! Breathe of fresh air, that place.
Best pub aound IMHO.

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Saintcosser says...
12:01pm Thu 19 Jul 12

Also like to say good luck to the new landlords of The Rising Sun. However, I don't really get to go to Winchester much these days but, The Rising Sun could be a good enough excuse.....

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peasant says...
2:27pm Thu 19 Jul 12

Best of luck to them, nice to see a real pub opening rather than closing. Chronicle has opening date as 27th though.

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