Shropshire Star

Relaunched Oswestry Ironworks venue opens with a bang

[gallery] What a difference seven months can make – a music venue which was locked up due to financial difficulties last autumn has now come back with a bang.

Published
Billy No Band Mates takes to the stage at The Ironworks’ Reaper’s Rock Resurrection event, which has been hailed a success

A weekend rock festival was held at The Ironworks in Oswestry town centre to relaunch the venue. Rock, indie, folk, punk and techno bands all performed on stage at the centre in Cross Street during the Reaper's Rock Resurrection event.

It was the first event held at the venue since it was bought by a mystery buyer for £120,000 at auction in Manchester in February.

New licensees Paul Fitton and Julie Gibson, who run the nearby Old Vaults pub, have pledged to ensure it remains a vibrant live music venue and have hailed the weekend as a success.

The Ironworks closed in September when receivers were called in.

A campaign by former owners Ros and Steve Gore to turn the building into a community trust failed and the venue was sold at auction on behalf of the receivers brought in by bank bosses.

Miss Gibson said hundreds of people visited during the rock festival at the weekend and said she was tremendously encouraged by the response to the reopening and the support of the town.

She said: "The reopening has been fantastic. It was really full on Friday night for the first event and we've been very busy."

Miss Gibson added: "Paul and I have had our eyes on the venue for a while. It's a beautiful building, and we're really excited to be running it.

"People have been really glad to see it open again and to see the new fresh look we've given it. We've extended the bar and freshened it up and added new lights."

At the Old Vaults the couple already support live music, with weekly open mic nights and regular open air music events in the beer garden.

Miss Gibson said: "Why not try to keep live music in Oswestry? We have the garden at the Old Vaults but if it's bad weather then it's ideal having the Ironworks now.

"The two venues actually join at the back, so we're going to be opening up the fence and extending the beer garden between the two.

"The outside space is really the only thing The Ironworks is missing at the moment."

The venue has already received a booking for the Osfest afterparty and Miss Gibson said she was now looking to booking more live music acts.

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