AN ambitious couple who run two popular Tynedale pubs have taken on a new venture in the North Tyne village of Wall.

Andy and Susan Smith already run The Red Lion at Newbrough and The Twice Brewed Inn near Bardon Mill, and their next move involves taking over the Hadrian Hotel, which is particularly well-known to those who travel between Hexham and Chollerford.

The pub currently boasts six hotel bedrooms, a traditional-style bar lounge and a 40-cover restaurant, but the pair have more ambitious plans for the future.

Andy, who was previously head chef at Langley Castle for 16 years up until 2014, has created a brand new menu which he launched last week.

He will begin by working in the kitchen himself to perfect the menu and standards, and is also bringing with him one of the chefs from his days at Langley Castle.

He said: “The new menu is created from all my own recipes. The lamb and beef is all from Sewingshields Heritage Meats and 90 per cent of our fish is from North Shields fish quay, as I think it’s important to use local food from local businesses.

“It will be traditional British food with a twist – while it may look like a standard pub menu, I pride myself on the quality of food I produce, which has shown through the reputation we have built up at the Red Lion and Twice Brewed, and on the plate it will look spectacular.”

The pub will also become home to a vast variety of North-East real ales, from suppliers such as Allendale, Matfen and Wylam Breweries, which Andy said will change to suit the changing seasons and food on the menu.

Since coming into the pub on November 2, Andy and Susan have been busy cleaning, painting and decorating to give it a fresh new look, and the staff, who they have kept on through the take-over, have been joining in to help.

At the end of next year, the pair plan to do a full refurbishment, creating three new en-suite bedrooms and giving the bar and restaurant area a complete make-over, including knocking down walls and creating a more open-plan and fresh appearance.

Andy said the location was one of the main things that attracted him and Susan to the pub.

He explained: “Hadrian’s Wall is such a massive area for tourism and that continues to grow – this is in the perfect location.

“We’ll start off by finding out what people in the village want – whether that’s a darts team or local games, and try to give them that.

“A pub should be the heart of a community and we want to make people feel welcome.

“We want to create a family-friendly, dog-friendly, welcoming local pub at the heart of the community.

“It’s a big challenge taking on another pub, but it’s a challenge we’re both excited by and we hope to make it one of the best pubs in the district.”