Full circle moment for landlord of pub once run by grandparents

It seemed like a sweet thing to say by the young Ben Peace, but it was something which has become a reality at the start of 2023 as he and his wife Faye become the landlords of the Hartley Arms in Wheaton Aston in Staffordshire.

The pair have followed in the footsteps of Ben's grandparents Ralph and Jean Broomhall in running the village pub and carry on a love affair with the pub that has seen significant moments in his life.

He said: "My grandparents took over this pub more than 40 years ago and that's the reason why all my family have lived in the village and been associated with the pub as my mum and sister worked in the pub and we all grew up around it.

"They let it go about 30 years ago and my wife and I have been in and out of the pub trade and were kind of done with it until it became known that the Hartley was available and it was a complete heart overruling head decision, but we just jumped at the chance to own it.

"When I turned 18 and was old enough to drink, this was my first local and I met Faye because she was working behind the bar here and everything has just been about this pub, so when I got a bit of experience in the trade, it was always going to culminate in taking on this pub at some point."

Mr Peace said that while his grandfather was no longer around, his grandmother still was and would come into the pub, while his mum Sarah was part of the management team with him and his nephew George worked in the kitchen, so it was a full family affair.

The pub itself overlooks the Shropshire Union Canal, and is popular with boaters as there is a fuelling wharf close by.

There are two rooms connected by an open doorway and as well as a large patio, there is also seating alongside the car park overlooking the canal.

Before 1900, the inn was called the Canal Tavern, but was renamed the Hartley Arms after Squire Hartley of Wheaton Aston Hall.

Mr Peace said the modern day Hartley Inn was very much food-led, providing an excellent selection of homemade meals with a large range of choices, but also had a strong bar trade and was very popular with the local community.

The pub is owned by Marstons, with the family group leasing the pub, and said that the drink selection was a good and varied one, particularly for people who liked spirits.

He said: "There's very little stipulation on what we can buy and what we can sell, so we have on ales such as Wye Valley. Butty Bach, HPA and Holden's Golden Glow, plus we have a Wainwright's on and Banks's Amber.

"We'll sell premium lagers such as San Miguel and Madri and we also have Carling, plus we do a cloudy fruit cider for people who like that, and we also have 16 different whiskies and 12 different gins, plus half a dozen tequilas as well."

For price, a pint of Carling would be £4.15 and a Madri at £5.50, while a real ale would be between £4 and £4.50.

As for the food selection, the selection is large and varied, all homemade and locally sourced, with the fish and chips, scampi and chips and pie and chips all very popular, with Mr Peace saying the pub did a lot of covers each week.

He said: "At the heart of the menu is a pub classic which is hearty and wholesome and at a reasonable price and we are popular for food, doing between 800 and 900 covers each week at the moment.

"We are canalside, so we get a lot of trade from the canal, but a lot of our customers are repeat customers and we work hard to get people into the door the first time and get them back again.

"I am just immensely proud to be the owner of this pub as my grandparents were everything to me when I was growing up and I'm proud to follow in their footsteps and it's not a status thing, but just wonderful to be part of the local community makes me really proud."