Latest news with #pubrenovation
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kenny actor Shane Jacobson reveals shock career move
Actor Shane Jacobson is embarking on a new adventure in regional Victoria, to film his journey of buying the historic Dederang Hotel for a proposed reality TV show. Known fondly as the Ranga to locals along the scenic Kiewa Valley Highway, the pub has become the latest passion project for Jacobson and a group of investors. The Kenny star, 55, will be making the shock move with the help of his filmmaker friend Dean Murphy. While the purchase was Murphy's brainchild, Jacobson emphasises their mutual commitment to preserving the pub's cherished character. 'The potential show will follow the journey of us buying the pub, and doing a bit of work to it,' Jacobson told the Herald Sun. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I don't want to say "renovation" because I'm nervous about making too many changes to the place. We have to make sure we don't ruin the locals' pub. I've seen passion for football clubs, but it doesn't hold a candle to the love the locals have for the Ranga.' With plans to occasionally roll up his sleeves behind the bar, Jacobson quipped, 'Will I be up there pulling beers? Yes, but I bet you I'll drink all the beers I pour.' For Jacobson, owning a quintessential Aussie pub is a dream come true. 'We've been told all our lives that the great Australian dream is to own your own home,' he said. 'But to that I say, "frog s**t." Every bloke I've ever spoken to says they want to own a pub. I'm about to find out if I've bought the great Australian dream, or a nightmare.' The proposed series is currently in the early stages of development, it is not yet known when it will air or on which channel. In June, the Dederang Hotel shared a post to social media confirming it had been purchased by Jacobson. Alongside a photo of Jacobson having a drink at the venue, they wrote some informative words: 'New Chapter! It's with a mix of sadness and great excitement we announce the Ranga will officially be under new ownership as of Monday 23 June.' Jacobson is best known for his starring turn as a hapless plumber in the 2006 film Kenny. In 2018, he revealed that down-and-out fans often contact him, requesting copies of the film to cheer them up, assuming he has a stash. Instead, the actor says he has to pop out to the shop and buy copies of the film just like everyone else, before he mails them off to those who ask. 'I guess people assume I have a warehouse full of them,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald. He added: 'In reality, I have to go out and buy the copies just like everyone else and send them out.' Jacobson revealed that he has spent a lot of money sending the DVDs out to his fans but simply can't refuse. He said: 'I don't mind doing it. I reckon I've spent many thousands of dollars over the years... but how could I ever say no?'
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Homes Under The Hammer star Martin Roberts forced to deny he wants to turn renovated pub into a lap-dancing club
has been forced to deny he is turning a dilapidated pub into a lap dancing club amid budgeting and building woes on the renovation project. The Homes Under The Hammer presenter has previously admitted to struggling with the transformation of Hendrewen Hotel in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. Martin has been hit with a string of glitches since shelling out a reported £200,000 for the pub and budgeting £500,000 for the makeover - and work has been ongoing at the site for more than two years. But the 61-year-old said the delays have sent the local rumour mill spinning - with suggestions he has given up on the project in the village of Blaencwm and is planning something very different to a pub renovation. Martin said: 'As things go on, rumours start to get rife so we have to put paid to them now - one is that it's being sold, but I am not selling it, I'm not turning it into a lap dancing club and I'm not turning it into flats! He said: 'The biggest challenge has been getting it back together, all structurally sound, and it had 150 years of stuff to strip away. It took a lot longer than we thought it would. 'One wall was held up by a piece of steel, which was supported by a bit of wood, which was supported by a final bit of wood that was holding up everything - and it was a rotten piece of timber about an inch thick!' Martin said many of the delays had been caused by issues around planning permission and ensuring other regulations were met as the building was stripped back. He says: 'It's not the doing it, it's not the ideas, it's not the enthusiasm and having a great team - it's often the extra things you have to do in terms of planning and regulations because it's going to be a place of public use. 'It means you have to adhere to a thousand billion more rules and regulations and it quite rightly covers everything and it takes forever. 'It's frustrating because I wanted to be further along but it has to be done. But we will get there.' Martin insisted he wants the hotel to have individually-themed bedrooms based on popular TV shows such as Doctor Who or Top Gear and even Homes Under the Hammer, and wants the restaurant's food to rival top eateries elsewhere. He said: 'I want it to be somewhere special, not be over-priced but it will be a place where you'll want to come for a special occasion and I think the Valleys deserve that. 'Why shouldn't it be as good as anything you find in Cardiff, London or The Cotswolds? I want people to walk through the door and go, 'I can't believe this is here, because you could be in Bourton-On-The-Water!' 'I will put in lots of memorabilia which I've gathered, but also decorated in [a particular] style. 