ALYSON Boote remembers the Leeds Road greengrocers in Thackley from being a child.

Little did she know back then that one day it would become a cosy pub - and she would be running it.

This year saw a big career change - and life change - for Alyson, a former midwife and schoolteacher, when she took on the Black Rat with her husband, Peter.

The couple started running the pub in the summer, and have new customers coming in each week, as well as loyal regulars.

“The Black Rat building, when I was a child in the 1970s, used to be a traditional greengrocers,” says Alyson, who grew up in the area. “It then became a florist shop until Colin Townend turned it into Thackley’s first micro pub.

“As far as I know, the name came from Colin’s granddaughter who had a cuddle toy called Black Rat and took it everywhere with her. We are the third owners of ‘the Rat’ and bought it in August this year. We were very proud to be listed in the 2022 CAMRA Good Beer guide too.

“We have space inside for around 20 people and there is seating for 15. During the warmer months we have a couple of tables and seats we put outside and there is a small canopy to sit under.

“We recently had the place decorated and feel that it’s a cosy welcoming pub, with a range of four hand-pulled real ales, all sourced from local breweries, along with one keg beer, one lager and a keg cider.

“We also have lots of other flavoured ciders available, along with a range of wines, spirits, lots of flavoured gins, including some Christmas ones, and a couple of Christmassy special drinks.”

The pub has become part of the community, and is popular with dog walkers too.

“We like to think that we’re part of the community,” says Alyson. “We have our lovely regulars and new people are coming in every week, who we hope will become regulars too, and we fit in as part of a good little pub run with the three other pubs in Thackley.

“Dogs are welcome and we have a ‘Rat pack’ bowl and a tin of treats for them.”

Adds Alyson: “On a weekend we offer a range of sandwiches and pies, all free for the customers to enjoy.

“We both enjoy meeting people and socialising and the pub has given us all that and more. Neither of us have ever owned a pub before, even though we’ve had a bit of experience working in pubs and bars previously.

My background is a midwife and secondary school teacher and Peter runs his own IT company, so it was a change for us, but something I have always wanted to do.”

* The Black Rat is at Leeds Road, Thackley. Tel. 07908 510361. Facebook: @blackrattythackley