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A new, quirky themed bar in Northampton town centre serving ‘tiddly teas’ will open in less than two weeks.

The Eccentric Englishman, based in the old measures and weights building in St Giles Street, between The Optimist and The Wig & Pen, has today (August 31) had its alcohol licence approved.

The bar, run by former Old Five Bells landlady, Liz Cox, will be themed around Phileas Fogg and the Mad Hatter, and the menu will include cocktails named after famous Northamptonians, ‘tiddly teas’ and a ‘gentleman’s tea’.

Liz Cox and her partner outside of their new business - The Eccentric Englishman - in St Giles Street.

As the licence has now been approved and renovations and decorating work is well underway, the owner has announced an opening date.

Punters will be able to try out the new bar from Sunday September 12 from midday - less than two weeks away.

Liz said: “We’re so thrilled the licence has been approved.

“We’ve still got some work to do, but the upstairs is done and now we’re working on the downstairs.

“I’m excited about the opening; nervous too but they’re good nerves.

“We haven’t had anything but positivity about the place and everyone seems to be really looking forward to the opening.”

Liz recently run a competition on the bar’s Facebook page for punters to name the cocktails. There are 22 winners.

During the grand opening, the first half of the winning cocktails will be available and Liz has a magician ready to entertain tables.

The rest of the cocktails will be available at a later date.

Liz previously told Chronicle & Echo: “We’re hoping to focus on the day time and early evening crowd, rather than being a late night venue.

“We want to aim for the theatre crowd, so during the week I think we will close by 8pm and then no later than 10pm at the weekend.

“Eventually we also hope to hire the whole place out for events and parties.

“We’ll also serve coffees, knickerbocker glories and more and we will try to use local stockists wherever possible.”

After the launch, Liz is also hoping to collaborate with other businesses in St Giles Street, as well as Royal & Derngate.

‘Tiddly teas’ will not be served on the opening day, but bookings are open for dates after September 12.

While the bar’s website is still being built, bookings can be made via Facebook. Search ‘The Eccentric Englishman’.

Opening date revealed for new quirky themed bar in Northampton serving ‘tiddly teas’