Yes it is true we have found a non-alcoholic ‘hooch for your pooch’!!!! Called ‘Lucky Dog’ it is proving to be a hit with the thirsty dogs that rock up, with their owners of course, and need to join their owner in a round with the hound!! So get your self down to the The Three Greyhounds Inn after a lovely walk and get your dog more than a biscuit!!
As the summer approaches (hopefully) our head chef Craig and landlord James have been busy putting the finishing touches to our summer menu here at the Three Greyhounds Inn. So what are the new dishes to look forward to….?
In our ‘sharing section’ of the menu we have introduced our Warm Mixed Seafood Plate of tiger prawns, whitebait, calamari and haddock dusted in seasoned flour and gently fried (ideal as a starter for two to share) so popular at the Bulls Head customers want to see it here too!!
In our starter section we now have Craig’s Pork, Apple and Cider Terrine with spicy apple sauce and granary toast this also now features on our famous ‘Pub Plate’. There is a Warm Poached Lemon Chicken and Pear Salad with figs and toasted pine nuts and a Chorlton Blue Cheshire Cheese Fritter with spiced tomato chutney, apple and grape salad or you may be a soup lover so we have prepared a Garden Pea and Fresh Mint Soup and finally by popular demand Pan-fried Lambs Kidneys finished with shallots and red wine served on seeded toast.
On to the Favourite main courses Craig has introduced Slow Cooked Pork Belly from Anna’s ‘Happy Trotters’ Farm served with braised layered potato and cider sauce and for seafood fans a Pan Fried Lemon Sole with Jersey Royal new potatoes, seasonal greens and samphire. The ever popular Salmon and Smoked Haddock Fishcakes are now with oven roasted cherry tomato and rocket salad and horseradish & lemon mayonnaise.
For a twist we also have Craig’s Alternative Chicken ‘Kiev’ with a Hollandaise sauce and fresh wild garlic served with summer greens and oven roasted cherry tomatoes. Another slow cooked dish is the Slow Cooked Cheshire Lamb Shoulder with braised layered potato and onion, red cabbage and Rosemary gravy.
There is a lovely light salad of Smoked Duck Breast with orange, roasted plum and toasted cashew nuts with a pomegranate dressing and finally another summer delight with Baked Kidderton Ash Goats Cheese coated in hazel nuts with a pear, fig and home pickled golden beetroot salad.
Finally Craig’s home made puddings there is a Baked Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble Cheese Cake with fresh cream or Allostock Fresh Gooseberry Tart with clotted cream and for the chocolate fiend a Chocolate and Hazelnut Brownie with raspberry ripple ice cream.
A twist on a Peach Melba brings you ‘Seven Sisters Farm’ Raspberry Pavlova Ice Cream served in a brandy snap basket with peach compote and finally the popular summer mess that is the Allostock Mess of fresh whipped Chantilly cream, Meringue with strawberries and raspberries.
Enjoy all these lovely summer dishes in our Cheshire Farm Garden to be found through our Brandy Snug or in a cosy corner within the Three Greyhounds Inn itself. Here’s to the sunshine!!
We have been visited by Janet and Andy all the way from Buckingham. They have been investigating their ancestors and have found that one of them took over the Three Greyhounds Inn way back in 1843. As is recorded below with sketches and a copy of an entry from the family tree, a man called Peter Taylor took over as landlord of the Three Greyhounds from his deceased brother Joseph, having married Joseph’s widow.
This historical record confirms what we, here at the Three Greyhounds Inn had guessed, that the pub and farmland belonged to aristocracy and now it is confirmed within this record, that this was Sir Charles Peter Shakerley, (as in Shakerley Mere) who was the 1st Baronet no less!! We now have Sir Nicholas Simon Adam Shakerley, 7th Baronet (born 1963) in situ. So 7 generations later!!
