We meet the new owners of the historic Bristol pub that has been selling beer since 1841

Theo Cernow-Cooke, Toby Wood and Courtney Salmon are the new owners of the Robin Hood on St Michael’s Hill, which was put up for sale last year.      

The three bring different backgrounds to the new venture, with Toby formerly a brewer at Arbor Ales and Courtney having been in the pub trade for a number of years. 

They also are launching a new in-house pop-up in partnership with the Hanoi Social, who are a Vietnamese street food company - becoming the only pub in Bristol with Vietnamese food.  

The pub is in a three-storey grade II building which was initially a greengrocers before being turned into a pub some 183 years ago.  

The new owners say ten offers were put in to purchase the pub, with theirs being the only one that sought to keep it as a pub and not turn it into flats.      

Help support journalism in Bristol - get the BristolWorld newsletter

“We want to breathe life back into it as a community pub,” Theo told BristolWorld.

“It’s just about putting some love into it and bringing up the quality and standard of the building, and brightening it up a bit.”      

The new owners have plans for more pop-ups, music and events at the pub, and will be taking part in the Bristol Sea Shanty Festival later this month.     

In June last year, BristolWorld included the pub in its list of the 10 pubs that make up the steepest pub crawl in Bristol. 

Due to its location near the University of Bristol and Bristol Royal Infirmary, the pub has a loyal customer base of students and hospital workers. But it is also popular with locals - although those outside the area maybe unaware it is there.    

And thanks to its use of local breweries, the pub was included the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2023 where it joined just six other newly-listed pubs from the city. The guide noted the pub’s ‘lovely arched-window frontage’ and inside murals made by local artists.