16 December 2021

Dalton's Royal Hotel to reopen after a two-year break between drinks

| Max O'Driscoll
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The Royal Hotel in Dalton

The Royal Hotel in Dalton will open for the first time in two years this weekend. Photo: Supplied.

What is a country town without its pub?

While all country towns have their own unique makeup, there is one thing that unites them all – a love of their local.

In the Southern Tablelands community of Dalton, the town has been without a pub for the better part of two years.

That is all set to change this Saturday (19 December), when The Royal Hotel in Dalton taps the kegs and begins pouring beer once more, courtesy of new owners Craig and Jeannette Palmer.

“Craig and I bought it in September and have just been doing some renovations, and getting it up and running again,” Jeannette said.

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It’s been a labour of love for the couple, who say they decided to ask about purchasing the pub after driving past the town hall one day.

“Craig’s been coming out to Dalton since he was 13, doing shearing work for his parents’ neighbours, who had farmed here for generations,” Jeannette said.

“So he’d come here once a month helping out, that’s how he knows Dalton, and we’ve been driving past the pub for quite a while now.”

The Royal Hotel Dalton owners, Craig and Jeannette May

The Royal Hotel Dalton owners, Craig and Jeannette Palmer. Photo: Supplied.

“We just drove past one day and looked at the hall and went, ‘Oh, there are so many people at the town hall! Imagine if the pub was open, they’d all have somewhere to go’.

“It just got stuck in our head and we thought, ‘We should just buy the pub’. We followed through and thought we’d get an inspection and get it out of our system. We walked through the pub and just saw so much potential.”

It’s become increasingly less of an impulsive decision to buy a pub, as prices across regional NSW continue to rise, but they decided to take the plunge and now they hope to see the pub re-emerge as the town’s meeting place, where people can gather and celebrate together.

While Saturday’s soft opening will be with a limited menu and no access to the pool table and dining room, eventually the pub will reopen all of those areas with a traditional pub menu and a special focus on quality salad options.

The central focus is creating a “family environment” at the pub.

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“Our goal is to have a family environment because I think previously it had a bit more of a male vibe,” said Jeannette. “A family orientated pub where everyone can come to gather. There’s not much around our area that has a beautiful beer garden where you can sit down and enjoy Sunday afternoons with family.

“We’ve had a lot of people in the community say, ‘It’ll be so nice to bring the family down, it wasn’t like that before’.”

Dalton Community and District Association Incorporated President Maree Dowling said the community “can’t wait to get back”.

“That’s a place where everyone comes together and we could sell raffle tickets and things like that for different things,” said Ms Dowling.

“One thing it will be particularly good for is the elderly who live in the town and don’t have anyone that they live with, so they can come together and talk to people.”

To stay updated on the progress at Dalton pub, head to The Royal Hotel Dalton Facebook page.

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Would you folks be interested in catering for a group of approx. 20 for a Wed.luncheon/imbibe sometime when settled in.Regards,Chris Grant for Goulburn Galloping Gourmets.

hi guys i grew up in dalton pub in the 60s the memories are still very strong and would love to come back to dalton its a shame that the shops have closed down, karen from the post office would remember me my family had a property out at blakerny creek where i spent many years with my grandfather
i do hope you get b and b up and running im in for lots of good memories and stories. cheers david catt.

hi guys my name is david catt and my father and family moved in to dalton pub in 1964 was deeply saddend when 2 years ago that the pub had been shut i would love to come down and catch up with you wonderful people and i hope you will still be doin bnb cheers
dc

Sounds like a place to visit when travelling around

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