Sir Charles Peter Shakerley 1st Bt., of Somerford Park, born 27 Dec. 1792, was educated at Brasenose, Oxford and was Sheriff of Chester in 1837. He was created Baronet on 30 July 1838. He married firstly 26 Feb. 1819 to Laure Angelique Rosalba d’Avaray, daughter of the Duke (Ormerod describes him as the Marquis) D’Avaray. This marriage ended in divorce and Peter then married on 20 December 1831 to Jessie Matilda (died 8 Aug. 1902) the daughter of James Scott of Rotherfield Park, Hampshire and had issue. Sir Charles died 14 Sept. 1857 and was succeeded by his eldest son Charles Watkin Shakerley.
As this account details the Three Greyhounds came with 70 acres of land, various outbuildings and crops. A small rent was paid to the local vicar and more to Sir Charles …some £7, 7 Shillings and 3 pence to be exact. How times have changed!!
The sketches confirm that our out buildings were once farm houses and show the piggeries that still exist in our garden today.
Big thanks to Janet and Andy for sharing their ancestors history with us. Anyone else that can help with the history of our pub please let us know.
SUMMER DRINKS ARE HERE!!
Hopefully summer is coming soon!!? Anyway to cheer everyone up we have introduced our special summer drinks list!! (see below)
The work on our garden is finished having added all the summer planting. There is nothing better than sitting in a rural Cheshire garden sipping on a Pimms or a chilled glass of white wine while embarking on a fresh Seafood plate!!
There are sheltered areas and sunny areas to the garden for you to enjoy with great views across Cheshire fields and of the old farm buildings that make up the Three Greyhounds Inn.
To access the garden simply come through our Brandy Snug within the pub and out of the French windows. Pet dogs are welcome in the Brandy Snug and in the garden itself. We get all types of visitors including a family of ducks recently!!
The sunshine is on its way we are sure, so pop down and enjoy your summer at the Three Greyhounds Inn!!
New drinks
PET DOGS ENJOY THE GARDEN
SIMPLY THROUGH THE BRANDY SNUG TO OUR LOVELY GARDEN
DUCKS TROT THROUGH OUR GARDEN
PLENTY OF TABLES TO CHOOSE FROM
With the summer approaching James our landlord and deputy Ben (who has joined the team from the Cholmondeley Arms) have been running a competition to find the ‘Byley Blonde’ Ale!! Three Brewers were asked to present a Blonde Ale (which had already been narrowed down from seven ales by James) to the Three Greyhounds Inn and our customers decided who the victor should be on a blind tasting. The date for the launch of the taste challenge was Thursday 18th April 2013 and lasted until the first barrel went!! The beers were badged with our specially designed badges with pop art versions of iconic ‘blondes’. (See below)
The three brewers can now be revealed!! Tatton Brewery from Knutsford represent by Debbie Harry, Merlin Brewery from near Sandbach represented by Kate Moss and Weetwood Brewery in Tarporley represented by Marilyn Monroe!!! All brewers are within the 30 mile radius of the pub and all are craft brewers.
I am not sure whether our older clientele were influenced by the Marilyn Monroe badge but the winning Blonde came from Weetwood Brewery!!! All of the ales were excellent and were thoroughly enjoyed!! So our seasonal summer blonde ale has been agreed and will badged as BYLEY BLONDE!!
We are currently working on the badge design and the beer will be launched later in May! So please allow us a ‘blonde moment’ or two!!
Thank you to all our customers who helped choose the ale!!
Since we opened the doors of the new Three Greyhounds Inn we have had a really great response to our ‘house ales’ and our seasonal ales too. On centre pump is our resident ale (unless James sells out of course) Three Greyhounds Bitter a traditional 4.5% bitter smooth and creamy and rich in flavour. The second of our resident ales is Almighty Allostock Ale otherwise known as ‘Almighty’ or Triple ‘A’, this is a hoppy 3.8% ‘bittermans bitter’!!! Then our seasonal Ales…Lower Peover Pride a very low 2.6% ABV beer which has proved popular as an alternative to bitter shandy!! Finally there is Byley Bomber a celebration ale in recognition of the Wellington Bomber built at Byley and flown out of RAF Cranage during WW2. The badge also recognises 96 Squadron who flew Hurricanes out of Cranage defending the north west from German air attack in WW2.
