Popular Mansfield pub to close amid hope new owners will still soon be found

The Widow Frost, on Leeming Street, has told patrons it will be closing on September 17.

A sign on the bar simply says: “We sadly announce The Widow Frost is now closing on September 17, 2023.

"We are all hoping, but not promising, to see you all round at the Stag & Pheasant.”

But while some believe this is the end for the pub, current owners JD Wetherspoon hope it will not be long before pints are being served there again with the pub having a new owner as negotiations to sell the pub seem set to continue.

And it also says staff at the pub will be transferred to other Wetherspoon pubs in the area.

The Widow Frost was one of more than 30 put up for sale last September by JD Wetherspoon, which said older and smaller venues could well close for good.

At the time, Wetherspoon’s said the decision to include The Widow Frost on its ‘for sale’ list was a purely commercial one.

There was hope raised in July when Wetherspoon confirmed it had received an offer for the pub and the pub would continue to trade as a Wetherspoon pub until it was sold.

However, the company has now confirmed the pub will be closing for an unspecified period, although it would appear a buyer is still interested in the venue.

Eddie Gershon, for JD Wetherspoon, said: “There will be no redundancies, staff will be transferring to Wetherspoon pubs in Mansfield, Worksop, Sutton or Kirkby.

“We believe the premises will be closed for four, or so, months before being opened by the new owner, but we cannot confirm these details.”

At one stage, plans had been put forward for the pub to be merged with Wetherspoons other pub in the town, The Stag & Pheasant.

Plans were to demolish the old QI nightclub, which sat between the two pubs, and the two Wetherspoon venues then knocked through and combined to form one single pub.

However, these plans were changed at the end of last year with The Widow Frost taken out of the project to be sold as a single entity.