Licensee celebrates 55 years at the same pub

The career of a remarkable licensee who has run the same pub for 55 years was celebrated with a beer festival over the weekend.

Hundreds of drinkers at the Oak, in Ockbrook, Derbyshire raised a glass to mark the amazing achievement of 81 year-old Olive Wilson.

Olive and her husband Lew took up the tenancy in April 1953, paying £1 a week in rent to Derby brewers Offilers for the pub which dates back at least 200 years.

The first thing the couple celebrated was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June that year.

"We hired a television, the biggest one we could get at the time so that people could watch the ceremony," said Olive.

"Everybody loved it. It was a fantastic time."

Olive and Lew bought the pub in the early 1990s from then owners Bass, after the Beer Orders imposed restrictions on how many pubs brewers could own.

Olive said her most memorable moment was when the couple celebrated 40 years at the pub in 1993. Bass sent along a special wagon with a big congratulations message on the side.

Lew died the following year but Olive still runs the pub with daughters Sally and Jean.

She no-longer works behind the bar because of the changes in technology, but still does a lot of the bookwork.

And she has words of advice for people new to the trade. "You have got to want to do this work and enjoy it," she said. "It's very hard work, but you have really got to stick at it and be committed," she said.

Over the years the pub has won prizes for its garden, and accolades from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

Tony Jerome, CAMRA's press manager said, "What a fantastic achievement! I would be very surprised if Olive isn't the longest serving licensee in the country. It is even more remarkable that she has spent all of her career in the same pub.

"On behalf of CAMRA I would like to congratulate her on this achievement and wish her more success in the future."