People living in and around Lazonby have given a warm welcome to the couple who have taken over at the only pub in the village which remains open.
There were fears in the village that the Midland Hotel might close following the retirement last month of the old landlady, Roz Reeve.
But these have been laid to rest by the arrival of Darren and Lianne Farrell, who live over the River Eden in Kirkoswald.
They have valuable experience as licensees, having run the Artilleryman pub in Colchester for six years.
Earlier in his life Darren served in the Army for 25 years as an auto electrician.
He said: “We were thinking of retirement when we moved up to Kirkoswald but then the tenancy at the Midland came up and we thought we’d go for it — it was pure chance.
“It’s going well and we’ve had a friendly welcome.”
So far, Darren and Lianne have restored seven days a week opening at the pub — which latterly was serving for around half that time — and brought in a pool table to the side of the bar where one used to sit for many years.
Darren is hoping to form a pool team alongside the successful pub darts team already in existence.
They also have plans for further developments in the near future.
These include the refurbishment of the outside of the premises this summer; the reintroduction of Sunday lunches and light pub food within the next few weeks; and the launch of a series of charity nights.
Darren says he plans to introduce a couple of real ale taps to the bar “sooner rather than later”.
He added: “Also in future I hope to turn the private garden here into a beer garden, which I think customers would like.”
