Family running the Old Bookbinders and James Street Tavern take on closed Greene King pub
The Gardeners Arms on North Parade Avenue, North Oxford is about to come back to life as a third operator in less than three years takes on the challenge of running it. The pub – not to be confused with free house the Gardeners Arms in nearby Plantation Road – was taken over by Morgan Pub Collective in October 2023 but closed suddenly on January 4 this year and has since stood empty.
It had been run by David and Jenny Rhymes for nearly 30 years, but after they retired in November 2022 Greene King embarked on a revamp costing £270,000. It was transformed inside and outside with new seating, tables, fixtures and fittings including new lighting. The bar was revamped with new tiling and refurbished wooden floors, with the exterior being upgraded with new frontage and signage.
But Greene King struggled to attract a tenant for the price then being asked, and it was nearly a year before Morgan – which operates several other GK pubs as free houses – arrived on the scene having been offered a much better deal. It operated the pub free of tie, like its first Oxford venture the Grapes and its latest acquisition, the Oranges & Lemons (previously the Angel & Greyhound). Up to six real ales were offered at the Gardeners but the pub was rarely busy, not helped by staff shortages and a variable food offer ranging from pies to pizzas to nothing at all.
It will now be run by Michel Sadones, a well-known local personality who took over the Old Bookbinders in Jericho in 2011 and has since turned it into a much loved local with a French-inspired menu including crepes, beef bourguignon and mussels. Born in France, he arrived in Oxford in 1980 to open Michel’s Bistro in Headington and went on to run French restaurants Ma Belle in the city centre and Quincey’s in Little Clarendon Street, before settling at the Old Bookbinders.
Son Josh Mullett-Sadones runs the James Street Tavern in East Oxford, which has built a reputation for events. All three pubs are owned by Greene King, but as at the Old Bookbinders the Gardeners will offer guest beers from the GK range. The family also took on the Crown in Stadhampton in 2019, but that has since been sold and remains closed.
Work is now being finalised to prepare the Gardeners for reopening and to recruit staff. It has only a small kitchen on the first floor but is advertising itself as a “pub and creperie”, while he assesses his options.
“In North Parade Avenue we already have a very well-known pub, the Rose and Crown, an Indian restaurant, a new wine bar (GrandCru Oxford) and a pizza takeaway,” he said. “I will run the Gardeners step by step. I’m quite well-known around Oxford. In a year’s time, if it’s going well, I might rename it to avoid confusion with the other Gardeners Arms. ‘Michel’s at the Gardeners’ is a possibility.”
The Hall family who run the Rose and Crown have made clear that they would welcome the Gardeners reopening, to provide variety for beer drinkers. The two pubs in North Parade Avenue, the other Gardeners Arms and the six along Walton Street or in Jericho, including the Old Bookbinders, are all within a 10- to 15-minute walk. Also close by is the recently re-opened Anchor in Hayfield Road.