A SWISH new wine bar is the latest addition to the burgeoning eating and drinking scene in Horwich.

The Courtyard has risen from the old Bay Horse pub on Lee Lane, which has been closed for some time.

The new owners, restaurateurs Subhash and Geeta Kotecha, have spent around £450,000 buying and refurbishing the former pub and creating a new open plan modern wine bar.

As many pubs close — a trend being blamed on the smoking ban, cheap supermarket beer and high rents — some are being reborn into modern drinking venues, like The Courtyard.

Despite the continuing challenging conditions facing the trade in the UK, running a pub continues to be an attractive proposition, with more than 60 per cent of the closed freehold sites sold by specialist agents Christie and Co, since the start of the year, reopening as pubs.

Of the remaining 40 per cent, the majority have been acquired for alternative use, either for residential development or for commercial use by a wide range of buyers, including supermarket and convenience store operators, restaurant and fast-food unit owners, and care home and nursery companies.

Keith Stringer, associate director at Christie and Co’s Manchester office, who handled the sale, said that the Bay Horse was one of many closed pubs being given new life.

Mr Stringer added: “The Bay Horse is just one of many non trading freehold pubs that Christie and Co have sold this year and which have re-opened or are scheduled to re-open, as freehouses.”

The new Courtyard wine bar will act as a feeder for the Kotecha’s nearby Indian restaurant, The Spice Valley, as well for the many other eateries in the town.

Subhash Kotecha said: “We wanted to provide somewhere different in Horwich where people could come if they were going for a meal either at Spice Valley or one of the many restaurants in Horwich.

“We felt there was a market for having a feeder bar for the restaurants and where people could come and just have a light meal with a glass of wine or a beer.

“We wanted to offer an impressive range of wines from around the world either by the glass or bottle along with some unusual lagers.

“And we wanted to keep the modern decor to complement the old stone building and we have created a nice area outside in the courtyard with a big fire which can be used all the time.”

There’s virtually nothing left of the old pub — the interior has been completely gutted and replaced with tiled floors, bespoke wooden ceilings, exposed stone walls, and subdued, subtle lighting.

Outside the entrepreneurial couple have created a garden area with plants and trees, tables and a huge oven style fire so it can be used in colder weather.

Inside the bar offers a selection of wines from around the world plus an unusual selection of foreign lagers from Switzerland, Holland and Japan, and Spitfire bitter.

There are also plans to offer light bites, rather than substantial meals.