Red Lion, Brightwell cm Sotwell

18/06/2026

We are looking forward to welcoming Old Speckled Hen North West Morris tonight to the Red Lion! Dancing begins at 8pm in the courtyard so be sure to arrive early to grab a drink and find a spot in the garden! We are completely fully booked for dinner tonight but plenty of room for drinkers ☺️☺️x

14/06/2026

Join us this evening from 6pm for not only the best meat draw for miles around but we will also be showing Germany v Curaçao!! If you’re in the village football game, what score do you need?? My prediction is 6-0 🙈🙈 and Mouse 2-0 🤣🤣🙏🙏 x

10/06/2026

Red Lion Update.........

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who supported our Tribute to BrightFest which we held at the pub last week. I feel it was a great success and is what a music festival is all about. We must say a special thank you to Cliff Rennie for coming up with the idea of continuing on a much smaller scale and to Werner de Jong for coming on board and assisting with not only the organising but also running the sound on the day, booking some fantastic bands (some of the best I've heard) and with some very helpful volunteers assisting and helping along the way. We organised the day with the tiniest team and a zero budget and I think between us all we pulled off a great day which we hope you enjoyed albeit the budget did go slightly over :)

Red Lion Update
Mouse and myself have been at The Red Lion for 6.5 years and I really believe with pouring our heart and soul into the business, we truly have one of the loveliest pubs in the area. We may not be the most chic, we may not be the best of the best but what we do have here, is a real country pub that we have loved since day one of taking over. The pub is beautiful inside and out and what makes The Red Lion so special is the people who come back like yourselves week after week.

Saying this, it is with a heavy heart and much love that we let you know the time has come to sell our beautiful business and The Red Lion will officially be on the market in the next few days. Although this will most likely come as a shock to you, we have been thinking about this for a while, we have not made this decision lightly but we do feel that the time has come for us to find new custodians of your beautiful village pub.

To put your mind at rest the pub is safe, the lease has 7 years remaining and any buyer has the automatic right to renew and we will be here for as long as it takes and we promise to find buyers who will love this place as much as us and who will continue to keep this pub as the hub of the village. Mouse and I have reached the stage where we would like to take a step back and slow down a little from the way of life we have now. We have honestly loved every moment of our time here and will continue to love it until our last day whenever that may be. The whole process of selling can take many months, you won't be getting shot of us anytime soon :) and now our staff are all aware of what is happening the time is right to share the news with you all. We are very lucky to have simply the best team here and most of them have been with me from the start and without their unwavering support we simply wouldn't have the pub we have and I hope they continue to be amazing for many years as they really do make this pub the special place it is.

We cannot thank you enough for all you have done for us whilst here. When we shut down 8 weeks after taking over the future and our bank balance were very bleak but this village rallied around and supported us in a way I don't think many people can understand. We started what I believe was simply the best takeaway set-up and menu for miles around and even people who didn't use the pub stepped up and started ordering takeaways from us and we will always be forever grateful. Fast forward 6 years from re-opening after lockdown 1 the pub is in the best position possible. We have updated, replaced, renovated or decorated every part of this building, there is nothing else to do and whoever comes in can walk straight in and hit the ground running and whoever that is, will be very lucky to be a part of this wonderful little village. We have made some life long friends since being here and we thank each and every one of you for making us feel so welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, do not worry at all about the pubs future, if you keep supporting it like you've always done it will continue to thrive for decades to come.

Thank you as always and much love,

Corinne, Mouse & Ruby xx

06/06/2026

There’s lots of work going on as I type to get the pub ready for today! Be sure to join us from 3pm for our tribute to BrightFest!

06/06/2026

So folks, today’s the day, The Red Lions Tribute to Brightfest officially kicks off at 3pm and no matter the weather, we will be open serving drinks and cooking food whilst you guys enjoy a cracking day of live music. With a little help from our friends we have put cover over the courtyard, we have marquees up and if all else fails, you will at least stay dry 🤣🤣

The pub will open as normal today at 12pm serving our lunch menu until 2pm. The kitchen will when close to give the team time to get ready and hot food will start again at 3.30pm and we have a host of tasty treats lined up including Roast Pork & Apple Sauce Baguettes, Chilli Cheese Nachos, Halloumi & Guacamole Burgers, Red Lion Cheeseburgers and much more so be sure to order from the ladies at the food station whilst here and alongside all this, we also have Save The Children tea tent at the front of the pub serving hot drinks and delicious homemade cakes from the lovely bakers of the village 😋😋😋. All money raised there today goes directly to the charity so please support them.

