THE new manager of a popular Tynedale pub is to incorporate the village’s history as part of a rebrand.

Matt Cawood has revealed the historic Boatside Inn, at Warden, will celebrate the area’s droving and mining past to help educate customers of the history.

Since taking over the tenancy from long-serving couple Paul and Carol Foster in the summer, Mr Cawood has worked with the community to improve the existing reputation of the business as one of the district’s top hostelries.

And he was keen to tie in the history of the area by changing the logo and branding of the pub, as well as setting aside some space for historic artifacts in the building.

The new tagline for the pub has been changed to ‘Welcoming drovers and wayfarers since 1700’.

Mr Cawood said: “We are on and old drovers’ road and there is so much history with the bridge, and obviously the floods in the area, and this is all part of the character of the village.

“This pub has been at the centre of the community for generations, and I see it as my responsibility as the manager to promote the history.”

Mr Cawood entered the licensing trade back in February after he grew bored of working in the corporate world.

He worked alongside Mr and Mrs Foster before taking over the management, working under landowners Philip and Charlotte Straker.

The pub will run a number of community events, such as gin evenings and cheese and wine nights, as Mr Cawood hoped to forge closer links to local people.

He said: “This pub is for the local community and it is their pub - they volunteer to spruce up the beer garden so we want to provide a great service for them.

“Local residents, as well as the many tourists we get, are the lifeblood of the pub and we will rely on their loyalty if we get a lot of snow and people can’t get to us!”

In further news, the Boatside was listed fourth in the North-East in Dogbuddy’s Dog-friendly Pub Awards.