Pony Chew Valley surpasses £100,000 crowdfunding target

The Pony Chew Valley restaurant has exceeded its £100,000 crowdfunding target, after launching the campaign at the beginning of August.

As of 31 August – with less than 50 hours to go until the end of the fundraiser – owners Josh and Holly Eggleton have raised over £104,000 from 430 backers.

This means that the original Pony & Trap gastropub, which ran for 16 years, will be relaunched as Pony Chew Valley restaurant in September.

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 open this winter and offer a range of classes, including nose-to-tail butchery, pasta making, gardening and foraging and a seafood masterclass.

Those who have supported 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.

Earlier this month, the Eggletons revealed that Pony Bistro in Bristol's Bedminster is to close on Christmas Eve.