A Great Harwood pub has had its fortunes turned around since being taken over by a husband-and-wife team, who have big plans for the beer garden.
The Walmesley Arms, in Queen Street, is run by Joanne and Steve O’Donovan, who took over 18 months ago, and this week it is our Pub of the Week.
We caught up with Steve.
Introduce yourself
Steve O’Donovan, I have been in the pub for 18 months.
How is it going?
It is good; we have turned it round from a non-working pub. We took it on when it was closed.
What have you done since taking over?
We have given it a deep clean, and we are doing up the garden. We have got three dartboard systems in now. We have powered up on darts teams; we have a Tuesday and Wednesday darts and a dominoes team, and a women's team.
They are both doing really well.
The team has got through to the second round in the knockouts, and we are second in the league, Accrington District League.
Do you do any food?
We don’t do food at the moment. When we took it on, there was no kitchen, and it had been taken out.
It had a bad reputation previously, and we have turned that round, and we have made it more of a community pub where people come in. Women have been coming in and making comments about how they feel safe just coming in.
We have brought in quite a lot of customers and community from Great Harwood.
What are your plans for the garden?
We have been doing really well; we are trying to get work done in the garden to renovate it to make it one of the best beer gardens in the area.
We are waiting on some structural work; we have done planting areas and put a load of benches, so it is a decent-sized area now.
Read more
Lancashire venues wanted for immersive 90s club classics and interactive show
Team 'buzzing' after East Lancs boozer crowned 'pub hero' of UK
Lancashire singers wanted for Pub Idol competition with £1,000 prize
Do you show any sport?
We had the World Cup. That was really good, and brought the community together. We have two darts and dominoes and a pool team.
We have put them together and got them into leagues, and we have built-in karaoke. We can do that anytime - we do it during the day if people want it.
Do you host any events?
We have live music; we have just had a fantastic one, the Harper Brothers. They were absolutely fantastic.
We are looking at doing one a month of live entertainment. We have done Northern Soul nights, and we have had DJs.
Share