Inn on the Wharf owners excited for new era after rescuing iconic Burnley pub

The Manchester Road pub's closure in 2017 sent shockwaves through the town having been a firm favourite with drinkers for more than two decades.

Speculation the building could be turned into flats had been rife, but as soon as Brian Parker and Craig Elliott saw an opportunity to take on the business, they didn't hesitate.

"It's such an iconic pub, and just walking past and seeing it empty, it wasn't right," said Brian, who has run numerous pubs across the town including the Commercial in Harle Syke and Ighten Leigh Social Club. "I'd been retired for six months at this point, but when I saw it, all these feelings just came flooding back. So, I thought, if we can find out who owns it, and if it's a reasonable price, we'll go for it.

"Since taking over, we have completely revamped the upstairs function room. Once that was done, we came downstairs, basically ripped everything out and started again.

"We're targeting the 30-plus crowd. That's not to say that young ones can't come in, but we wanted a pub where people could come, feel safe, maybe get a bit of food - this is something we'll be looking at in the new year - relax, enjoy themselves, listen to a live band, a DJ, and just have a good night. That's the vibe we want."

Craig said the feedback had been "absolutely fantastic" since the Inn of the Wharf's official opening at the weekend, while the upstairs function room, which opened back in September, is now booked up until 2024.

"We've had a lot of people who used to drink here come up to us and say they really like what we've done with the place. That's great to hear.

"I used to love coming in here myself. We'd play golf, come to the Wharf, have a steak sandwich; it was a fantastic pub. A lot of the time, we used to meet here before going out into town for the night as well. And for me, it's also the building. My background is architecture and construction, so this building has always been of interest to me. Every time I drove past it, I'd look at it and think, 'Why has nobody got hold of that?'

"It's been a very big project. Bigger than we envisaged. Behind the scenes there's been an awful lot of work put into it. But we're getting there now. We've got some incredible staff, lots of things coming up, and we're excited about what the future holds."

The Inn on the Wharf is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday. Function room bookings for 2024 and 2025 are now being taken.