Peter is a man on a pub mission with Huntsman revamp

This is where Peter Morris used to quaff Vimto. And where Vimto, amongst other things, is now being quaffed once again.

Peter, 51, a businessman from Wellington, is a man whose dream has come true: he has saved the pub he remembers from his childhood – and later as a punter – from the threat of demolition and development by purchasing it and bringing it back to life.

"You don't forget good memories," he says, proudly standing at the spot in the bar of The Huntsman at Little Wenlock, now open and where as a customer in the past he spent many a happy hour.

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"It means a lot to me. I would have hated to see it pulled down and gone to housing, and by doing this it's not going to happen.

"We have secured the future of The Huntsman."

Peter points to two pubs nearby which have recently closed, but he is fed up of reading about bad news in the trade, and his stewardship in steering another rural Shropshire inn away from the threat of its final closing time is certainly a reason to raise a glass.

The Huntsman, nestling in the foothills of the Wrekin, was a derelict wreck when Peter, who has never owned a pub before, bought it from Punch Taverns in March last year.

It had been closed since December 2009 and had fallen into serious disrepair. A flood and collapsed ceilings were just a couple of minor issues.

"It was victim of another pub closure and we decided to bring it back to life because there was no pub in Little Wenlock," says Peter.

"It is going to be a community facility, a focal point. The village has a church and a village hall, and now it has got its pub back."

After 18 months' hard work in gutting much of the original building and extending it to include a brand new restaurant, the pub has opened in time for Christmas.

Peter is tight-lipped about how much money he has invested in realising his dream, but in the current climate with pubs shutting across Britain at a rate of more than 50 a month, isn't he slightly, well, what's the word . . .

"Tapped?" asks Peter predicting my question. "Probably," he jokes. "But you have got to believe in what you are doing, and I believe that this pub can flourish with the right team behind it."

He adds: "It's a massive worry because you don't know if it's going to work until the doors open."

Key to the venture is a plan to make the pub sustainable and secure for the long term.

Firstly it is not owned by a pub chain, meaning its bosses are in charge of purchasing locally produced food and drink without having their hands tied by a landlord.

There is also another source of income to support the pub – as well as accommodation above the inn, Peter has planning permission to build four cottages, available to rent, on land to the rear of the property.

"Anybody who thinks a pub can sustain itself on its own . . . well, it's just not going to happen," says Peter.

Peter has drafted in as general manager John Duncan who previously ran The Countess's Arms at Weston under Lizard and the Swan at Forton near Newport.

And John has already put fresh local produce on the menu. "It's local fresh food from within a radius of ten miles – even though seafood might be a bit of problem within that distance – and local ales."

Like many rural villages, Little Wenlock has already lost several cornerstones of community life – its school, post office and village shop, and the loss of its pub would have been another arrow in the heart of the community. The opening of the pub brings with it more good news: jobs.

Peter also believes its location – best of both worlds, being in the countryside but at the same time easily accessible from the conurbation – is a vital ingredient in developing it as the thriving pub he recalls from his younger days.

"I used to come and visit when I was a teenager with my parents," says Peter. "I would have a glass of Vimto in the car on the car park on a Saturday night and the pub would be full.

"And that says it to me that we could have those times back again if the job is done right."

Standing in its entirely re-built bar, it is as though Peter has re-modelled The Huntsman on how he recalls it from his youth.

"I remember the people who ran the pub, Peter and Barbara Hollings and later it went to a lady called Sue Roberts who still comes back to visit from Scotland.

"We have put the bar and fireplace lay-out back to how it was originally laid out in the 1960s – this is how I remember it."

There are other touches that hark back to Peter's fond memories of the pub too.

His sister and brother-in-law had their wedding reception at The Huntsman in August 1987.

Sadly he passed away last year after having cancer, but as a tribute Peter has named his new restaurant the Ardern Restaurant in honour of his late brother-in-law, Robert Ardern Lewis Price, who was managing director of the Dawley-based haulage firm, Harry Price Ltd.

"My whole family is from Shropshire and it is the family that has bought the Huntsman," adds Peter proudly.

And having built in plans to sustain the pub, punter-turned-owner Peter is confident that his favourite pub, The Huntsman, will never again fall under the threat of closure.

"It should never shut, if I've done my sums right," he says.