A cosy country pub located in a "destination" village has seen Scousers travel miles to visit for years.
The Wayfarer Brew Pub and Dining Rooms on Alder Lane in Parbold, Lancashire, has been run by the same family since the 1990s. The Wayfarer Bar Area is one of the oldest buildings in the village and was originally stone cottages built in the 1700s.
In the 1960s, the site was said to be a small restaurant called Papagei, before becoming a guest house called the Wayfarer. But in the 1990s, husband and wife Mel and Nadine Street decided to purchase and renovate the property into the business people in Parbold and beyond have come to know and love.
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After being estranged from the family for years, Mel and Nadine's eldest daughter, Rachel Birkett, attended an invitation to the opening night and has been part of the business ever since. Rachel, 49, told the ECHO: "I ended up leaving home very young and getting into trouble, I ended up living in a squat in Liverpool.
"I basically became a Christian and started going to church and decided I didn't want to be an idiot anymore., after a couple of years I got back in touch with my mum and my dad and said I'm sober now, I'm not on drugs.
"They invited me to the opening night of their new business which was the Wayfarer. I was 25 then and in my previous life I had experience in waitressing and they were short staffed. Even though I was a guest I helped out and started carrying plates.
"The manager said you’re alright you and said come back tomorrow and I've been there ever since. It’s been like the repairing of my relationship with my parents, working at the Wayfarer."
Over the last two decades, the pub has gone from strength to strength and in 2017, when celebrating its 20th anniversary, won the Chamber of Commerce Family Business Award. Last year, Rachel and her sister Katie took over the business, with Nadine still managing the office and Mel, a builder by trade, still helping on site.
Near the pub, Rachel and her husband Jonny also converted their former house into on-site microbrewery Problem Child Brewing in 2010. Their children, Amie, Cameron and Obi are all involved in the family business today.
Rachel said: "It’s very original, it’s very authentic. Everything we do we really put our heart into and our personalities into and our creativity and ideas.
"I think one of the reasons we’re still going strong after so long is we just don't stand still and get bored, we’re always looking for new things to do. We find the things we put our love into does really well."
Located in a picturesque setting, customers can enjoy a number of dishes from Problem Child beer battered haddock to pizzas, steaks, burgers and more. You can dine in the conservatory, dining rooms or a cosy nook in the fire-lit bar area.
Rachel said she's most proud of "the innovation" of The Wayfarer, from growing their own vegetables on site to hosting live music festivals. Over the years, they've also attracted customers from Merseyside and beyond.
Rachel said: "We're really privileged in Parbold because it's in the countryside and Parbold Hill has beautiful views and beautiful walks all around us. The village itself is a destination and I like to think we do that justice with what we provide on top of that.
"We’re quite close to the motorway and we get people who meet halfway, with someone coming from one direction and another from the other. We’re quite accessible.
"I remember once we handed out customer feedback forms and we asked for people’s addresses and I was surprised how many people were from Merseyside." Now over 25 years in business, Rachel said it's "a real privilege" to be part of the community.
She said: "Your first job is really important and a lot of our staff are school leavers or at that age and there’s a lot of local people. There’s families whose children come to work for us and I think it's a real privilege to actually employ them and teach them this is what work looks like.
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"You make a lasting impression and then you see those young people grow into adults, get their own jobs and then you see them come back in the pub and they bring their children in a pram then the next thing you know their kids are 16 looking for a job. It’s just a real privilege to be such a key part of so many people's experiences."
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