A day out a Pub in The Park #Blog

Briony Wilson
10th September 2018

When we heard that Tom Kerridge was bringing his Pub in the Park to Cheshire, we knew it would be a day out we couldn’t miss, and when we heard that the Lambing Shed would be hosting we got even more excited. Despite the weather we kitted ourselves out with wellies and waterproofs and set off to Knutsford.

The entrance to the event got us reminiscing of festivals past, with coloured flags and flowers everywhere. We opted for a quick scout around the whole event to see where everything was and what we fancied doing, and the first thing we noticed was the Pimms Teapot, a true sign of summer. We continued to make our way around the site shopping as we went round, it was great to see many of our fabulous Taste Cheshire producers selling their wares. Including Cheshire Brewhouses, Slabs Crisps, Caroline from Ridiculously Rich by Alana, Weston Biltong, Carslake Tea, Hunters Gin and of course the Host venue The Lambing Shed.

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Hunters Gin

Sadly as we made our way around we realised we had got slightly distracted and had missed the live chef demonstrations, Tom had a arranged a great line up of local and celebrity chefs including Brian Mellor of Harthill Cookery School and Dave Mooney a returning favourite of ours.

It was about time we had something to eat so we headed over to one of the eight pop up pub stands, run by the Church Inn just 3 miles down the road at Mobberly. We opted for the Lambing Shed Lamb and Anglesey Feta Croquette and the Sweet Potato, Red Lentil and Turnip Chilli. All the dishes were sample sized, perfect to try a few as you make your way around the show, at just £5 each. The croquette was delightful succulent lamb and salty feta, in a crunchy croquette paired beautifully with a minted pea purée, rosemary and yogurt dressing, it was such a balanced dish with great presentation. I also loved the extra touch of using Lamb fresh from the Lambing Shed, it doesn’t get much more local than that does it? The Sweet potato and red lentil chilli had a great flavour and texture and offered something different to your usual vegetarian option, the addition of crushed nachos, were well received and sour cream was the perfect accompaniment. As we polished off our dishes were heard the stage warning up for Top-loader.

The weather wasn’t going to put us off, so as with many others; we headed over to the stage. Everyone was having a whale of a time dancing and singing in the wellies, waterproofs, ponchos and the odd umbrella. Despite being named Pub in the Park, the event really had a family friendly vibe, with loads of activities for kids and adults alike, including a Kids cinema playing some of our favourites like Paddington 2. We finished off our day slightly damp listening to Gabrielle Aplin, dancing in the rain. All in all a wonderful Saturday afternoon in the Cheshire countryside, and as Gabrielle said on stage it was great for the North to get to get a piece of the action.