We visited a south Staffordshire pub which has survived a car crash to remain a vibrant community hub
It's a pub which has overcome adversity, including being severely damaged by a car crashing into it, and become a welcoming and warm place to visit for a pint.
Within small communities, the role of the pub as a centre of that community is very important, and when that centre is damaged or left unable to function, it can have a detrimental effect on that community.
Whether that is through the pub closing for a renovation or through a change in ownership, losing a pub for a short time can affect people as they lose their meeting point or safe space.
This is something which happened to the Old Bush Inn in Swindon, a village based in south Staffordshire on the border with Shropshire and overlooking miles of open countryside.
The pub, which has been part of the community for more than 300 years, was left severely damaged and unable to run for six weeks after a car drove into it at the end of October last year, leaving the main bar area in pieces and the fire place dislodged by about six feet.
Despite the damage, the pub, which is owned by Admiral Taverns, was able to rebound and reopen in mid-December, ably led by landlady Clare Marsh, who said she had been running the Old Bush for about nine years.
She said: "I had been working at the Bridge pub in Kingswinford, but as a Wetherspoons was opening up the road, I felt like it was time to move on.
