We caught up with Gill, our Business Partner who celebrates an astounding 37 years of running The Palatine in Hadfield. We learnt about what brought her into the industry, how things have changed over time and some of her memorable moments so far.

So where did it all begin?

Life at The Palatine started on April Fool’s Day back in 1987. It was the first pub we took on and I’ve got no intentions of leaving it yet!

My husband, well we weren’t married at the time, was a full-time fire fighter and he was coming out of the trade. He was fed up with getting thrown out of a pub after a late call out or job, and so when he was retiring from the fire service, we decided we wanted a pub for ourselves.  

We used to do a bit of relief work for some good friends, who were both in Robbies pubs. There was the Bulls Head in Marple with Sam Filarty, and Carol and Ray Hatton at the New Inn in Hattersley, that is no longer there. But they encouraged us to go for it!

We were interviewed for the Brinnington Arms, but when we never got that pub, they said come and have a look at The Palatine. So, my husband and his friend came up to see it and returned saying  “we’re having it”. But, I wasn’t agreeing until I’d had a look! There was just something about it when you walked in, so we took it on! In fact, they asked if we could be in within 24 hours!  We moved in on the 28th April, 28 days after we signed for it.

And you’re still here 37 years later…

Yes! When my husband died in 1992, I thought that was the end. Robinsons came to see me, even the fire service came to see me, they said “don’t give up, go forward”. The backing I got from Robinsons was unbelievable. It was the old generation, Mr Peter, Mr David and Mr Dennis, and they an older generation approach too. It was “come on girl, get on with it you’ve got this, and you can do it”. And I did.

I had a son, he was 10 and he mucked in. He was very supportive. The best thing about this, is as long as you’ve got good backing from Robinsons, an accountant, a stock taker, you’ll go far. They keep you doing the right thing. I mean my accountant would come and tell me off if I’ve done something wrong… it was all new to me! I was writing things down on paper and I’d get in touch with my accountant who assured me I was doing things right, and I progressed and got better at it.

You don’t really know people until you spend time with them to understand them. But they always stuck by me. Mr Peter always used to call in. When the Visitors Centre opened, me and my son went, and he knew my name straight away.. That speaks volumes. I was quite impressed with it, it feels like you’re not a number, you’re part of the family and they know you. You really know where you stand. I suppose that might seem strange saying ‘part of the family’ but, it does feel like that.  

What were those first moments walking into the pub like?

It was lovely, friendly, full of characters. Most of them aren’t here anymore, its 37 years ago, but real characters. The true locals of the community. Just different characters about them, we had this corner (Gill points behind her to a plaque which says ‘head bangers corner’, there were teachers, politicians, scientists, all sorts, plenty of different characters.

How have things changed for the pub over the years?

At one point, things were getting a little bit rough, people’s drinking habits were changing, and I was a bit worried. People were going into Manchester and doing different things. Alan, my Business Development Manager came to see me and said “I think we’ll give you a mini sparkle”. I’d just bought a brand-new carpet, it cost me thousands. Alan said “don’t worry, everything will be alright”. Meanwhile I was having sleepless nights, I couldn’t tell you what things were like.

Robinsons brought in builders, architect, and designers and they told me we’d have to shut for a month. I wanted to work around it, and they said no, you’ll have to close. A fantastic company came in alongside Nick to do the design work.  

When it came to the final moment, I sat there on the stairs and thought, this is the pub I always wanted, I cried. Its nine years on now, and if I see anyone not looking after things, I tell them. It used to be a man’s ale house, but after the refurb, I began to see these people’s wives and families – half of them I didn’t even know they were married!  

Before we opened, Alan had said, leave the wines to me, I’ll bring them. He arrived on the day we were opening with boxes and boxes of wine. I looked and thought “I’m never going to sell all that”. Anyway, it was my grandson at the time, he’s going out to Alan’s car getting all these boxes and I’m worrying about how I’m going to pay for it. Alan was telling me to have faith, it’s a new start, but I was unsure. But, I couldn’t believe it, on the Tuesday my son had to go to brewery to get more wine! I couldn’t believe it. The refurb had just opened a brand-new door for me. Nine years on and I’m just going from strength to strength. It’s been really good for me.

So what sort of people visit The Palatine?

I’m meeting a lot of different people; couples, families, really nice people. And we all interact with each other. It’s not if you sit apart, you’re a stranger, we talk to one another. It’s a proper family pub. We get a lot of walkers because we’re on the edge of the Longdendale Trail, or people who come off the train from Manchester to see the League of Gentleman stuff that’s around the village. There’s quite a lot of stuff around the pub too actually.  

You need a good team to succeed. I’ve got great bar staff. If I’m a bit of a hinderance – they tell me to get out! I’ve got a good team around..  

I enjoy meeting people. I don’t interfere with people, but it’s nice to be around people. If they want to chat, we can talk about all sorts. Football is a big thing in here, we show the football, we’ve got three telly’s so we can show up to three matches. But then, there is always good banter about who gets the big screen and which supporters get the little room.  

My customers come in and I’ll ask them their opinion, if I think I need to change things up, their opinion and habits are important.

What’s been the most memorable moment?

I did get married in here, the first year we moved in. But there’s so many, some I can’t tell you! One I remember is when the Tour de France were passing by. The entire of Glossop had gotten prepared for the day, stocked up, staffed up, geared up for a real big event. But it didn’t quite go as any of us had expected. The coaches to take people to the event ended up parking right outside the pub and everyone would get off the train outside and then be getting on buses up the hill. So, it was bedlam. You looked out of the window, and it was as busy as a football stadium, the pub was heaving. We’d done burgers and a bit of food that day, and it was so busy. They then all jumped on the coaches and disappeared. At the next pubwatch meeting I went to in Glossop, I don’t think I was too popular.  

Have you got any funny stories you can remember?

When we first got here, there was all these blue plates hanging above the picture rails, but there was a few missing. And I’d wondered what had happened to them. Well, there was an old customer who used to come in and drink Old Tom which we had on draught. After a few, he used to flick things and try knock these plates off the wall. I didn’t have a clue about this until I came in, and at the time I thought oh gosh, what the heck have I come in to!. He’s not with us anymore, God rest his soul. But these were the old school, the old locals. There was even a piano in here when we moved in, but we had to wait to see if the customers actually wanted it. All you could here was ‘plonk plonk plonk’. I can tell you, that soon got moved!  

The Palatine is a warm and friendly pub in Hadfield, a stone’s throw from the train station. It’s well located for the Longdendale Trail and is also popular with the local community. You can expect to see three hand-pull ales, a selection of lagers, wines and spirits.