Tim Bird
AT CHOLMONDELEY
Loyal customer and very keen cyclist Jonathon is the first of our cycling customers to complete the ‘Cheshire Cat Pub to Pub to Pub (Trio) Challenge’.
Setting out from near Knutsford in pretty cold and snowy conditions Jonathon headed first to our Cholmondeley Arms Pub out near Malpas on the A49 heading to Whitchurch!! The picture shows just how snowy Cholmondeley was compared to the rest of the county. Having taken on a warm hot chocolate for energy, Jonathon then headed to our next pub the Three Greyhounds Inn at Allostock. Conditions here were much better for a cycling enthusiast. After another picture outside this pub it was on for the final leg of the journey to a rather misty Bulls Head before heading home for a hot shower and an early night. Just over 70 miles later without any performance enhancing drugs or a Steak and Ale Pie even!!! The respective pub teams gave Jonathon a warm welcome as well as helping with photo taking and ensuring he was back on his bike for the next leg of this journey!!
Jonathon commented “I was at a loss as to where to go on my Sunday ride today. So thought I would tackle that well known ride ‘The Cheshire Cat Trio’!! Cholmondley is a little further down the A49 than I thought and there was also more snow than I anticipated when I got there but I am thrilled to be the first of many to hopefully tackle the challenge!!”
Well done Jonathon a great effort and there is a Pie waiting at a pub of your choice from the trio as and when you have recovered!!!
If you are a keen cyclist and want to be listed as a ‘Cheshire Cat Trio Cycling Challenge beater’ then set out and ensure your photo is taken with your trusty bike at each pub with the signs in the background of each picture and send them to info@cheshirecatpubsandbars.co.uk. You will get your photo in our ‘hall of fame’ and we will send you a ‘refreshment voucher’ as well as a pint on us at the final pub!!
Thanks again to Jonathon for taking on the challenge and beating it!!!
AT THE BULLS HEAD
AT THE THREE GREYHOUNDS
Byley Bomber beer badge
James our landlord has chatted with a few regulars here at the Three Greyhounds Inn and done a little research and has come up with a commemorative Ale to recognise the great history of the local area around our pub.
“Byley Bomber” is a great 3.8% abv session Ale which will feature as a guest ale for many years to come. It celebrates firstly RAF Cranage which was a Royal Air Force station during the Second World War. The airfield was located just to the North of Middlewich.
The site at Cranage was chosen for use as a training base and aircraft maintenance unit in August 1939. Originally just a grass airfield, three runways were later built from American metal plank. The airfield unusually had eight blister hangars for maintenance use.
The first flying unit was No. 2 School of Air Navigation which was formed on 21 October 1940. It operated the twin-engined Avro Anson for training navigators. In 1942 the unit was renamed the Central Navigation School and the strength was increased to 58 Ansons, they were joined two years later by a number of Vickers Wellingtons in the same role. It is the Wellington bomber that is celebrated on the badge and names the beer.
A Vickers-Armstrong shadow factory assembling Wellingtons, was situated at Byley but close to the Cranage airfield. The completed aircraft would be towed from the factory to the airfield for their first flight and onward delivery.
The beer badge also reflects the formation of 96 Squadron in December 1940 at RAF Cranage, which was equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. This unit operated in the night air-defence role, mainly in the protection of the industrial and port areas of Liverpool.
The only flying unit on the airfield after the war was No. 190 Gliding School which was formed in May 1945 and operated from the site for two years. With their departure, flying ceased at Cranage. The airfield was used for storage and maintenance until it closed in 1958.
Great history indeed and what a great beer too!!
96 SQUADRON
RAF
Vickers Wellington
