We visit a Staffordshire pub which has been given a new lease of life by its landlord and has become a popular community hub
This pub has been given a new lease of life by its landlord after years of struggle and has become a popular community hub with great beer and a warm welcome.
There are plenty of stories of pubs which have struggled to stay open through lack of trade or money issues and have, as a result, closed for long periods of time, waiting for someone to come along and give them a fresh start.
Some of these pubs stay closed forever, never to reopen their doors and left to rot, while others are saved from the brink and given a second chance to impress.
One pub which has managed to survive a long period of closure and come back stronger is the Plough and Harrow in Hednesford.
Located at the top of Uxbridge Street on the road into Hednesford, the pub has a prominent location next to a populated area and next to the A460, but as landlord Russell Simpson puts it, it had struggled to stay open over the years.
He said: "'I've known this pub for 20 years and I've seen the stages it's gone through, such as when it used to be a really good food pub then, for about six or seven years, it's been really hit and miss with being open and closed.
"It's been here for years and I've spoken to quite a few of the landlords and landladies from the past, but over the last seven or eight years, it's really struggled to stay open.
