Historic pub calls time
An historic Staffordshire pub has been sold to developers and is due to serve its last pint in just over a week. An historic Staffordshire pub has been sold to developers and is due to serve its last pint in just over a week. Residents will raise a glass to The Pear Tree in Rugeley when time is called next Saturday after more than 50 years of serving the town's people. The pub first opened its doors to the public at its current site in Queensway in 1955 but it is thought it existed a little further up the road in the 1940s. The Richardson family has been at the helm of the pub for 25 years and landlord Dave Richardson, aged 36, was just 11-years-old when his parents Harry and June took over the lease in 1982. He, his parents and brother Paul, then aged 15, moved into the pub, where Dave now lives with partner Sharon Harding. The brewery has now sold on the land to developers and Dave says it will be a sad day when The Pear Tree closes its doors for the last time. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
An historic Staffordshire pub has been sold to developers and is due to serve its last pint in just over a week.
Residents will raise a glass to The Pear Tree in Rugeley when time is called next Saturday after more than 50 years of serving the town's people.
The pub first opened its doors to the public at its current site in Queensway in 1955 but it is thought it existed a little further up the road in the 1940s.
The Richardson family has been at the helm of the pub for 25 years and landlord Dave Richardson, aged 36, was just 11-years-old when his parents Harry and June took over the lease in 1982.
He, his parents and brother Paul, then aged 15, moved into the pub, where Dave now lives with partner Sharon Harding.
The brewery has now sold on the land to developers and Dave says it will be a sad day when The Pear Tree closes its doors for the last time.
He said: "Emotions are running very high about the decision to sell the land. Some of our regulars have been drinking in here for 30 years or more, before my family even came here.
"A lot of people are really upset about the possibility of the place being bulldozed for the site to be developed. I can't see it staying as a pub. It needs too much money spent on it."
He added: "It will be a very sad day when we close. It's been a massive family venture for us. We've got 25 years of history to pack up so it's going to be quite a wrench. I will be very sad."
Mr Richardson said all friends, past and present, were invited to join them for one last time on Saturday evening.
He said his father was in numerous organisations and teams and founded the pool league in the 1980s which he carried on. Dave took over the lease in 2001, after his father passed away, and carried on the family business.
He said: "We've had pool, dominoes, cribs and darts teams which have won various competitions over the years.
"We had a big D Day celebration to mark the 60th anniversary, that was an amazing day. And we all got dressed up in old war clothes one year for the Jubilee. That was another great day."
