Farewell to Irene Kershaw

Here at The Pheasant we regard many of our regular guests as family, and many of you will already have heard the very sad news that Irene, the matriarch of the Kershaw family and one of the three partners in The Pheasant Inn, passed away recently.
 
Irene and her husband Walter ran the very successful Copper Kettle Tearoom on Front Street in Bamburgh for many years, and when the couple bought The Pheasant Inn in 1985 it had a chequered history and was badly in need of some TLC.
 
True to character and never one to retreat from a challenge, Irene rolled up her sleeves and got to work alongside Walter and their son Robin to transform The Pheasant Inn into an award-winning country pub serving simple, unpretentious food with good wine and real ales, alongside comfortable bed and breakfast accommodation that every year welcomes hundreds of visitors to our beautiful county of Northumberland.
 
Irene passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, February 5th, 2017 aged 80 years, after several months of illness, bravely borne. Family and friends gathered together to attend a thanksgiving service at St Peter's Church in Falstone to celebrate her life, and we think she would have been both touched and pleased that so many people turned out, and made kind donations in her memory, totalling £660 divided equally between Tynedale Hospice at Home and Macmillan Cancer Support.
 
Her influence and her unwavering instinct for providing warm and welcoming hospitality will always be with us and she is very much missed by the family and the Pheasant’s team of staff.
 
Walter, Robin and Angela would like to pass on their thanks to everyone for their kind words and for their support over the last few months.