Chickpea Group to launch 10th pub with rooms

The Chickpea Group has announced it will launch The Great Decoy, its latest pub with rooms, in May in the village of Hurstbourne Tarrant in Hampshire.

The new venue marks the budding hospitality company’s 10th opening, as well as their venture into a new county.

The new site, originally an inn, is preparing to welcome guests following a multi-month renovation and restoration which preserved the bones of the building while refreshing interiors in line with the business’ style.

Formerly called The George and Dragon, the pub has been renamed The Great Decoy due to its wartime use by the British Army as a decoy site to mislead enemy aircraft by leading bombing raids away from strategic targets.

Located in the centre of the village, The Great Decoy is a typical English country pub surrounded by the countryside of the Test Valley.

Inside, the pub’s 60-cover will offer a dining and drinking setting, with low beamed ceilings, log burners and a hop-strewn bar, while its courtyard garden will accommodate a further 60.

The venue’s bedrooms will be situated upstairs, each uniquely decorated with layered fabrics, antique furniture and eclectic artwork, including pieces by Wiltshire artist Wilson McTeare.

The kitchen will serve “hearty pub fare” with a focus on seasonal British produce and local suppliers from Hampshire and the surrounding counties.

The pub’s bar offering will consist of wines, local beers and ales, such as the group’s own Rude Giant, along with a classic cocktail list.

Chickpea Group co-founder Ethan Davids said: “We are buzzing to be opening our first pub in Hampshire in the picturesque village of Hurstbourne Tarrant. At Chickpea our mission is to reimagine rural hospitality and we’re going to do that at the Great Decoy by breathing fresh life into this iconic roadside Inn.

“The Decoy will be everything one expects from a country boozer with bedrooms – warm and genuine hospitality; exceptional food and drink; and supremely comfortable bedrooms for the best night’s sleep. More broadly, the Great Decoy marks our ongoing commitment to constant but considered growth.”

He added: “The pub is the beating heart of rural living, which is why we get such a buzz from bringing them back to life.”