Park yourself on a stool at garage pub
When Pete Neal decided he wanted a pub on his doorstep, that's exactly where he built one.
Now when he fancies a pint of best, he simply opens the kitchen door of his Wednesfield home and walks into his very own custom-made bar.
The 48-year-old steel worker and his wife Angie, 44, regularly hold parties in the converted garage and even have proper beer pulls serving genuine real ale on tap.
He said: "It was my stupid idea but we wouldn't be without it now. We've had some great nights in here – Halloween, bonfire, New Year's Eves – with family and friends. They love it."
Pete, a former musician known to all as Pete The Mod, converted the room himself over a period of three months and decorated it with pub paraphernalia picked up around the area and on holidays to the USA.
The room was originally a garage that was transformed into a dining room and then a games room for the couple's son Jude, aged 11.
Then Pete hit on the idea of creating Neal's Bar and roped in his brother-in-law, a carpenter, to help. With the addition of a log burner and television set, it's been a cosy home-from-home ever since.
They considered serving draught lager but decided the cooling equipment would take up too much room under the counter, so they specialise in traditional brews. Pete pops over to Enville Ales in Stourbridge for his barrels and has now started putting on guest ales. Angie, a sales administrator, says: "The parties seem to be happening more and more – it's a good way of getting the family together. We used to go out as a couple quite a lot but that died off when our son was born so having our own bar has been a good way of 'going out' without leaving the house.
"The night we 'opened' I did go round and warn the neighbours because it did get a bit noisy but quite a few of them have come round for a drink since."
Friends have helped him collect the pub-related paraphernalia that give the bar an authentic feel.
The tables and chairs he got from a pub in Wolverhampton that was being demolished to make way for shops.
He said: "My father-in-law owns a steel firm and a customer who specialises in buying up pubs and refurbishing the sites came in to buy some steel.
"My wife, who also works there, let it be known I was after tables and chairs and he let us have some furniture from the pub." A friend who runs a printing shop in Wordsley made the Neal's Bar sign – displayed on a black blind – and also had Neal's Bar labels made up for bottles Pete acquired over the internet. His friend Matt's wife, who works at Banks's brewery, has also helped out with
An elaborate wooden overmantle on the wall, used as a display for bottles and glasses, was picked up for £100 at a flea market in London and a large arrow-shaped To The Party sign was snapped up in his local TK Maxx in Bentley Bridge. One of the keen Elvis fan's favourite pieces is a stained-glass window featuring the letter P which he bought on a visit to Graceland, the late singer's home in Memphis, USA. He said: "I like a car boot. A lot of the little pictures, glasses and beer mats have been picked up there. Otherwise I've got a lot of Beatles and Mods stuff up around the place, being a big fan of that era." Pete is now planning an extension to include a pools table and a pub patio for barbecues.