Live music starts at 3pm and today’s line up goes a little like this…..😊

15:00 Tubthumpers
16:30 Five Mile Radius
18:00 The Night Herons
19:30 Cutwater
21:00 The Faith Healers
22:00 DJ Dizzy Blizzy (inside, until midnight)

We cannot wait to have you here for the day, please don’t let a little rain put you off, we literally have you covered 🤣! If you have your own drinking vessel/pint mug please bring with you as no glassware will be used today, it’s reusable pint pots only which I’m sure you can understand 😊

Please remember, this year the event is much smaller, it’s a tribute day to the main event and space is at a premium so we ask you to leave your dogs at home (for their own safely and well being) and that children are with you and supervised at all times. Today is all about listening (and hopefully dancing) to some amazing local live bands and if that’s what you love to do, please come along 😊🥰. Throughout the day a few volunteers will be walking around with buckets for any donation that you may want to give. We NEVER charge for live music but days like this are not free so all donation’s received will go some way to help pay for today and ensuring we can do it all again so please help if you can 🙏🥰

Finally please note, the car park today is exclusively for bands set up/clear down, staff and volunteers so if you are driving please park in the rec which is a 2 minute walk from the pub (down Mackney Lane) or find a space around the pub but please be mindful of not blocking any of our neighbours driveways 😊😊. There is also space behind the village hall which is only a 6 minute walk from us so plenty of options.

Right, that’s all folks, it’s just left for me to say we hope to see you at some point, a great day has been planned by us and the organising committee so please come and show your support.

Much love and thank you for taking the time to read,

Corinne, Mouse and the whole team,

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05/06/2026

So, as we were madly preparing for Brightfest tomorrow, a pub full with customers enjoying coffee & cake 😋 and guys in the courtyard putting up the tent to ensure cover for the rain we are due we had our inspection from EHO and I’m delighted to say we have retained our 5* score!
In our 6+ years at the helm, we have had 4 inspections and not once have we dipped below 5 stars and that’s down to hard work, knowledge of what is required at all times in a working kitchen and without doubt, one of the hardest working kitchen teams out there so thank you to all my staff for ensuring our high standards were maintained…..drinks all round tomorrow tonight once the madness has ended! 🤣🤣

Much love,

Corinne xx

02/06/2026

One of our loyal locals and villager Phil is running a World Cup competition which I have promised to share with our followers. He has run comps since 1994 and in the process has raised £000's for various charities and we invite you to join in.

Full details are below on how to enter but you don't have long so be sure to be quick as your going to need to predict the result on all the group games! My initial thought was to give the same result for every match but once you get the score sheet, its just too tempting not go balls in and try and guess correctly each one :) (or mostly wrongly in my case) 🤣🤣

Please email Phil if you'd like to take part, he will reply with bank details and once received he will send you the spreadsheet with the scoring system. It really looks great fun and also keeps you interested games you wouldn't normally care about....unless you really are that keen and want to watch Curacao v Ivory Coast 🤣🤣

As a side note, Mouse and I are both in, we have a separate side bet between us and I'll try and keep everyone posted on how we are doing......especially if I'm winning!

Thanks everyone, Phil looks forward to hearing from you and anyone can enter, you don't need to live in the village, its open to all so no matter where in the UK you are following my page, you can enter!

Much Love

C x

31/05/2026

31/05/2026

Sunday Lunch Availability.

If you’re looking for a table for lunch today, we have early tables available at 12/12.15 & 12.30pm inside or if you prefer to sit outside, we have space throughout until 2.30pm.
Along with our delicious roasts we are also offering a smaller selection of lighter bites for those not wanting something smaller so hopefully something for everyone.

If you’d like to book a table, please call 01491 837373 or message us here on FB.

Thank you,

C x