* New owner Seamus O'Keeffe in the area overlooking the river he intends to turn into a rooftop bar area.
* Mr O'Keeffe in front of the pergola which will eventually lead into a new reception.
* The Chainbridge Hotel with its spectacular view over the River Dee.
ONE day in the not-too-distant future visitors to Llangollen
may be able to take a leisurely horse-drawn boat trip along the canal from the
wharf, stop off at The Chainbridge Hotel for lunch, stroll across the River Dee
on the historic chain bridge itself and then walk up to Berwyn Station on the
opposite bank to board a steam train on the heritage railway back into town.
That is the vision the man who recently became the new owner
of the landmark hotel, which is sandwiched advantageously between the river and
canal, after buying it a few months ago
for £500,00 out of administration where it had been placed following the
collapse of Stephanie Booth’s Llangollen Hotels group of which it was part.
Another of the ambitions 28-year-old Seamus O’Keeffe has for
the hotel is to see it return to the affections of local people, many of whom
have never visited it in years.
Despite falling
into administration in July last year, The Chainbridge continued to be operated
by its loyal band of staff until June this year when it was acquired by
Surrey-born Mr O’Keeffe for whom, as he explains, it is more of a family
business than an investment opportunity.
Running hotels
has been a family affair for him.
After reading
history at Leeds University he went initially into public relations with a London agency before taking off in a
completely different career direction to help run the George III hotel near
Dolgellau with his wife Elizabeth for his parents-in-law.
When The
Chainbridge came on the market he saw it as an opportunity too good to miss and
the family moved up to Llangollen.
While Elizabeth
looks after their five-and-a-half-month-old son Dylan, Mr O’Keeffe runs the
hotel seven days a week.
One of the most
visible signs The Chainbridge is now under new management is the pergola he has
had built on to the side of the hotel which points towards Llangollen.
From the small
patio area, part of which this now covers, there will be a more natural
progession for guests from the car park into a new reception area currently
being built in what was a disused gym.
Replacing the
rather dark and dated reception on the canal side of the property, this will be
tastefully fitted out with stained glass and etched Victorian-style windows
looking straight out on to the stunning vista of the famous old chain bridge
just yards away.
Although this was
closed for safety reasons about 30 years ago and is currently a sad, rotting
hulk, major plans are afoot by its new joint-owners, Llangollen Town Council
and Llantysilio Community Council, to bring it back to life.
In May, the
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) handed over almost £30,000 for the first phase of a
complete makeover of the bridge.
Proposals include its re-opening for public access and the resurfacing of a
footpath to enable better disabled access.
This all fits in
well with Mr O’Keeffe’s own ambitious plans for his hotel.
Part of his major
investment plan – he won’t put an actual figure on it – is to turn one of
the 30-odd bedrooms on the first floor
into a bar area from which guests and visitors can step directly out on to a
new rooftop seating platform directly overlooking the bridge, the Dee and
Berwyn Station.
Outlining his
ultimate vision, Mr O’Keeffe said: “In the future I would like to see people
being able to come up the canal to the hotel aboard one of the horse-drawn
boats that sometimes terminate at our car park, have lunch in the hotel and
then walk across the river on a refurbished bridge.
“From there they
can walk up to the station through a small tunnel which runs under the track
and board a steam train which will take them back to Llangollen.”
Revealing his
other plans for the hotel, he said each of the remaining bedrooms – the four on
the ground floor and the 32 upstairs – would be completely refurbished, along
with guest corridors, the ground floor bar area and the large function room,
which he believes was the first in Wales outside of churches and registry
offices to host a wedding ceremony.
Outside the
building, exterior walls will be re-rendered but will keep their familiar black
and white, half-timbered look.
The new reception
area is due to be open by Christmas and other refurbishment will be complete
within 12 months.
Already, the hotel’s
restaurant menu has been completely re-written and centres on first-class,
locally-sourced ingredients.
It will be open
on Christmas Day for a £49.95-a-head festive meal.
Generally, Mr
O’Keeffe says his aim is to get as much of the work on the hotel finished in
time for the re-opening of the bridge, which he understands could be the autumn
of 2014 – its 200th anniversary.
However, despite
the major facelift he has planned, he says he is determined never to forget the
history of The Chainbridge, which is originally believed to have been the home
of local entrepeneur Exuperious Pickering from about 1827 until it was turned
into a hotel soon afterwards.
Pickering built
the chain bridge across the Dee in 1814 from a network of handmade chains to
facilitate the transfer of coal and lime from his mines between the canal and
the main A5 road.
The original bridge was refurbished and strengthened by Sir Henry
Robertson, who owned the nearby Brymbo Steel Works, in 1870.
In 1928 heavy floodwaters, combined with the partial damming of
the river by fallen trees, caused the Dee to rise dramatically and destroy the
bridge.
Undeterred, Sir Henry organised the retrieval of the original
supporting chains and rebuilt the whole structure to a much stronger design in
1929.
A display on the history of the hotel and bridge is currently set
up in the function room, with black and white pictures loaned by Llangollen
Museum.
Mr O’Keeffe might have a feeling for the hotel’s past but he also
has an eye on the future and has two
goals.
He said: “My first is to make it a place where the residents of
Llangollen want to come again and the second is to make it a successful
business
“Any profits we make here will be re-invested into the business
and we will be putting back as much as we can over time to make sure The
Chainbridge is successful.”
