Downshire Diary – (19) The Girl in the Easter Dress

It was fast approaching Easter, another significant event in the calendar that held no fond memories for him.

Steve Berry had grown up with a dislike for all family orientated occasion, New Years, Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night and especially Christmas with all its nauseating jollity and faux fun.

Unlike most of the people he knew he had no happy memories to anesthetise him against those occasions.

His parents were alcoholics and from a very early age he had learned to fend for himself and most of his childhood memories of the big holidays he would rather have forgotten.

That was until Holly Davis opened his eyes to new possibilities and he realised that Christmas could also magnify joy and that life was full of wonderful possibilities.

And as they lay in each other’s arms in the early hours of New Year’s Day, having just made love for the first time, Holly proposed that they run the Pig and Whistle together.

Despite his first doubtful thoughts, when he thought it may just have been post coital exuberance on her part, Steve agreed based on the way the two of them had worked together through the Christmas period and the fact that he had fallen madly in love with her.

 

When he returned to his day job on January 5th his first action was to hand in his notice, much to the annoyance of his employers and the consternation of his co-workers.

His second action was to put his flat on the market and some of his friends suggested that he was burning his bridges whereas Steve believed he was merely following his heart.

Holly was buying the pub from her Uncle Phil, who sadly would not be around much longer as he was gravely ill.

But even allowing for the discounted price he was asking, she could only just afford it with the sale of her house and virtually all of her savings, which didn’t allow her any extra for the improvements she wanted to make.

She could of course have taken out a mortgage for what she needed but she didn’t really want to begin the endeavour with a huge debt and at the time she had no idea Steve had put his flat up for sale, in fact Holly didn’t even know if he owned his own flat that was until the beginning of February when he said

“I have officially burned my bridges”

“What do you mean Hon?” She said

“I am now unemployed and homeless”

He said and handed her the written offer on his flat

“What are you saying?” Holly asked

“Our nest Egg” he said

“Are you sure?”

“All or nothing” he said

So Steve and Holly became partners in the Pig and Whistle and they sealed the deal in what had become the customary manner of making love.

 

The Pig and Whistle had once been the Abbeyvale Railway Hotel, at least up until the second world war when the Station was bombed out of existence by the Luftwaffe.

In the post war years when the much of Abbeyvale was rebuilt a new station was also built, but it was inexplicably sited a mile away from its Hotel.

The Hotel was then sold off in 1948, after the railway network and infrastructure was nationalized and renamed the Pig and Whistle.

It was ideally situated close enough to the town to benefit from foot traffic but far enough away from the hot spots to avoid the weekend binge drinkers and there was another hidden benefit of their location which would not be discovered until much later however.

 

There were significant improvements made to the exterior of the building by Phil’s predecessor, upvc soffits, guttering and double glazing were installed as well as a number of others in fact it was improved to such an extent that they ran out of money, which was how Phil managed to get it so cheaply.

He and his wife Pat had big plans for the place and were going to throw themselves into it completely, but when she died suddenly the light went from his world as did his purpose for existing and he rather lost interested in the pub and the grand plans he and Pat had.

 

Once they found some time to draw breath they were sitting in the bar one morning before they opened and Holly asked

“So where do we start?”

“The roof” he replied

There was some remedial work required to the chimneys and some slates had been displaced in the winter storms.

“We can claim for the storm damage on Phil’s insurance and while they are up there they can do the chimneys” he said

“Excellent” she said “That will save us a bit”

“And then we should complete the kitchen extension and the Conservatory” Steve said

Phil and Pat had applied for planning permission before she died but it ran out in April so the clock was running in that regard but Abbeyvale Conservatory’s were keen to finish the job they had started more than a year earlier as they had already manufactured all the panels.

In fact they were so keen Steve was able to negotiate a reduction on the installation cost.

So that was all set in motion and then they turned their attention to the interior and longer discussions followed in that regard but as Holly had worked in hospitality since she was at college Steve deferred to her superior knowledge of hospitality and of all the things she had learned, the one that stood out for her was not to put all your eggs in one basket, you needed to diversify but equally not try to be all things to all men.

 

Holly had worked in hospitality since she was at college and of all the things she had learned the one that stood out for her was not to put all your eggs in one basket.

You had to diversify yes, but equally you shouldn’t try to be all things to all men.

It was an old pub and in keeping with the modern trend it had been knocked through into one big open bar, Holly wanted to change that and reinstate the old layout and return it to three separate bars.

The lounge bar for the conversational drinkers, a TV bar for the sports fans and a games room with darts and pool etc. and the conservatory would be for the diners.

“I bow to your superior knowledge of hospitality Holly” he said “I’m just a bean counter, and as such I can say that it would be a relatively small outlay to replace the internal walls and it will be less expensive in the long run to heat three small spaces than one large one”

“So is that a yes then?” Holly teased

 

It was essential they kept getting customers through the door so they couldn’t afford to have the pub closed for any length of time.

A pub the size of the Pig and Whistle would haemorrhage money at an alarming rate with the doors closed.

Also they wouldn’t be able to pay the staff while they were closed and Holly wasn’t happy with that at all because she knew how tough it was for hospitality workers and they would have to find other work and you then run the risk of losing your experienced workforce.

So Holly decided they wouldn’t close for any longer than was absolutely necessary for the refurbishment and she would keep paying the staff if she could.

So they closed completely for two days for the builders to put in the stud walls between the bars and then they closed the lounge bar for one week to decorate, then a week later they closed the TV bar for a week and repeated the process for the games room.

