Last orders please! The landlord and landlady of one of the last traditional pubs in Shropshire are finally calling it a day after 21 years at the heart of their community.
John and Cathy Law, of The Gate Inn, Bratton, near Wellington, have decided to retire. They have put their lease up for sale and hope that the popular town pub will be taken over and run as a going concern.
Mr Law, 63, and Mrs Law, 59, who have two grown-up sons and three grandchildren, took over as tenants of The Gate on December 15, 1986.
They have since been under a series of owners including the Shrewsbury & Wem Brewery, Davenports, the Inn Partnership, Pubmaster, Jedi Inns and the current owner Ironwell Ltd, of London.Mr Law, who grew up in Hadnall, worked on a farm there for 23 years before running his local, the Saracen’s, for six years.
He and his wife have kept The Gate “unimproved”, with traditional bar, lounge and small dining room offering meals such as sausage, egg and chips and T-bone steaks, cooked by Mrs Law.
“There are very few old fashioned pubs like this left in the area,” Mr Law said.
“We have darts and dominoes here and our darts doubles players will be competing in the All England tournament at Bridlington in March.”
The bar is plastered with photographs of classic motorcycle road racing - a testament to Mr Law’s lifelong passion with two-wheel sport.
He is a committee member of Salop Motor Club and has helped to organise many scrambles events at the famous Hawkstone Park moto-cross circuit.
Mrs Law’s big interest is raising money for Children for Leukaemia. She and her husband have collected more than £10,000 for the charity over the years.
Mr Law said: “It’s a good life running a pub, as long as you don’t mind working 18 hours a day.
“”The secret of running a good pub is to listen to people.”
By Peter Johnson
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