Glasses raised as pub reopens

FIRST ORDERS: The Green Man Pub in Hurst has reopened. The kitchen will be serving food soon

Picture: Sue Corcoran

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By SUE CORCORAN news@wokingham.today

LOCALS raised a toast to their village pub when it reopened after a seven-month closure.

The Green Man in Hinton Road, Hurst currently serves drinks, crisps and nuts only – with dog biscuits for canine customers – but meals are on the way soon.

New landlord Wes Tunstead said on Tuesday: “The kitchen is being professionally checked and cleaned. Gas safety checks will be done. We have a chef ready to come here.

“It will be one or two weeks before we can start doing food.”

Wes, over six feet tall, faces another task at the cosy pub going back hundreds of years.

“I’m vertically challenged – by all these ceiling beams. I keep smashing my head,” he seemed to joke.

He added: “We’ve had a really good welcome from the locals who have been coming in since Saturday. We did a low-key opening so we could stress test everything to make sure it worked properly.”

Wes and his wife Victoria along with their general manager Emily Carney and other members of staff will run the pub between them. Wes, Victoria and Emily already run the Dog and Duck at Emmbrook.

They’ll continue running the two pubs between them.

One of Tuesday’s customers, Surojani Greenwood, a London insurance brokers’ secretary, said: “It’s lovely to see the pub open again. It’s just walking distance from our home.

“We were really upset when it closed.”