Chesterfield landlady thanks pub 'family' for support through flooding nightmare

Sophie and her husband Daniel took on the tenancy of The Bridge Inn, Hollis Lane, Chesterfield in 2022 – and what a year it’s been.

From birthday parties and a festival to a flood and pneumonia, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for the couple. Sophie said: “It’s had its ups, it’s had its downs – a flood was probably the lowest point but we’ve come out the other end and we’re doing fantastic again now.”

Community spirit means everything to the couple who are grateful for the help that the close-knit pub ‘family’ has given them over the past year. Never was this more apparent than when the flood of October 20 invaded their premises. As the cellar began to fill up, Sophie rescued what stock she could between making free cuppas for customers seeking refuge and police officers dealing with traffic stuck in the flood. Later that afternoon when floodwater seeped into the bar area of the pub, rescue efforts turned to moving chairs, tables and dj equipment.

Sophie said: “When the electrics went, my little brother took our children up to higher ground in Chesterfield where family and friends met them and took them in for the night.

"Daniel and I had to stay with the pets upstairs in the pub – at the time we had a dog, a kitten and the kitten’s mum who a few days previously had suffered a fractured pelvis so couldn’t be moved.

"We had a fairly restless night, sleeping on and off. It was frightening – one of those times when you wonder what’s going to survive and whether you can reopen.

"We went downstairs the following morning and to our surprise it was just little areas of puddles and horrible brown silt.

"Thankfully we have our Bridge Inn FC boys who between themselves, my son’s football team and a lot of regular customers, came down and pitched in to try and rescue what they could in the pub. From questioning whether you’re ever going to open again to taking a look around the room and seeing how many people were there, it was a love we’d never felt before. A huge thank you to everyone for the overwhelming support - it’s something that we’ll never forget.”

The Bridge Inn was closed to customers for a week to enable professional cleaning of carpets, curtains, fridges and restocking. Sophie said: “We ended up opening on a bottles and cans basis only, due to our cellar equipment being electrical and waiting for it to be fixed. We had great support from our customers who appreciated that we still managed to open. We’re finally back up and running again with draughts. It has been a whirlwind!”

On Christmas Day, regular customers Andrew Wilkins and Daniel Corry will be dressed as a snowman and Buddy the elf when they man the beer pumps between midday and 2pm. This will enable Sophie and Daniel to enjoy precious time with their children, Reuben, who is 10, and two-year-old Jasmine. That night, Sophie and her husband will be back behind the bar from 7pm. The Bridge Inn will be open throughout Christmas Eve and close at 2am.

This year the couple have hosted numerous happy occasions at the pub, including a gender reveal, a party to mark the Sparkle Walk and celebrations for Daniel’s 39th and Sophie’s 30th birthdays.

Their first anniversary as tenants at The Bridge Inn on December 2 was a party not to be missed. Sophie said: “At the time I was struck down with pneumonia so I was hospitalised with drip bags and intravenous fluids for four days. I very naughtily self discharged on the day of the one year anniversary so I could be here for it."

Reflecting on their achievements in 2023 and their aims for the coming year, Sophie said: “We started the Bridge Spireites coach travel for Chesterfield FC away games again, we’ve had Bridge Fest in August which will be repeated over the Easter weekend next year, we’ve introduced quiz nights and bingo nights and we’ve bought our own karaoke system and DJ system.

“We’re on the lookout for a darts team because we’ve implemented a darts board. We’re also looking at doing a singles night for Valentine’s.

"We want to continue making improvements, continue to do what we do best and that it is to be a big, gigantic family.”