THE landlord of a pub on the edge of the Blackdown Hills has asked the community “what it wants the pub to do” if he is to win their support and make it a success. 

Pat Carroll, who is the current tenant of the Lamb and Flag Inn, in Blagdon, threw open the doors to the pub in February after it closed in November last year.

He said a ‘soft launch’ was well attended but says the number of people who have come through the doors of the Grade-II listed inn have since dropped.

Pat said: “Is it because my prices are too expensive? Is it because I'm doing something wrong, or you just don't like it?”

“I constantly ask people, if you want me to do something, if you want to change the menu, it's only a conversation. Come through the door and say, ‘Pat, I want this done’.”

Pat called for more public support in an online post earlier this month which stated that “despite all our best efforts”, the running of the pub has become “unsustainable.”

Since the post was published on Facebook, some people have responded with messages of support and suggestions including the possibility of diversifying the menu to appeal to those with “specialist dietary needs”.

Some suggestions were also vague and generic, said Pat, who believes he’s done his best to appeal to the locals.

“We got good, positive responses. But, in honesty, if people come in or if they've had a conversation with me, they would go, ‘Oh, yeah, you have done this’,” said Pat.

“It's like someone's telling you how to do your job without actually even meeting you or understanding the job.”

He said his post on Facebook has done little to improve footfall, although some villagers have offered their support. 

Pat said one of the biggest barriers to the pub’s success has been its intermittent opening and closing over the past year.

He said: “So the main issue with building it back up was, how do we get over that reputation of ‘are they closed or are they open’? That's one of the hardest things.

“Someone needs to step in and act to help pubs, not as a brewery, but as an independent person. We need to support local people.”

Originally from Bath, Pat trained and worked as a freelance chef and his work took him around the world for more than ten years before joining the Lamb and Flag as a chef in November.

In January, the then-owner advertised the tenancy which Pat took on despite not running a pub before.

Pat said in the online post on September 6: “The time has come for me to decide as to whether I should extend my lease.

“I love The Lamb and Flag, and I know the community doesn’t want to lose it yet another time, so I’ve decided to just simply ask.

“What else does the community want The Lamb and Flag to do?”