Crowdfunding campaign for Pony Chew Valley underway

Josh and Holly Eggleton have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise £100,000 to launch the Pony Chew Valley restaurant.

With 29 days to go to until the end of the campaign, the team have currently received over £8,000 from more than 70 backers.

Should it meet its target, the original Pony & Trap gastropub, which ran for 16 years, will be relaunched as Pony Chew Valley restaurant.

Funds will also go towards the installation of the Garden Room, which will be available for wedding hire, the expansion of the micro-farm and the development of a cookery school.

The cookery school will hold a range of classes, including nose-to-tail butchery, pasta making, gardening and foraging and a seafood masterclass.

Supporters of the campaign will get early access to restaurant and event bookings and an invitation to the restaurant's opening gardening party.

Josh and Holly made the decision to rebrand when Pony & Trap gastropub closed last year as a result of Covid-19 regulations.

The siblings, who won an Acorn Award in 2016, run the business along with their parents Gail and Chris and brother Scott.

The family took over the Somerset restaurant in 2006. It won a Michelin star in 2011 but lost the award in the 2021 Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland due to its closure.

Josh and Holly recently launched the Pony Bistro in Bedminster, Bristol, which serves British bistro-style dishes.