New bar opening in Ramsbottom with 'community at its heart'

Aiming to support the local community by day and take customers through the decades at night MJ’s bar will make its debut in Ramsbottom later this month on January 20.

The Bolton Street bar, formerly known as The Mouse Trap, has been taken over by Ramsbottom residents Chris Murray and Trisha Jackson, who have always dreamed of owning a venue together.

Chris said: “We love hospitality, I have owned and worked in pubs in the past and Trisha has a lot of experience in events and silver service.

“We love it here in Ramsbottom and starting a place up together is something we have always spoken about”.

The pair, working with the Radcliffe-based company Brightside Brewery, have built a bar extension, redecorated, and say they are looking forward to when they are ready to officially open. 

The new MJ's bar was formerly 'The Mouse Trap' (Image: Maps)

There are hopes that the bar will host community events during the day, such as mother and baby events and arts and crafts.

During the evening, the music includes the 1950s and 1960s and a range of other eras to take customers through the decades.

There are also talks about holding ‘bring your own vinyl’ events.

Chris said: “We are both very community-orientated and we want to reflect that in our business by being sustainable.

“At the end of the day we have to make a profit, but we won’t be charging £10 for a beer or £9 for a jacket potato because no one wants to pay that.

Chris Murray and Trisha Jackson (Image: Public)

“We want everything to be affordable and when we start serving food, hopefully around March, we want this to be affordable too so people can not only enjoy it, but they can afford to come back again.”

The pair are eager to ‘stick together’ with other venues in the area and hope that the arrival of MJ’s and several other sites will give Bolton Street a bit of a boost.

They said: “When we have been on nights out, it feels a lot quieter than it used to on here but we hope that with a few new bars on the way, it will give the nightlife a bit of a revival.

“We want to work together with other businesses and offer an inclusive range of drinks to our customers with a little bit of everything from spirits and wines to ales and IPAs.”

MJ’s will open for an invite-only soft launch before the official public opening on January 20.