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It's all in a name

Spot to rest the hams

CITIZEN PUBWATCH - SATURDAY JUNE 15TH 1996

AS a county, Gloucestershire is rich in pubs that pay daily tribute to the area's traditional agricultural, physical and industrial roots.

We have pubs named after cheeses, pubs named after sheep and pubs named after rivers and natural landmarks. We even have a pub named after a box of matches.

One such local homage is made by the Old Spot at Dursley, one of two pubs in the county named after the famous Gloucester Old Spot pig, an animal of great character and charm.

The pub too has great character and charm and last year was `highly commended' in the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) award for the best pub in Gloucestershire.

This was a remarkable achievement by landlady Ellie Sainty and her husband Ric who moved into the pub only about three years ago.

The Saintys completely gutted the building and rebuilt the interior from the ground up.

The pub then reopened as a traditional real ale pub with an everchanging list of guest beers to tempt the palate.

Since then, the Saintys have made the pub one of the most popular in the Dursley area.

Of being commended in the CAMRA competition, Mrs Sainty said: "It is a nice recognition of what we have done to the place since we moved in. It seems to be a winning combination."

So while the Gloucester Old Spot pigs have been winning prizes at the Three Counties Show in Malvern this week, the Dursley Old Spot pub has been getting on with the serious business of selling cold beer to hot customers.

Who knows, in this year's CAMRA competition the Old Spot may yet breast the finish line in first place.

GEORGE HENDERSON

CAPTION: Pleasant place to take refreshment thanks to the hard work of the Saintys - The Old Spot at Dursley, which is hightly commended by CAMRA

Reproduced courtesy of The Citizen - 15th Jun 1996.