So by the middle of March all three bars had been decorated and re-carpeted plus the Conservatory was complete and ready for use. 

 

The repairs and renovations plus some new fixtures and fittings cost them just under half of their nest egg which they were exceedingly pleased with. 

But they knew that if they didn’t get a steady trade through the doors the remainder would be eaten up just in running costs.

They could put on novelty nights like Pub quizzes, or a clairvoyant doing reading, open mic comedy nights, poetry slams and the like but they planned to steer clear of live music or DJ’s, Holly thought they were more trouble than they were worth in the long run.

Also they had to make the most of the special annual occasions, all those occasions that Steve had a phobia about in fact, but they had just missed out on St Patrick’s Day.

But gimmicks only got you so far, the bread and butter patrons needed a reason to come back for the rest of the time.

The food would certainly help with that especially with the conservatory.

 

It was midway through March when Holly and Steve sat down to catch their collective breaths one evening on the patio in the pub garden.

“You know what’s next?” Holly said

“Another drink” Steve said hopefully

“The garden” she said bleakly

It would have been more appropriately called the jungle which had been largely neglected, not only by Phil but also by his predecessors as well because the extent of the growth that had occurred had clearly taken more than a generation.

But as luck would have it there were three regulars who drank at the pub, the Beaumont brothers, who were proper old country boys and the jungle was right up their street.

 

When they approached the Beaumont’s, they gladly picked up the gauntlet and they and various other members of the family pitched up the next day and got straight down to it and by the end of the second day they had made great progress and as they sat down to an end of day pint Steve asked

“How’s it going?”

He hadn’t anticipated it would take that long with such a large crew and his bean counters brain was doing cartwheels

“Another days clearing” Kenny Beaumont said “But you can at least get down to the River now”

“River?” he said “What river?”

“The Trott” Old George replied

Just at that moment Holly stepped out from the Conservatory

“Did you know the garden backed onto a River?” Steve asked

“No” she replied with surprise

“Well it’s there Missy” Old George said and chuckled

“Well we’d better go and have a look then” She said to Steve and took his hand, pulling him to his feet.

It was a much longer walk than they anticipated, the pub garden which they thought was huge to begin with was almost three times bigger than it appeared to be before the Beaumont’s got to work.

In fact it was bigger than either of them had anticipated and the great bonus was that the garden led down to a section of the river Trott, only accessible from the pub garden.

Holly and Steve didn’t even realise they were that close to the river

“Wow” Holly said as they stood on the bank

“ka-ching” Steve responded

“Spoken like a true bean counter” Holly said and laughed

 

It was with Easter in mind, the first major occasion of the year since the refurb was completed and their first chance to do something special.

When the Beaumont’s had finished clearing the pub garden there were quite a few large areas of bare earth which needed to be turfed in order for them to make the best use of the garden and the new found view of the river.

And a month later it had taken sufficiently to take a light cut and the overall effect wasn’t bad at all, viewed from the patio.

The improvements to the beer garden would bring in great rewards with summer just around the corner.

 

Holly and Steve knew that the improvements to the beer garden would bring in great rewards with summer just around the corner.

It wasn’t quite an uninterrupted view of the river Trott, as they thought it expedient to have a small wicket fence put up to separate the garden from the running water and thus prevent small children venturing to close and being washed away.

 

Holly had arranged an Easter Egg hunt straight after church, they had invited the children from the local area via Sunday Schools, cubs, brownies and primary schools, the idea being that the children would come along for the egg hunt and their parents would spend over the bar and buy from the BBQ.

Holly and the other girls had been out that morning and hidden the cream eggs and every child who took part would get a ticket for the Easter Egg raffle.

They had an excellent response in the April sunshine and there were so many children they had to go out in groups, the youngest one’s going first.

“Ok Children, only six eggs each” Holly said dressed in a pink puffy dress and a flowered Easter bonnet. “One…Two…Three…Go” she said and off they went in all directions like marbles in a game.

Steve was down by the fence making sure none of them reached the water’s edge and he watched the beautiful girl in the Easter dress amidst the mayhem laughing as the children raced around her and he knew at that moment without any shadow of doubt that he was in love with her heart and soul.

 

When all the children had their eggs everyone repaired back inside for the big draw, which was tactically delayed to allow the adult’s time to recharge their glasses and it was in the bar after the last prize was won and presented that Steve stepped forward and called.

“Could I please just have your attention for a moment?”

The assembled crowd hushed and turned their gaze on him and he continued

“I would just like to take this opportunity to thank our lovely hostess Holly for putting on such a fun activity today”

An appreciative round of applause rippled around the bar in response and then he added

“And I would like to present her with this special gift”

And Steve handed her with great aplomb, a handmade Easter egg which she quickly unwrapped

“It’s lovely” she said “Thank you” and then she kissed him.

“Read the instructions” he instructed

On the egg was a hand written card which read

“Must be opened upon receipt”

So Holly placed the egg on the table and obediently untied the ribbon holding the two halves of the egg together.

And as they separated it revealed inside, where the handmade chocolates should have been, a small square box.

She handed the egg to Steve and opened the box to reveal that it contained a small Ceylon sapphire ring he had bought in a local antique shop.

“Does this mean what I think it means?” she asked quietly

“I don’t know, do you think it means that I want to marry you?” Steve said

“Yes” she said

“Good because that’s exactly what it means” he replied

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she screamed and the whole place was in uproar and the tills went ka-ching.