Home Counties: Barley Mow

Shepperton, Middlesex

In the two years that John and Claire Keary have run the Barley Mow, wet sales have rocketed from around £2,500 per week to £8,000. And there's bound to be more to come as the Pubs 'n' Bars managed house has only recently added food to its offering.

When the couple arrived it was only supposed to be as relief managers ­ the latest in a chain of managers that seemed to come and soon go at the Shepperton community pub.

John recalls: "I thought, what a poor old pub'. It had no character, no atmosphere, and just a few die-hards in the bar. It was obviously going through a very, very bad period although it did have a heritage of doing well."

After sprucing the place up a bit, John had second thoughts. "After a couple of weeks, we thought there was something to be done." A tour of the local pubs, endless conversations with everyone from nearby shopkeepers to the milkman and postman, and "anyone who would talk" convinced the Kearys that the Barley Mow had a real future.

The key to getting people to return lay in creating the sort of activities that John and Claire had been told were wanted by locals. They soon initiated three music nights per week, a quiz night and a night of pub sports.

Tuesdays saw the introduction of jam nights where anyone could play drums, piano, guitar, squeezebox, violin ­ "You name it, they'll play it," John explains.

Wednesday nights are given over to jazz. Trade was assisted by another jazz venue nearby that attracted people into the area and helped establish the Barley Mow as a venue to visit on different nights.

Thursday nights are set aside for a quiz that regularly attracts 70 to 80 contestants. Friday nights are for pub sports lovers with darts, dominoes, cribbage and bar billiards, while on Saturdays, rock n' roll rules. The tempo lowers on Sunday and Monday nights to allow conversation to dominate the pub.

The changing face of the Barley Mow has seen cask ale re-establish itself and four beer festivals were held last year to reward customers. Campaign for Real Ale members soon heard about the transformation and regularly meet there. "We must have done something right because we were voted North Surrey Pub of the Year," says John.

The Barley Mow now boasts its own golf and cricket societies and does more than its fair share of raising money for local charities.