Meet the Publican - The Sun Inn, Belton in Rutland

This time we find ourselves in North West Leicestershire, in the village of Thornton, at the Good Beer Guide listed Bricklayer’s Arms with Landlord Terry Swyer.

Terry as you soon find out when ordering a beer at the bar is not a local lad; he has that recognisable North East accent. He is from the Gosforth area of Newcastle and is still a keen supporter of Newcastle United. He has a few football links in his life because he went to the same school in the Newcastle area as Paul Gascoigne did a few years later.

On leaving school, Terry decided to go into engineering and his first job was at Newcastle General Hospital as part of the general maintenance team there. It was here that he met a nurse, Jane, who was to become his wife and they have now been married for 29 years. Jane is also a native of the northeast, she hails from the old mining community of Ashington, the home of Jack and Bobby Charlton.

Terry Swyer behind the bar at the Bricklayers'

Whilst at the General, Terry started to get into plumbing and heating and after a while decided to leave the hospital and set up on his own. He spent 10 years in the plumbing trade eventually ending up in Leicestershire. Unfortunately he was let down by the building trade and became bankrupt so a friend of his asked him to take the relief steward duties at Kibworth Golf club. He took to the job immediately and was soon appointed steward at Scraptoft Golf club where they stayed for nine years, with Terry acting as steward responsible for, amongst other things, the bar, with Jane looking after the catering. Then the couple decided to apply to Everards for a pub tenancy and, after taking the Everards tenancy course, Terry was offered the Bricklayer’s Arms at Thornton.

When asked what his first impressions of the pub were, Terry replied: ‘A Mess’. In fact the pub was really dirty, with dog hairs around the skirting boards and bar areas up to a foot high. The pub had outside toilets and the cellar had been condemned. But Terry and Jane, along with help from a few friends, set about cleaning the place up and, with a lot of hard work and elbow grease, the pub was soon functioning again.

The loos are now inside and a new cellar has been built. In the early days, many of the customers were Scraptoft golfers who used to pop over to Thornton. The pub is also popular with fisherman from the nearby reservoir, who often pop in for a pint. However, as Terry points out, the epidemic of Foot and Mouth Disease a couple of years ago really hit trade hard. At present Terry entertains the local cricket team, the pub has a darts & dominoes teams and there is a large garden. Beer on sale here is Everards Tiger and there is a rotating guest beer from the Everards Old English Ale Club on hand pump (Terry tends to select the stronger ones to compliment the Tiger) and if you want to eat in the non-smoking dining room at lunchtime it is best to book.

Paul Smith

This page last updated: May 28, 2008

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