New owners reveal opening date of The Hoptimist, Darlington

The Hoptimist, on Tubwell Row, temporarily shut its doors in January while work was carried out to repair issues including the roof and heating.

Now, the venue has revealed it will reopen its doors on Monday, June, 15, with plans to bring sport, games and community events to the pub.

One of the new owners, Phil Gamble, 34, from Darlington, said he is “excited” to welcome punters back to the pub, which has since undergone a major refurbishment.

 Mr Gamble said he and his partner officially signed for the pub last week and are now working to get everything in place ahead of opening day.

He said: “It has been in the works for the last few weeks, and we officially signed last week.

“Since then, we have been in the process of moving in, getting everything cleaned up and making sure the pub is ready to go for when we open on Monday.

“We are really excited about it. It is not our first pub as we have had a couple before, so we know what we are doing and we just want to get started and make a success of it.

“It is always good taking on somewhere new and building it back up.”

The new management team has previously run pubs in York and across Yorkshire, including a mix of community pubs and food-led venues

The Hoptimist, Darlington (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Mr Gamble said the Hoptimist will initially focus on live sport and activities to help bring customers through the door.

He said: “We are opening just in time for the World Cup, so we will be making a big effort around the games and getting people in to watch them.

“We will also be looking to bring in teams, so things like pool teams and darts teams, and creating that proper pub atmosphere again.

“We are planning to run a weekly quiz as well and we will be looking at putting together some drink offers to encourage people to come in and see what we have done.

“At the moment we are focusing on getting open, but there is plenty more we can build on.”

The pub will open from 11am on its first day back in business.

You can find the pub at 45-49 Tubwell Row, Darlington, DL1 1PD.