The day Barbara Windsor said 'Get in my pub'

A pub owner recalled a memorable visit from the late Barbara Windsor as his venue reopens following refurbishment.

The Sir Pickering Phipps on Wellingborough Road in Northampton first opened in 1998, with the launch attended by the Carry On and EastEnders star.

Now rebranded as The Phipps following a £350,000 renovation, managing director Gary McManus reflected on the day Barbara Windsor arrived to officially open the pub.

"[Barbara Windsor] was just so bubbly, she went behind the bar and behaved like she did in the Queen Vic when she was the landlady," said Mr McManus.

Barbara Windsor appeared in nine films in the Carry On comedy series, plus Sparrows Can't Sing, for which she was nominated for a Bafta, as well as parts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and On the Fiddle with Sir Sean Connery.

She was well-known to millions of TV viewers for her portrayal of landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, starring alongside her on-screen children Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden.

Her last appearance in the soap came in 2016, the same year she was made a dame for her services to charity and entertainment. She died in December 2020 from Alzheimer's, aged 83.

Mr McManus added: "I remember we had to pick [Barbara Windsor] up from Junction 15 and she was in a stretch limo.

"My wife went and picked her up with a friend, and they had a lot of laughs with her on the way into town. It was loads of fun, and she did lots of autographs."

The Phipps reopened on 4 December, with former footballer Neil 'Razor' Ruddock among the attendees.

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