NEW publican Darren Rawlings is following in his father’s footsteps by becoming landlord at The Salutation Inn near Castle Combe.

Mr Rawling’s mother and father, Ken and Lynne, ran the village pub in The Gibb during the 1990’s and now son Darren is hoping to return it to its former glories.

The pub has had numerous owners in the intervening years but on October 22, Mr Rawlings and his wife, Donna, re-opened the pub and are looking to create a long-term success story.

He said: “Its exciting times and I think it’s a reasonable acquisition, it’s a lot of property for the money but it’s a liability unless we turn it into a success story.

“Its been closed for six months, it has been right at the bottom of its game it will take a lot of effort to get it back but people are being very encouraging that its open again I am very hopefully.

“I am looking forward to getting it back to the way it used to be.”

Mr Rawlings, who was brought up in neighbouring village Littleton Drew, has spent several thousand pounds cleaning the entire pub to get it into a fit state to re-open and refitting the cellar but said structurally there was very little that needed doing.

He hopes that a good food offering and, by the spring, a revamped pub garden will also be up and running to offer a fresh outdoor space for visitors.

“My father rented it from Whitbread for half a dozen years and had it as a thriving place,” Mr Rawlings added.

“It has a great attraction to me, it’s an important place for me. It’s always been a place where people come to meet, off and on, probably for more like 25 years it’s been for people to eat as well.”

Mr Rawlings has been involved in the hospitality sector for over 20 years and returned to Wiltshire with his wife just over ten years ago.