What life is like running a Yorkshire village country pub for 30 years

Martyn Rhodes, 62, took over The Old Brandy Wine in Luddendenfoot, on Station Road, in January 1993 and held a special celebration at the pub on Saturday (Jan 8) to mark his third decade as landlord.

"It's a very social life, and if you don't make it a social life you don't get your customer base, so you've got to be here," Martyn said. "You can't get away all the time. Obviously you get a little bit of time to yourself. It's a job that you've got to work at."

Explaining how he came to own the pub, Martyn said: "It just became available – a friend of mine owned it. I had a pub at King Cross and ran both of them for a while until I came down here full time. It's had its ups and downs, the pub trade has declined a lot as we all know. But we're a little village country pub supported by the locals and we've done our 30 years. We thank to all our customers past and present very much for their support."

Martyn admits the trade has got a lot harder in recent years and estimates his customer base is now down to around a third of what it was when he took over.

"The young ones don't seem to come through to the drinking culture like the old school used to do," he said. "They turn their heads towards other things. It's an ever decreasing circle. The further you get out of town, the more they seem to be closing down quicker."

When asked why he thinks he's been able to stay in business all these years, Martyn said: "Consistency. A lot of pubs nowadays change hands every 12 to 24 months, and your locals don't feel attached to somewhere in the same way. Because I've been here for a long time, people feel safe and comfortable."

Martyn hopes to open a bed and breakfast at the pub this summer.

"We've always been a wet pub," he added. "Over the years we've had various different Indian restaurants upstairs, a few of them have come and gone. We've just done a conversion upstairs from a restaurant into a bed and breakfast, which we're hoping to get going later this year. We've got the space upstairs and I was just a bit fed-up of all the changes upstairs. It'll divide up into six rooms and we'll go down the bed and breakfast route, give it a go, and that'll probably take me through to retirement."