A charming pub in Hull is now back open under the helm of a passionate new landlord who yearned to swap long days of driving across the continent for pulling pints behind the bar of a classic boozer.
Lee Cunningham said he was a lorry driver for 25 years before quitting in January and taking some time off to find the perfect pub. As luck would have it, he found The Sandringham in Paragon Street up for sale and, after a good spruce-up, it reopened just shy of four weeks ago.
Although Lee has owned two cleaning businesses in the past, this is his first pub. He said: "The people that are coming in are so glad it's been opened. We've got a lot of competition but the prices here compete with the others."
READ MORE:
- I tried PZA in Hull - and it fixed a craving I didn't know I had
- Get all the latest updates on food, drink, entertainment and events with our free What’s On newsletter
Because the pub is now a free house, Lee said he can set the prices and change what's on tap as and when he likes. At the cheapest end of the spectrum, a pint of Carling will only set a customer back £3.10.
There are also other favourite names on tap - for instance Coors, Estrella, and Guinness. Hand-pumped real ales will be changed around every three weeks - at the moment there's an Abbots chestnut ale and an IPA.
Lee is getting a darts board in the pub soon and is also thinking of mid-week activities to draw in the crowds. One thing that has gone for good is the stuffed dead animals - which Lee described as "spooky" - that previously lined the wood-panelled walls. In their place, will be historical paintings and photos of Hull.
Thanks to two new TVs, The Sandringham will also be a good spot to watch the Euros. Lee said other sports he will be showing are tennis and the Olympic games.
Lee said a lot of the locals have come back and the pub has a nice atmosphere. "In the week it's pretty quiet and on a Friday and Saturday we have a DJ and Karaoke and we're open until 2am if it's that busy," he said.
The pub's former DJ, Barry, is now back and has brought his following with him, making the weekend lively and "full of positivity", said Lee. Rather conveniently, there is a taxi rank just outside the pub which is also a stone's throw away from Hull Interchange.
Lee says he feels very lucky to have come across a free house arrangement when he was pub hunting because a lot of the bigger companies demand a large upfront payment and have a lot of rules that restrict what a landlord can do. "Because it's my first pub, I fell on my feet with it really," he said.
"You can't get much smaller than this. I wasn't expecting a city centre pub but for the size of it, it's ideal for me really. It's all new to me but so far, so good."
He added: "It's back and better than how it was and the positivity from customers has been amazing. And even people who haven't been here before have said 'You're doing a good job.'"
