THE reopened Royal Oak public house in Hillcommon will be welcoming its first guests from tomorrow (Friday December 15).

While pubs across the region have been closing under economic pressures, The Royal Oak has reopened its doors just in time for Christmas. 

After 20 years as The Orchard Inn, the pub closed its doors last July without announcement.

Entrepreneurs Millie and Jon Coward, who own The Bear Inn, Wiveliscombe, have purchased the pub with local former jockey Tom Malone, who also runs a bloodstock agency from his Heathfield farm nearby.

After the pub’s unexpected closure, Mr Malone was without a ‘local’ in which to drink and meet clients.

Mr Malone said: “I would go up there and play pool with plumbers, electricians – I did not have to talk about racing, it was perfect. 

“But then it shut so I got in contact with the then-owner and that drove me to reopen it with Jon and his wife Millie.”

Mr Malone and the Cowards have spent ‘an incredible amount of time and money refitting the pub’. 

Mr and Mrs Coward have several other establishments across the area, including The Martlet Inn, Langford Budville, and Milverton Cricket Clubhouse. They focus on preserving the individual history and local feel of their businesses. 

They want to bring the Royal Oak back to its roots by reverting the name and keeping it distinctive. 

Mr Malone said: “We had a lady pop in the other day who can remember it from 50 years ago and it has been there long before that, so we are just going back to its roots, as it were.”

Mr Coward said: “The thing that will remain the same across all our pubs is the level of service – the way people are greeted and cared for and looked after. 

“Families are welcome. It is not going to be a racing pub or a sports-themed bar – it will have racing touches but nothing too overt.”

The couple are aiming to create a ‘beautiful outside space’ that will be great for ‘both winter and summer’.

Mr Coward said: “We’ll open at 10 am every single day and stay open until 12.30 am on weekends.”

The trio are excited about the communal feel that the pub will bring as Mr Malone emphasises: “The bricks and mortar might be ours, but the heart and soul are owned by the local area.”