THE manager of a new bar is carrying on his family’s links with the historic building where it is based.

The Potting Shed is located in the former Rutson Hospital in Northallerton, where general manager Andrew Ingham’s mother Maureen Wilkinson once worked as a nurse.

Mr Ingham, 49, said: “She’s retired now but my mother was a nurse at the hospital for a few years, until it closed in 2008, and she still lives in the area so I know it well.

“When I spotted the Potting Shed was looking for a general manager I thought, wow, this is perfect.”

The building is one of the most historic in Northallerton, and is thought to incorporate the remains of a 16th Century house. The hospital itself was founded in 1877.

The front of the building, numbers 78 and 79, are Grade II listed and were historically referred to as Vine House. The site reopened as The Potting Shed bar and restaurant at the beginning of August after a refurbishment costing more than £1m.

Mr Ingham said: “The weeks since the opening have flown by.

“The building is amazing and I think the work that’s been done on it has really given it a new lease of life.

“It has always been a big part of the town, it’s of such local historical interest.”