'So the Fawlty Towers [room] will have wallpaper peeling off, shelves that are breaking, flock bedspreads and very old fashioned fittings. The 61-year-old said the delays have sent the local rumour mill spinning - but denied he was selling the property or turning it into a lap dancing club 'I've actually got a life-sized cut out of Tom Baker - my era - and I'm currently negotiating on buying a 1970s Dalek. 'The only good thing about any delays is that it means I came up with extra ideas, like the bedrooms. I didn't think of that at the start. It's a big project, there's lots to think about. 'I might give some of the bedrooms to one interior designer to play with. I've been collecting lots of relevant memorabilia and collectables and we've got some great designs already, but I'd quite like to give younger people a chance to come in and do the Doctor Who bedroom, do the Question of Sport bedroom with a little bit of their spin on it..' Martin has formerly admitted that he didn't tell wife Kirsty about the 'accidental' purchase of the pub - situated near to his farmhouse in South Wales - until after it was complete. The purchase came just after Martin suffered a health scare a year earlier in 2022 when his heart, kidney and liver failed. He was hospitalised with chest pains that he mistook for long COVID, but doctors told Martin he was suffering from pericardial effusion, a build-up of fluid in the structure around the heart. Martin had to have surgery and was ultimately 'given a second chance at life' thanks to the incredible work of surgeons. The renovation will be documented in a ten-part series called Oops! I Bought A Pub, which will be shown on ITV next year - or whenever the pub finally opens.
Daily Mail
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Homes Under The Hammer star Martin Roberts, 61, admits he's 'failed on every level' on major refurbishment project - after getting a 'second chance at life' following health scare
Martin Roberts has admitted he's 'failed on every level' in his attempt to turn around an out-of-use pub in the Rhondda Valley. The Homes Under The Hammer star, 61, purchased the Hendrewen Hotel in Blaencwm, Rhondda, in 2023 and planned to inject £500,000 to give the boozer a complete makeover. Situated not far from Martin's farmhouse in South Wales, the renovation expert wanted to bring bark a spark to a community which had 'lost their heart'. He'd estimated that the half-a-million would be enough for works to be complete in around two years, but after that exact amount of time, the makeover is far from finished. In fact the eight-bedroom property looks the exact same, with the presenter admitting he's 'failed on every level'. Martin told The Sun: 'For a man who spends all his time telling people to make sure they stick to their budgets and timescales, I have failed on every single level. 'I'm still smiling but, oh my word, what a challenge it's been, I'll be honest, it's the first commercial property I've ever done. 'There have been lots of residential houses and flats, but commercial properties have a lot more complications, I'd say we are 60 per cent there.' One of the many hold-ups which he has encountered has been dealing with planners who insist he prepares for possible floods. Helping Martin power through the many obstacles he's overcome to get to this point have been a host of young locals. The presenter has a group Welsh teens aged between 15 to 17 working with his tradesmen, learning various practical skills they can use after school. Given his boozer is located in one of the country's most deprived areas, Martin hopes he can give the children 'a step up the ladder' and help them gain employment. With the pub now months away from completion, the former I'm A Celeb star is aiming to have around 30 locals employed when it 'hopefully' opens later this year. Martin is designing the Hendrewen so that each of its eight bedrooms has a different theme, all centred around television. He's planning to have a Fawlty Towers room, A Question of Sport room and - of course - an offering centred around Homes Under The Hummer - a show's he's presented for more than two decades. Martin purchased the pub in South Wales after suffering a health scare a year earlier in 2022 when his heart, kidney and liver failed. He was hospitalised with chest pains that he mistook for long COVID, but doctors told Martin he was suffering from pericardial effusion, a build-up of fluid in the structure around the heart. He had to have surgery and was ultimately 'given a second chance at life' thanks to the incredible work of surgeons. In December 2024 Martin issued a worrying update on his health, revealing he fears he doesn't have much longer left. Speaking to MailOnline, he said that he still gets twinges in his chest that cause him to panic. He explained that he doesn't 'know how long he has left' and is trying to do as much good in the world as possible. 'The physical side of things took a lot longer than we thought to get around,' the father-of-two said. 'I still get twinges and every single time I get a twinge in my chest, I panic. As anyone who has had any kind of problems with their heart would attest to it.' Martin continued: 'It sends you into a flurry of worry because they only sort of dribble out these stories afterwards. 'It was like I went to see the the consultant who did the emergency operation, and I said to him, "so how long would I have survived?" 'He said, "well, you probably wouldn't have made it through the night. So it was just as well I was on duty... you probably had maybe two or three hours to live." 'That was two to three hours from dying and not being here and not seeing the kids anymore and not fulfilling all my ambitions and doing all the things I want to do. 'So that's sort of the psychological side of that. It takes a lot longer to get over than the physical side. 'I was told I need to slow down and take things easy and all that kind of stuff, and I've gone a completely other way. 'This is why I've got this project in Wales where I'm renovating a pub, for the community, and we're using local kids to do the work and bringing kids who are disengaged and disadvantaged, giving them a chance to get construction skills. 'Just doing lots of good. I don't know how much time I've got left, so I just want to do as much as I possibly can to help.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Revamped Kirkstone Pass Inn will 'not be aimed' at hens and stags
