From B&Q to major makeover

Former DIY superstore managers Pedro Aparicio and Clare Paul have worked wonders on what was once a rundown village pub destined for closure. Mark Taylor reports

As former B&Q store managers, it seems entirely appropriate that first-time licensees Pedro Aparicio and Clare Paul have adopted a DIY approach to running their pub.

The Canal Inn's new-found success is the result of sheer hard work and determination on the part of the young couple, who effectively saved the once-doomed village pub in Wrantage, Somerset, from closure.

They have transformed it into a busy pub with a reputation for good food and such an impressive selection of real ales that it has been included in the Campaign for Real Ale's Good Beer Guide 2005.

Three years ago, the Canal Inn was a tattyroadside boozer with a dubious reputation andso unprofitable that the then owners used to close the doors at 9pm on a Saturday.

When they decided they had had enough, they closed the pub's doors for good and decided to sell up, ripping out the fixtures and fittings ­ including the bar ­ and applying for planning permission to turn it into a house.

"We knew this pub from years ago because we used to drink here when it was good," recalls Aparicio, who hails from Bournemouth but has lived in Somerset for years.

"We were both working for B&Q at the time, fancied a change and had always wanted to run our own pub, so when we heard the Canal Inn could be up for sale, we really wanted to save it from being turned into houses, especially as it's the only pub in the village.

"The owner applied for planning permission, so we just waited and hoped it was turned down. Eventually the council opposed it so they had to sell up in the end."

The couple set about turning the neglected building back into a pub and, with a little help from local builders, neighbours and nearby businesses prepared to sell them materials at cost price, the Canal Inn reopened in July 2003.

From the outset, the couple wanted to make the pub a proper village local, as well as a destination dining venue.

Aparicio, whose parents are Spanish, used to work in hotel kitchens as a student and learned cooking from his family. He specialises in Mediterranean dishes and fish and seafood feature prominently on the constantly evolving blackboard menu.

A typical lunchtime menu may include crevettes in sea salt and garlic (£5), tomato and goats' cheese salad (£4), scallops griddled with ginger (£5), local Burrow Hill Cider sausages with egg and chips (£6), a Somerset Lunch ­ local cheese, meat, pickles, pickled onions (£5.50) and the best-selling dish of a plate of tapas for two people (£7.50).

Above the blackboard menu is a list of suppliers and the information is so detailed that it even includes the farms which supply the local butcher.

The Canal Inn's passion for using the abundance of great local produce from the Somerset and Dorset area has even resulted in the pub holding a regular local producers' market.

"People were asking where certain ingredients came from, so we thought we might as well invite the suppliers down on a Saturday morning and let them set up stalls in the pub," says Paul, who grew up in the area and worked in the pub as a barmaid when she was younger.

Now, on the last Saturday of the month, as many as 20 local producers turn up to sell their wares.

Stallholders include Rowswells butchers of Shepton Beauchamp, Kingfisher fishmongers from Brixham, River Brue Smokery of Glastonbury, Nicholls Pickles of Somerton and Mr and Mrs Titman, who supply free-range eggs and vegetables from nearby Thornfalcon.

Aparicio says: "When we first opened, we had to go out and find suppliers, but we've ended up with small village butchers and local vegetable producers and we've found them to be the best. They also want our business and because they are small like us, they want to help us.

"We approached some bigger local butchers and vegetable suppliers who weren't interested at all. We thought it would be easier getting people on board as we were new, but it was harder because we didn't have any bargaining power. Some of them wouldn't supply us because we didn't have any references. The same people are phoning us up now, saying their rep will be around this week. We tell them not to evenbother!"

Aparicio cooks by himself in the small kitchen, but the lack of space hasn't hampered his ambition and there have been a series of successful themed food nights.

As well as these, and a weekly quiz night, the Canal Inn reopened its skittle alley. "When we took over, the skittle alley was under a few feet of water," recalls Paul. "But both our neighbours are builders and they helped out ­ it took us four weekends."

Aparicio adds: "We hate quiet evenings and there's nothing worse than sitting behind the bar with no customers. We just wanted the place busy. We have two regular teams now and we join in and have a laugh.

"We may be working harder than when we had proper jobs, but it's a much better quality of life and we meet some great people. We couldn't work for somebody else now!"

Theme nights pull trade

The pub hosts regular food themed evenings. The most popular of these has been the fish nights, where fresh fish from Brixham forms the basis of the menu.

A typical fish night menu might include squid fried in chilli, garlic and ginger, grilled mackerel and skate wing with brown butter and anchovy sauce.

Other events have included a "game bird night".

"All these things start by accident," says Aparicio. "Our butcher came in for a drink the other day and told us it was sausage week soon.

"I said I had loads of recipes for Spanish sausages and then a South African guy at the bar said that he had some South African recipes, so we are all going down to the butcher's and make sausages for a special sausage evening."