Family call last orders after 41 years at pub

Margaret Stafford and her daughter Jane Murphy, pictured with bar manager, George Sullivan and maintenance manager, Neil Bishop, will be pulling their last pint at the pub on Saturday

A family is preparing to call last orders for the final time when they move on from running a canalside pub for four decades.

Margaret Stafford, her daughter Jane Murphy and their family have been running The Blue Lias Inn on the Grand Union Canal in Stockton, Warwickshire, for 41 years.

Margaret told BBC CWR that when she and her late husband Brian took over what was then a derelict pub in 1984, they "thought it would just be for a few years".

"Me and my husband were customers there and we knew it was coming up for a tenancy and we decided to go for it," she said.

The couple rebuilt the pub, named after the Blue Lias clay quarried in the area, with the help of some builder friends, Mrs Stafford said.

After her husband died last year, she said it was time to retire and hand over the reins to new managers, Shelley and Mark.

She said she hoped customers would join them in raising a glass to mark their last day running the pub on Saturday.

Mrs Stafford said she planned to travel during her retirement, with a joint trip to Barbados with her daughter among her plans, as well as spending time with her Cavapoo puppy Tilly.

She said the pub had had a few famous customers over the years, including actor Timothy West who called in for a drink while filming Great Canal Journeys with his wife, Prunella Scales.

Micky Dolenz from 1960s pop group The Monkees also once called in while on a canal trip, she added.

"He came in and sat down the end of the pub with a baseball cap on," she recalled.

Jane Murphy and Margaret Stafford said they hoped customers would join them to raise a glass before last orders on Saturday

Jane Murphy said she had grown up at the pub and had worked there since she was 18.

The pub "becomes your life and everything revolves around it and it's a great life and a busy life", she added.

The mother and daughter said they were looking forward to returning to the pub as customers when the new tenants took over.

Bar manager, George Sullivan, who is also leaving the pub, said working there for the past 10 years had been an "amazing experience".

Neil Bishop, who is maintenance manager there, said Margaret Stafford and her family had "just put life into the pub", creating a popular place where people came back time and again because of them.