Punch pub themed as 'hunting lodge'

A £60,000 investment by the licensees has seen a rural Punch pub in Herefordshire transformed with a Scottish hunting-lodge theme.

Hosts Keith and Lisa Shearin are tapping into the market for corporate groups, special events and couples at the Mortimers Cross near Leominster, and the theme seemed to be the perfect fit.

Activities on offer include quad biking, shooting, fishing and everything you'd expect from a country weekend.

Keith said: "As with our other pub, the Nags Head in Canon Pyon, we took on a closed site and invested our own money to get it as we wanted.

"We can't sustain the business with local patrons, so we're promoting the Mortimers Cross as broadly as possible through the internet.

"We've linked up with www.laterooms.com and other hotel room-finding sites and have registered with venue searches and even with companies that organise hen and stag dos.

"We've developed a unique offer, using our local network and resources, and we're promoting it through channels that we know will work."