January 30th, 2025Last drinks called for Radio Springs Hotel

Last drinks called for Radio Springs Hotel  Radio Springs Hotel has served its last drinks after 17 years providing  refreshments, and plenty of bar banter, with locals and visitors alike.  

The final day, Sunday, January 26, saw many people make their way to  the Lyonville pub to say farewells and reminisce about great times over the  years.  

The decision to close the doors came after owners Jackie Airey and Ken Parfrey started to think about the next phase of their lives.  

“We’ve been doing it for nearly 17 years now and we felt we might like  to move on,” Jackie said.

“However, on the weekend, two weeks ago, we had a sudden change in our staffing and we thought about it and whether or not  we had the energy to recreate what we’ve got.  

“We’re pretty picky about our staff so it would take us a while to find the  right people and train them up. And we thought, well, would it be right to do that for only a few months, take on new people and all that kind of thing?  So we thought maybe we’ll just call it now.”  

Jackie said what the next phase was remained unclear.  

“We haven’t really had a chance to decide all of that. We’d started  thinking about all those alternatives but we hadn’t really come to any conclusions yet. And so with this sudden decision to close we’ll just wait for  the dust to settle and then we’ll have a good think.  

“We don’t want to make a rushed decision, we want to make the right  decision.”  Jackie said deciding to close came with a sense of freedom but also sadness.

“If you could imagine all the possible feelings that anybody could  have at this stage, I think Ken and I are feeling all of them. It’s very hard to  describe, just think of anything and add it in.”  

Jackie said she and Ken never set out to create something as magical as Radio Springs and being at the “coal face”, didn’t realise how much it meant  to their patrons.  

“For us, we just created a place that we would like to go to. We just  trusted our sense of this is what we would like a pub to be. But we didn’t  realise that we’re so weird.  

“When we first started putting this all together and gathering stuff over  our long renovation, we had a chat about what kind of pub are we going to  be? And we thought nothing that we do is going to please everybody. And we  have to live here.  

“We’re going to be here 24 seven. And it’s going to be our lifestyle as well as anything else. So we had to feel comfortable and happy in it. We knew there would be some people who like it and some people who don’t. And  that’s how it’s worked out.”  

Jackie said their reincarnation of the Lyonville pub came after they bought the property to live in.  

“And then while we were here, people would drop in all the time and ask  us when we were going to open the pub and that they needed a pub, there wasn’t anything. Back then, that was in 1997, there wasn’t anything decent between Woodend and Daylesford.  

“That coincided with Ken and I feeling that we didn’t necessarily want to  stay in the careers that we had for much longer. And so we thought, maybe we’ll open it just as a B&B.

“And then the continued numbers of people  who were calling in made us think maybe we’ll expand that and open it as a pub. And then people said we need food. So it just really grew like Topsy, it became a bit of a juggernaut in and of itself.”  

Jackie said while there had been times which had provided challenges – like Covid – overall it had been a great part of their life.  

“I met so many people and got to the point where I would get such a  kick out of watching people enjoy themselves and listening to laughter and  watching people eat and really enjoy their food.  

“And there are a lot of people who have, through the hotel, become very  good friends of ours who we wouldn’t have met otherwise and we wouldn’t  have been able to welcome into our lives.”  

And the final word?  

“I want to thank all the patrons and customers and all the regulars and all the locals who have supported us over the years. Because really, without all of  those people, the pub’s just a pub.  

“I mean, it’s like a theatre or cinema. Unless you’ve got an audience, it’s  just celluloid. It’s just words in an empty space.

“You can be as quirky with your decor, as fancy with your food and as comprehensive with your wine list  as you like. But if you don’t have customers, it’s an empty space.”  

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes