A First Taste of Bowland House: Ivy’s Signature at the Secret Supper Club

There has been so much local conversation about what is happening at the former Gibbon Bridge Hotel in Chipping, now beginning its next chapter as Bowland House.

On Friday evening, we were lucky enough to play a small part in that story when Ivy’s Signature Gin was chosen as the welcome drink for the Bowland House Secret Supper Club.

For us, it felt like a particularly lovely fit.

Ivy’s Signature is distilled in small batches here at Wild Fox Distillery on our Lancashire family farm. It is the bottle that tells our story most clearly: a proper London Dry Gin built around classic juniper and bright citrus, with wild botanicals inspired by the hedgerows and fields around us.

Alongside juniper, coriander seed and angelica root, the recipe includes lemon balm, pineapple weed and stinging nettle. The result is crisp, fresh and beautifully balanced, with a clean dry finish.

It was served simply with Indian tonic and ice. No garnish was needed. The botanicals do the talking for themselves.

There was something quite special about a gin shaped by one Lancashire landscape being poured to welcome guests into another. Bowland House has such a strong sense of place, surrounded by the gardens, woodland and countryside of the Ribble Valley, and that connection to the land is something we understand deeply at Wild Fox.

Our own distillery was built on the farm where our family has lived and worked for generations. The changing seasons, the hedgerows and the ingredients growing around us have always influenced the spirits we make. We believe provenance should be something you can genuinely taste, rather than simply a story added to the bottle afterwards.

Friday evening gave us the opportunity to share that philosophy with the Bowland House team and their guests. We have also begun having some very exciting conversations about what might be possible in the future, although it is still far too early to give anything away.

For now, we are simply incredibly proud that Ivy’s Signature was chosen to welcome guests to one of the early Bowland House events.

The former Gibbon Bridge holds a great deal of affection and many memories for people throughout Chipping, the Ribble Valley and wider Lancashire. Understandably, there is plenty of curiosity surrounding Bowland House and what the future may bring.

Friday’s Secret Supper Club offered a small glimpse into this new chapter: thoughtful hospitality, beautiful surroundings, good food and drink, and a real appreciation for the people and landscape behind everything being served.

Thank you to Lisa, Gemma and the Bowland House team for inviting Wild Fox Distillery to be involved, and for sharing the story of Ivy’s Signature so generously.

From one Lancashire landscape to another, it felt like the beginning of something rather special.