'I still wake up every day in love with this place'

MICHELLE Fisher, the new landlady of the Exeter Inn in Bampton, is not just taking over the reins - she's reviving the soul of a place that's been welcoming travellers since the 15th century. And she's doing it with a cider in hand, a dog or three by her side and an infectious love for traditional pub culture.

- LEWIS CLARKE

She pulled her first pint at the age of 18 and now, exactly three decades later, finds herself running her own pub in a village steeped in history.

“I ran a pub for another company and decided I'd like to work really hard for myself - not someone else,” Michelle says, reflecting on her move from Appledore in North Devon, where she managed a pub. That's where the idea took root. Born and raised in North Devon, she had hospitality in her blood and ambition in her bones.

Her journey back into the industry began unexpectedly five years ago, post-divorce, when she took a part-time job with Young's Brewery. “They trained me to an exquisite level,” she says. “I moved up from bar person at 16 hours a week to supervisor, to assistant manager, then deputy manager.” It’s the sort of story you want to cheer for - grit, graft and a fair bit of gumption.

Michelle's also no stranger to reinvention. Between pulling pints and pub management, she ran an agricultural newspaper (the Agricultural Trader) after cutting her teeth in local newspaper advertising. “That's why I knew I'd like it here,” she says. “It's all come full circle.”

When Michelle walked into the Exeter Inn for the first time, something clicked. “It was love at first sight. I knew it was meant to be for me,” she says. She moved in in mid-April and officially took over a couple of weeks later. Since then, it's been, in her words, “hectic” but also deeply fulfilling.