The centuries-old Market Drayton pub that was bought from a chain and supports its community

The venue is said to have survived a major fire in the town in 1651, and King Charles I is reputed to have stayed there during the Civil War in the previous decade.

Today, The Crown, on Market Street, is a Grade II listed building, having receiving its Listed status in May 1952.

It is owned and run by Mark Sawyer, who is originally from London and will mark his fourth year of ownership in November.

Mark, 59, originally signed a short-term lease with then-owners Marston's in January 2019 as a tenant, but after running the establishment, he and his partner purchased The Crown. He then bought out his partner and is now the sole owner.

Mark said: "This is my first time actually owning a pub, but I've always been around the trade.

"I have always sold things, whether that was in markets, shows, I've even done cab driving, and I once had a 20-year lease on a pub, and so, I'd like to think that I'm good at it - but that's for the locals to decide.

"Taking ownership of the pub in November 2019 was a good time and a bad time, as the Covid pandemic hit a few months later.

"It was bad for the industry of course. But when I purchased the pub, we had ideas on how to transform it because it needed a lot of work as it had been left to ruin.

"It was old from top to bottom, and needed a good refresh. And so, we had ideas on wanting to transform the place but we didn't know when or how to do it as we used all of our funds to buy the place, and there's finding the time. The Covid lockdown hit and we were forced to close of course.

"This allowed us to use the time to put some money together from a range of places, grants, private pensions, and we transformed the place with new fittings, lights, flooring, boilers - everything was new, and so Covid was a strange time as it was bad but good in the terms of allowing us to use the time to make changes."

Pubs were hit badly by the Covid pandemic as lockdowns forced them to close for months, and now the cost of living crisis has presented another challenge, with soaring bills hitting wallets.

Many pubs have closed during this time, and owners, landlords and ladies all say that they are simply grateful to still be around. Mark adds that one of the ways pubs are able to survive in this climate is by serving food.

He adds: "During that lockdown time, one of the second or third times, we created a beer garden and it was hard but it worked as it allowed us to welcome customers back.

"But, things will never go back to normal as they were pre-pandemic - too much has changed. The licensed trade has changed, nowadays most of the pubs that do well serve food, and we're no different. I think that it's tough to run a successful pub without doing food.

"Whilst I'd like to think we are generally wet-led, but we do serve food. A wet-led only pub will struggle in my opinion, as generations have changed. Customers have changed with what they want and how they want.

"The way the younger generation goes out is different to older generations. So pubs are ever-changing too and trying to keep up with the times.

"And so, we serve food everyday, from 2.30pm to 11pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm on a Saturday, and on Sundays we do Sunday roast dinners.

"We are now trying to introduce themed days for food, so, this Tuesday we had a steak day, with offers on steak meals, and it went down really well I think. I'm not short of ideas, and so will be trialling other themed dining days too."

The Crown in Market Drayton continues to be a great pub for the locals, and Mark says that with the army connections in the town, he has built nice relationships with everyone.

"With the army connections in the town, there's a lot of people from all over the country here in Market Drayton, myself included, being from London, but we all get along really well.

"With the pub I try to support a lot of charities, supporting campaigns and hosting charity quiz nights, and it is appreciated.

"We also sponsor Market Drayton FC for four matches, and also one of the players.

"There is another team emerging called Evolve FC, and I sponsored their corner flags and nets, so I try to do whatever I can and however, people appreciate it.

"It goes a long way to give a bit back to the community.

"And so I hope that we provide a bit for everyone here at the pub, it's not just a food pub or a wet-led pub, it covers all bases."