Shy regular safeguards village pub... by buying it

NEW BEGINNING FOR HISTORIC LOCAL AFTER BIG REVAMP

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

THE World's End couldn't have been a more apt name for a pub which locals feared was doomed.

In the last two years, they've almost lost count of how many different publicans have taken over the 18th century inn, only to last for a short time.

But the tide has turned after a local resident bought the Lowdham pub off the brewery in a bid to safeguard its long-term future. The man, who didn't want to be named, is well known in the village and used to be a regular but stopped going when the beer was off and the service wasn't up to scratch.

Landlord and director Shane Davidson, who has been in the pub industry for 15 years, said: "It's had lots of downs. There's not really been an up for a very long time. It got to the stage where a lot of the village was quite disappointed that such a lovely pub had been left to go to wrack and ruin with no stable people in it.

"I had a quiet word with someone from Marston's. I said 'you know quite frankly, the constant changing of landlords is ruining the village'. People love this place. Everyone knows it and obviously it's steeped in history."

During a three-month closure the pub, reached via the single-track Plough Lane, was completely renovated at a cost of nearly £100,000, inside and out. It reopened this week to the immense pleasure of locals.