"Something very peculiar happens"

In her weekly column, Maddie Grigg shares tales from her life in rural Dorset...

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WE are having a meeting on Zoom about the Lush Places W community pub.

It's been almost six months since a fund-raising campaign secured the money the village needed to reopen the pub for the community.

It's managed by the Middletons, a much-liked family team, who had no experience in running a pub when they took it over.

For them, it's been a bit of a baptism of fire.

But we're getting there gradually, with wonderful Sunday roasts, a pie night and bring-your-own fish and chips on Tuesdays, when the takeaway van parks in the village square.

Visitors love the fact that you can take your chips to the pub and be supplied with plates, cutlery and condiments, along with service with a smile.

It's what community pubs are all about. Although, to be fair, it was the previous but-one landlords Gym and Tonic who came up with the idea, which was taken up by DJ Landlord and Mrs Plum and now Ms Middleton and family.