The newest owners of a historical pub have dismissed rumours its rooms may be marketed at stag and hen highest pub, the Kirkstone Pass Inn, had provided respite for travellers for centuries and was bought by Supreme Escapes in firm is renovating the already existing rooms and turning the old keeper's house into holiday accommodation, but said the bar area would not change and operate for the public, whether there was a booking or Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) said it recognised concerns about "potential loss of historic character" and had opened an investigation to monitor the use of the building. The centuries-old former pub stands at 1,481ft (451m) above sea level, on an exposed hillside above was frequented by visitors who made it up the Kirkstone Pass - known locally as "the struggle" - before it was put on the market in 2021, sitting empty for works sparked concerns online about the future use of the site and whether the changes were kept within the building's character and location. 'Almost derelict' Jerry Huppert, a partner in Supreme Escapes, told BBC Radio Cumbria the building was being renovated sympathetically and they had already spend about £3m on the building."The pub was very, very tired - almost derelict beyond repair," he added while located four miles (6.4km) away from the nearest neighbours, the accommodation was not being marketed to hen and stag parties - as had been speculated added: "Although our company generally specialises in holiday lets, we have recently moved into a new business model of boutique hotels and this is our first one."The building would also continue to operate as a pub, Mr Huppert said, and he was hoping it would reopen in the summer. Car park plans Planning manager for LDNPA Julie Birkett said the building was not listed and therefore internal works did not require planning permission, "regardless of their impact on internal historic features or character".She added a previous investigation concluded the building's new and renewed roughcast render was not an act of development as defined by law, and therefore did not need planning had also been raised online about preserving public access to the pub's car park, which is used by Huppert said there was a long lease on the carpark to the LDNPA."We have approached [the LDNPA] to see what their plan is at the end of the lease and they said they will touch base to us about a year or two before the end of the lease," he LDNPA confirmed the lease was due to expire in 2029 and renewal options would be considered closer to that date. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Legendary' Birmingham rock pub gets new lease of life with two huge reasons to visit
An old Birmingham rock pub has been given a new lease of life, undergoing a refurbishment that includes one huge new feature. Scruffy Murphy's in Dale End has been serving beers to a soundtrack of rock and roll since 2001 and its new renovation makes it look like Birmingham's answer to the Hard Rock Cafe, with memorabilia on the walls and nods to musical icons including Birmingham's own Ozzy Osbourne. There's also a photo of Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi in which he's standing outside the pub in the flesh. Read more: Kerryman pub transformation to be revealed in days as excitement builds Subscribe to the Brum Food Club for a weekly food and drink newsletter, in your inbox, every Thursday. It's free. Before it became 'Scruffy's' the pub was known as the Pen and Wig, and the corner boozer has been known for hosting live gigs and proving a safe space for Brummies belonging to alternative subcultures in both its iterations. As well as refreshing the interior, the pub has commissioned a huge mural of rockstars on its external wall. READ MORE: Photos show refurbished Scruffy Murphys - Birmingham's answer to the Hard Rock Cafe It features the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Motorhead legend Lemmy, Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. By way to celebrating the new addition, Scruffy Murphy's has invited visitors to take photos standing outside the new Dale End art feature to be in with the chance of winning tickets to Bloodstock, a heavy metal festival held every year in Catton Park, Derbyshire. Dale End took a significant hit earlier this year when Priory Square closed for good. When it shut down, the businesses that had called the shopping centre home were forced to close, including the 54-year-old Oasis Market. The Oasis Market, like Scruffy Murphy's, had long been a space for Birmingham's heavy metal fans to congregate. Now, Scruffy's has lent its downstairs gig space to Fallout, one of the independent traders that had been selling official band merchandise in The Oasis Market since 1996. Fallout is currently selling T-shirts, flags, patches and more from within the pub on a temporary basis while it works to establish a more permanent position. Exact dates can be confirmed on the Fallout Instagram page, though it's currently set for every day of the week beginning May 19, excluding Saturday. You'll find Scruffy Murphy's at Dale End, B4 7LN.
