After a major investment, Altrincham's oldest canalside inn reopens today. Co-owner Carl Stonehouse tells us how a flat-pack bar bought on eBay led him here.
An 1828 commercial directory of Cheshire notes that at the far end of Altrincham ran the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, and beside it the Navigation Inn and the Packet House, "where passengers receive every accommodation while waiting for the packets".
Nearly two centuries on the packet boats are long gone, but The Old Packet House is still on Navigation Road, still the second stop out of Manchester on the run to Runcorn, and still with its leaded and stained glass, central chimney and real fire. What it has not had, for some time, is any serious money spent on it.
That changed last month, when the pub shut its doors for a full refurbishment costing £400,000. It reopens today, Monday 21st September.
"We've reached the point where patching things up isn't enough anymore," the pub told regulars when it announced the closure. Talking to Altrincham Today once the work was underway, co-owner Carl Stonehouse - who runs the pub with his wife Sharni - explains why the need for investment had become so acute.
"The seats were falling apart, the carpets were coming up in the corners," he says. "I'd been spending loads of money on bits the customer doesn't see. Two hundred quid over there, two hundred quid over there. It was just repair - dead money."
From the factory floor
Carl's route to The Old Packet House has not been a conventional one. Before the pandemic he spent nine years as a seaming technician in a factory, working 12-hour shifts day and night. He had no hospitality background at all.
Then COVID closed everything, including the Packet House, where his brother Ben worked at the time. "I said to him, what can we do here? You're not working, you've got time on your hands, I've got energy."
The answer was a flat-pack bar bought on eBay, folded into the back of a car with the seats down and driven to people's houses. They raffled a free four-hour service - selling over 50 tickets - and drew the winner live.
"Before I knew it I had a fair few jobs coming at me, and I had to quit the factory just to keep the momentum." A year later came a call from RedCat Hospitality, then the pub's owners, asking whether he fancied a go at the Packet House. He had the keys within a week.
It was, he says without hesitation, extremely tough. Eighteen months of revolving-door management had impacted the reputation of a pub that was named the best in Trafford by CAMRA as recently as 2018. "No one was coming in. We had no custom for the first two weeks," says Carl.
Beer had suffered in particular. "There's a lot of background work that goes into making sure that beer comes out as it should. The previous operators just lost their way with that."
A complete overhaul
When Admiral Taverns bought the site from RedCat last December, Carl raised the idea of a full renovation almost immediately and they agreed.
The result will ensure a complete overhaul of the pub, including new signage, new lighting and a revamped beer garden with new heaters and lights. There will also be new kitchen equipment, seating and flooring. "I'm trying to go even more traditional, but future-proofed," says Carl.
The three upstairs bedrooms are also being renovated, helping to ease the current chronic shortage of accommodation in Altrincham.
Carl is hoping the relaunched pub will appeal to a wide range of customers, from office workers to real ale drinkers and families looking for a good Sunday roast.
The Old Packet House is not the only Altrincham bar in his hands. He and his team have taken over the bar operation at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse. Rechristened The Old Stage Door, it has its own refurbishment plan drawn up and will be completed over the coming weeks.
But the old Packet House is the main focus. "I want it to be a great all-round community pub," he adds. "We've had to fight to keep it, and I'm very proud, to be honest. It's a big deal."
The Old Packet House, 1 Navigation Road, Altrincham WA14 1LW. The pub reopens on Monday 21st September, and will be open from 12 noon seven days a week.
Photography: Laura Marie Linck
