Regulars being invited to head back to Office

The Office bar at 6 Tower Knowe closed on March 20 as the country entered lockdown.

Jake Hope and Susan Graham, who have been running the pub since 2000, decided a period of isolation would give them the opportunity to carry out some improvements they had put off for years.

Workers were brought in to completely gut the premises and give the bar and lounge a facelift.

All the work was completed in readiness for its reopening at the beginning of September.

Unfortunately, that date coincided with a spike in cases of Covid-19 locally and the couple decided to take a cautious approach and waited two weeks to welcome regulars back.

Jake has since learned it was the pub’s first major revamp in more than 60 years.

He said: “We ripped the bar area right back to the bare walls and took the old cladding off the walls that has been there ever since we arrived. In fact, when I spoke to a guy who has drank here since 1956 he said it was like that back then.

“We always spoke about it but never had the chance to do it and when the Covid thing came along we decided that was the time because we were going to be closed anyway.

“It was needing a change and now it’s lighter and brighter. I would like to pass on a word of thanks for the workmen we had in to get the place done out. We took the pool table out because with the restrictions we needed the space, with it there we could only have six tables so it would have been a waste of time opening.”

Jake, who has worked in the licensing trade for 29 years, said business had been steady since reopening but revealed he’s making plans for another lockdown.

He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another lockdown and if that happens it will be a case of closing the bar until things are ready to reopen and I’ll go away and do some lorry driving or something.”