Village pub returns to Ropley after 20 years as restaurant

A village will get its local pub back for the first time in 20 years when the doors open on Friday.

The Ropley House is returning the building beside the Shell garage on the A31 to its traditional use after two decades as a succession of restaurants.

For generations it was known to villagers as The Anchor, a thriving local which played a part in community life before closing in around 2006.

Since then it has been a Thai restaurant, an Indian restaurant and, most recently, the Texas Steakhouse.

Now its new team wants to turn it back into a community pub - and has been delving into its past as part of the transformation.

Photographs showing life at The Anchor were discovered during the recent refurbishment, while manager Simon O’Connell has been learning more about the role the pub once played in the village.

He said: “I’ve been looking at the history of the pub - it was involved in the Ropley Pram Race and there used to be a military band based here.

“Ropley hasn’t had a pub for 20 years since this was The Anchor, and we’re trying to get back to being a pub for the community.

“We have offered it to a local breast cancer group for its meetings, with free coffee, tea and biscuits and a place to sit for a chat. We have also reached out to the local football and cricket clubs to see if they want sponsorship.

“We are trying to get everything locally - cask ale from Triple fff, wine from Stone, Vine & Sun, sausages from P.A.R.K Butchers, canned beer from Alfred’s Brewery.”

Leading the new pub alongside Simon are assistant manager Harry Champion and head chef Will Barham, with Eloise Robinson in charge of spreading the word on social media.

All four are from the Waterlooville area, with Simon having previously worked at The Bird In Hand in Lovedean, but they have recruited a team from around Ropley and Winchester.

Simon said: “A lot of the staff have done no work ever, so there will be a lot of training and looking over them, but we wanted to give them an opportunity to work rather than just do work experience.”

Harry added: “We will train them all as if they know nothing, and train them all at the same level, so they can do bar and restaurant, and work in the way we want them to.

“After a hard evening we hope they will have a couple of drinks with us afterwards and play a bit of pool. We’re planning on having some random closures on Mondays to take the staff out as a reward for their hard work.”

Will said the initial menu will consist of “pub classics with a smoky twist” as The Ropley House still has the smoker from the steakhouse and will use it to add a unique touch to its food. Sunday roasts will follow once he has more help in the kitchen.

Simon said the pub will be a free house, allowing it to charge less for its drinks than those tied to breweries. His wife Nicola has been busy making sure there are lots of flowers to brighten up the building.

Eloise explained that villagers had their say in how the pub now looks.

She said: “We had a local community vote on the paint we used, and people feel really connected because of that. We want people to feel like they’ve been part of the renovation.”

The Ropley House will open at midday on Friday and close at 1am on Saturday, with its opening night featuring live band The Hired Guns, whose members have played with some of the biggest music stars.

There are plans for live music every Friday evening - plus open mic nights to find new talent to play at the pub - a disc jockey and karaoke on Saturday nights, a monthly quiz, and the return of the pram race.

Simon is a former member of 2Bn, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, and he aims to run a trip to the annual Army v Navy rugby match at Twickenham after the guests have enjoyed a meal at the pub first.

With the big day just around the corner, the team acknowledged the backing of the community.

Simon said: “I just want to thank Jack at Triple fff, they have really helped us with the taps.”

Harry added: “We’ve had lots of help from local businesses. We’ll pay them back in drinks and food.”

Simon said nobody had taken a day off for three weeks in their efforts to welcome customers to The Ropley House.

Harry concluded: “All of us are doing 10 hours a day getting it ready. We’re doing our best to get it open and exceed people’s expectations.”