New bar named after iconic landmark opens in Darwen

303 Drinkery is the new venue operated by Leon Kelly, who also runs Level One and L1ve in the town, and takes its name from the height of India Mill, which is 303ft tall.

The bar's launch has been in the pipeline for months, but on Friday, Mr Kelly was finally able to open its doors and welcome people to Darwen's newest venue.

Mr Kelly said: "The bar is named after the height of India Mill which is 303ft tall and can be seen from inside of the venue.

"And we commissioned a hand painting of India Mill from the 1800s by local artist Billy Almond, who did a fantastic job.

"It also features specialist artwork throughout detailing India Mill and other Darwen landmarks."

The venue, which sits below L1ve on The Green, is an over 21s bar and encourages smart dress only.

Mr Kelly said it took him six months to finalise the design and look of the bar, and after several changes and alterations, he's now comfortable with the vibe, and hopes people will be able to visit and see it as a place to 'chill, relax and listen to good music'.

He added: "We opened on Friday and the feedback from across the weekend was positive from everyone.

"They enjoyed the new venue and the relaxed vibe, and the common response was they felt it was like they were in a city centre venue.

"It’s a new style for our portfolio of venues, with us having three different premises in the town, we had to think what would compliment what was already on offer.

"We were able to do this via our market research, which told us that people wanted somewhere they could go and relax and enjoy great nights out with friends and family and not feel really old.

"They also wanted to be able to have conversations but still have the option for music if they wanted to.

"We managed to accommodate this by deciding to have separate rooms and raised seating areas, so we are giving our customers the privacy that they may want but also the option to be in the main area with everyone else."

Mr Kelly said one of the things they strived to do when creating 303 was use local companies and designers.

He added: "At a time where many small independent business have been killed-off by Covid, we made a purposeful effort to only use people from Blackburn and Darwen to ensure we supported these local businesses.

"The building work was completed by Darwen GLA joinery who were on the project for several months.

"The colour schemes and tones were design by Lady Decor from Blackburn

"The venue's layout was designed by a Darwen based interior designer who helped with the Shard building in London, and this was brought to life by Michael Dilworth from MAD Electronics based Blackburn.

"And all the window features were designed by The Small Sign Company in Blackburn.

"We have to give special thanks to our landlord Dave Hunter who went out of his way to help bring the project to life by allowing us to make the changes inside the building and supported the whole project from start to finish, without his help and support and knowledge of the building it would have taken a lot longer."

Moving forward Mr Kelly plans to have live solo performers in the venue on Fridays and Saturdays.

303 Drinkery is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7pm, and Sundays from 5pm.