THE doors to Chedworth’s only pub will be opened again next weekend for the first time in more than a year.

New manager Liz Henty has arranged a grand opening on Sunday (24) after ‘falling in love’ with the pub as soon as she saw it earlier this year. She has signed a 20-year lease and is aiming to ‘bring the pub back to the community’.

She has been working seven days a week with a team of local contractors to renovate the pub and ensure that it is looking at its best when it welcomes its first customers.

Liz said: “We want them to be comfortable when they come in. I want to breathe new life into the pub. I think it is important for the villagers to have somewhere to come after work. It is also an ideal place to have a bowl of soup or a sandwich after you have been at work.”

Liz explained that as well as being able to come in for a relaxed pint, people could also dress up and have a more formal meal in the new and improved dining room.

“I want it to be for everybody, really,” she added.

As part of the the upgrade, furniture is being restored and a new bathroom, kitchen, woodburner and coffee machine are being installed.

Interior designer Sarah Donnegan is helping Liz come up with the design concept for the pub.

She said: “It is going to be an eclectic, old charm style. There is going to be light injections of bright colours.”

Liz also plans to use as much food and drink from the area as possible using local suppliers, including beer from Hook Norton Brewery near Chipping Norton and ice cream from Cirencester firm Dolcetti.

Pubs are in her genes as her grandfather owned a pub in Royal Wootton Basset where she was born.

Liz returned to the UK earlier this year after spending 25 years in the Dordogne region of south western France, where she managed a string of restaurants and hotels.

The Seven Tuns, which is owned by the Wellington Pub Company will have its official launch party on Sunday May 24, where there will be music from saxophonist Kim Cypher and her Plucking Different ukulele band, as well as complimentary glasses of Pimms. Doors are open at the Queen Street pub from midday.

For more visit seventuns.co.uk.