Meet The Publican - The Chandlers Arms, Shearsby

After a short break, we welcome back Meet The Publican. We travel south of Leicester this time to The Chandlers Arms, Shearsby to meet Stephen Compton. 

Stephen was born in November 1957, at the family home in Windsor, Berkshire, to parents Joyce and Bill. He attended all three schools, Infants, Juniors and Secondary Modern at Dedworth Green. He finished school in 1974, taking on his first job as an apprentice Aircraft Engineer for B.O.A.C at Heathrow Airport.  

Steve met Karen in 1975 and they married in 1983.  They have three children, twins Terry and Peter who are 22 and John who is 20. 

After fourteen years at Heathrow, Steve was transferred to Manchester for what had now become British Airways. He stayed there for a further fourteen years.

In 2002, he was offered voluntary redundancy from British Airways which enabled him to pursue him ambition to run a pub.  Steve and Karen spent four happy years as tenants of the Enterprise Inns pub, The Waterloo Inn at Biggin, Derbyshire.  

On leaving, they took a three-month break until, purely by chance, The Chandlers Arms came on to the market, which was just what they were looking for. In August 2006, they bought The Chandlers freehold, making it a genuine Freehouse and set about tailoring it to their liking.  

Steve enjoys walking in the nearby countryside with some of the locals but has little time for other hobbies, apart from making sure his beers are spot on. He says “I don’t have time for anything else as the pub takes up all of my time” Karen has been able to continue with her passion for taekwondo, finding a club in the next village.  

Since taking on The Chandlers trade has increased considerably and beer quality has improved. Steve is an avid supporter of small local brewers and always has one or two of their beers on in the pub. The pub is popular with diners as well, so if you’ve never been to The Chandlers at Shearsby, Stephen and Karen would love to see you.

 K Williams

This page last updated: June 3, 2008

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