THE Duke in Hilmarton re-opened on Saturday as new landlords Gail and Steve Carroll welcomed villagers back to the historic pub.

After a month of hard graft preparing for the re-opening of the pub, which is owned by Arkell’s Brewery, the couple, with their son Sean, could finally open the doors to the public.

The Carrolls, whose son Sean is a qualified chef, have been running pubs since 1992 and have moved to Wiltshire, having run The Crown in Taunton, looking for a smaller pub in a village setting.

Mrs Carroll is from a family of publicans in Yorkshire and Cheshire while her husband served in the Royal Navy for 22 years.

He said: “I am not the landlord; I am the landlady’s husband. Arkells has already given us tremendous support to help us make The Duke a real community inn.”

On Friday the couple held a pre-opening event for locals to gather in the bar, meet the family and hear of their plans for The Duke.

Hilmarton Parish Churchwarden, John Henly, said: “It’s really refreshing to come out on a Friday evening after a busy week to meet up with some old pals and enjoy some well kept ale.”

The following day, the family welcomed crowds of people with an opening day barbeque while young and old were also able to enjoy the garden games and bouncy castle.

Craig Anger, who has recently moved to the village, said: “It looks like we will have a real family run pub with a homely, warm-hearted welcome.”