Castle community welcomes Ray and Ingrid
Ray and Ingrid Foster will be opening the doors of the Gordon Arms in Castle Road on Monday 30th June - and are being welcomed with open arms by the whole local community.
The couple are well known for having made such a success of The Ship in St Cuthbert’s Street in Bedford. They retired “for about two days” before local family owned, Charles Wells Ltd, persuaded them to join them in revitalising the Gordon Arms.
The pub has undergone a considerable refurbishment to make it brighter, lighter and more welcoming to everyone - women and men alike.
Bringing their experience and expertise to the table, Ray and Ingrid have engaged manageress Angharad “Harry” Holloway to add her energy and enthusiasm to the team... An entertainment space, a community hall, a function suite, The Shed will be, a facility for people of all ages to enjoy. Ray and friends have been known to sing a song or two over the years. After all if Ringo and Paul can still turn it on at the Liverpool cultural festival who’s to say Ray and the band won’t take a turn at the Gordon Arms.
Ingrid was, of course, famous for her home-cooked food at The Ship. At the Gordon Arms the couple are aiming at a “cafe society” style offering. Tables and chairs and umbrellas, a “lovely noisy” Italian coffee machine and customers can sit and watch the world go by - while enjoying a light lunch, or at weekends a great brunch.
Local residents are buzzing with the news that Ray and Ingrid, who have themselves lived in the neighbourhood for years, are taking over the Gordon Arms:
“People have seen the builders here for weeks and keep stopping and saying ‘At last, the Gordon Arms will be a pub for local people...when are you opening’. So we have been made to feel very welcome,” said Ingrid.
Charles Wells Pub Company Retail Development Manager Colin Spilling, who is a familiar face to anyone in the pub and club trade having worked at Charles Wells for more than a decade, said:
“It would be a waste for such a successful couple to be lost to the pub trade and so I am delighted that we managed to persuade them to bring their skills to this community pub. It is an exciting venture for everyone. They will serve our award-winning beer such as Wells Bombardier, in the best possible condition so they can be appreciated by everyone.”
A fantastic new wine menu has been developed at the Gordon Arms, by Colin’s wife Suzy, long-serving Wine Development Manager for Charles Wells Ltd. The well balanced wine menu will compliment the food, the beer and the new style of the pub.
Peter Wells of the family-owned Charles Wells Ltd, which owns the pub, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ray and Ingrid and very much look forward to this new venture at The Gordon Arms. Charles Wells Ltd remains at its heart a local business - one which employs many Bedford people and is now investing hundreds of thousands in our local estate. The Gordon Arms is a great example of this and a great boost for local people.”
